Seahawks have a history of being roadkill in September

Can you win the game in the first quarter?

That’s something coach Pete Carroll has been known to ask his team, eliciting a resounding, “No!” from his players.

Pete Carroll expects Jimmy Graham to play Sunday vs Titans

You don’t decide a season in first month, either, which is a good thing considering that Seattle has scored all of one touchdown so far this season and is 2-10 on the road in September in Carroll’s eight seasons as coach.

Those are two reasons that I am more pessimistic about Seattle’s chances in Tennessee than any regular-season game I can remember since Russell Wilson became head coach.

That’s not a criticism of the this Seahawks teams so much as a recognition of reality. This team — specifically its offense — takes some time to get going and that reality is most evident on the road in the first of the season.

There are certainly ways to envision Seattle winning this game. Maybe the offense wakes up like it did last season in Week 3 when it put up 37 points. Of course that was at home against a 49ers team that won two games and this is on the road against a Titans team that is looking to improve on its nine victories last season.

Or maybe Seattle’s run defense — the bedrock of any championship team — will stymie the Titans, allowing the Seahawks pass rush to tee off on the Titans Marcus Mariotta, who for all his talent and efficiency has fumbled the ball 19 times in first two years, losing 11 of them.

Maybe Russell Wilson will counter-punch the blitz-happy Titans into submission or perhaps the Seahawks’ fourth-quarter success on offense is a turning point.

The other possibility is that Seattle isn’t quite ready to turn the corner. Not in September and certainly not on the road.

Prediction: Titans 23, Seahawks 13,

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