Seahawks Deserve Title as NFC's Best Franchise of the Decade

Players and coaches have come and gone, but with Pete Carroll still running the show, the Seahawks have kept on winning more than any other NFC franchise in the last 10 years.

As we prepare to turn the page to new decade, let's take a brief moment to look back with gratitude upon some great moments of the past 10 years. Players and coaches have come and gone, but the Seahawks stood the test of time as the best, most consistent team in the NFC in the 2010s.

Seattle was the only NFC franchise to make it to multiple Super Bowls, and they did so in consecutive years, winning the franchise’s first Lombardi Trophy in 2013. They're the only NFC franchise with seven or more consecutive winning seasons during that span.

The NFC seemed to have a slew of “one-hit-wonders” this decade, like the Panthers, who went 15-1 with their MVP quarterback Cam Newton. Since then, however? They have had just one winning season in four years and now look to be blowing everything up.

The Falcons had the Patriots on the ropes in Super Bowl LI with their own MVP quarterback in Matt Ryan before a historic collapse cost them a title. Atlanta has only made the playoffs once since and won just seven games this year.

The 49ers are only now returning to glory after six long years in the dark without a postseason appearance following “The Tip” by Richard Sherman in the 2013 NFC title game. The year prior, they lost a heart breaker to the Ravens in the Super Bowl.

The Rams dominated the NFC last season and made a run to the Super Bowl, but now are sitting at home in January after finishing a disappointing third in the NFC West.

In all that time, the Seahawks just keep winning. That heart-wrenching Super Bowl XLIX loss could have torn this organization apart leading to firings and losing seasons, but it hasn’t.

Sure, Sherman is now in San Francisco. Safety Earl Thomas resides in Baltimore. Several other players have left for greener pastures. But Seattle hasn't slowed down, making it to the playoffs four times since that fateful day and winning at least 10 games four times.

The consistent factor in the most successful decade of Seahawks football has been coach Pete Carroll. He is one of only six coaches that coached the same team for an entire decade and has been a symbol of consistency preaching the Seahawk way.

The stiffest competition the Seahawks have for NFC Team of the Decade is the Green Bay Packers. Both teams have a Super Bowl title in this decade, but Seattle has one more Super Bowl appearance than Green Bay and not only that, but Seattle defeated Green Bay to reach their second straight Super Bowl. Seattle also won four games to three in seven head-to-head matchups including that lone playoff game between the two.

Seahawks fans should sit back, smile, and appreciate the greatest decade in Seahawks history, maybe even in Seattle sports history. No other NFC team, and no other team in the NFL outside of New England, has had the steady stream of success through this decade that the Seahawks have.

Here's hoping for more sustained success moving into 2020 and beyond.