Grey Area: Seahawks’ own belief led to historic NFC title victory

History.

It’s not often that you know when you are witnessing history as it’s happening, but Seahawks fans everywhere had that opportunity last Sunday with Seattle’s come-from-behind victory over Green Bay. To get an idea just exactly what kind of context that the 2015 NFC Championship Game should be put in, consider the following facts gathered from ESPN Stats and Info:

• The last team to win a postseason game when down 10 points in the final 3 minutes of a game was the 1986 Browns.

• The last team to win a postseason game with five or more turnovers was the 1982 Jets.

• The last team to win a postseason game with four or more interceptions was the 1981 Bills.

And the 2015 Seattle Seahawks accomplished all three in the same game.

It goes without saying that this Seahawks team has incredible resilience, as we have seen them rally late in games repeatedly over the last few seasons, but the kind of belief that it takes within that locker room to continue to scrap and fight when nothing offensively had gone right for almost 55 minutes is amazing. The defense, long the identity of the team, showed up time and time again to make life miserable for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, all while waiting for Russell Wilson and the offense to click and put up the points needed for the win. With fans streaming out of CenturyLink Field and expletives being shouted up and down the Puget Sound, that faith was rewarded at the last possible moment and we were all a witness to history.

While I am not one to take anything on faith, and I do not believe that any one of us ‘willed’ anything out of that team (any more than I believe in lucky hats or Madden Curses), it cannot be overstated how remarkable the faith those players have in one another truly is. From the shaky beginnings of this season that bond grew steadily stronger and resulted in the effort that made that win possible. It’s a special group accomplishing special things as they attempt to go from good to great to legends.

So what’s next? Now that everyone’s breathing has stabilized and the analysis of the game has been done, what does this historic win mean for the next chapter in the Seahawks run? Was it indicative of greater problems that we didn’t know were there with the offense? Is The Real Russell Wilson the guy who went 8-8 for 199 yards and three TDs on third down vs. the Panthers, or the guy that had thrown three balls to the Pack before getting his second pass to a Seahawks receiver? Can the defense hold down a team like the Patriots if the offense starts slowly, or worse?

There are only guesses and no answers to those questions about the matchup, but we all get a chance to consider what the future holds because of the history that took place right in front of our eyes.