Seahawks’ Cliff Avril explains his thoughts on Super Bowl hangovers

Recovering from a Super Bowl loss isn’t easy. The Seahawks should know. That’s why defensive end Cliff Avril understands the current struggles of the Carolina Panthers and isn’t counting them out.

“I’ve seen this every year that I’ve been playing,” Avril told “Brock and Salk” on Tuesday. “Some teams start off bad and at the end, they’re 10 and 6 or 11 and 5, or whatever the case may be. So I don’t count anybody out. Even though they haven’t played the way they want to play, it’s such a long football season and it can go in any direction. But coming off Super Bowl runs it sometimes can slow you down a little bit.”

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Following a dominating 15-win regular season, the Panthers fell 24-10 to the Broncos in Super Bowl 50. The defending NFC Champion Panthers have stumbled out of the gates this season to a 1-4 record. It’s the kind of rocky start that could follow the dreaded “Losers’ Curse” – when the Super Bowl runner-up struggles through a hangover the following season. Since 1988, 10 teams have posted below-average winning percentages during the follow-up season.

The Seahawks limped to a 2-4 start in the 2015 season, a year removed from their dramatic loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX. The team ultimately recovered for a wild-card playoff berth but were ousted in the divisional round by the Panthers.

Head coach Pete Carroll had time to reflect on the struggles in January, telling The Seattle Times: “It just took us some time (to get past the Super Bowl) and I think we had some hangover from it, just like, look at the history of teams coming out of the Super Bowl, how well are they doing the next year. It’s a most challenging event to endure for a program and a staff and players and fans and all of that, and I’m proud to say that we are still fighting and here we go again. Let’s see what happens.’’

Avril reiterated that belief Wednesday, saying that recovering from a Super Bowl loss is a challenge.

“It’s very hard. One, you play longer than everybody that you’re playing against, so the wear and tear of that,” he said. “But also just being at the Super Bowl, the Super Bowl high of everybody telling you how great you are. Sometimes teams can’t bounce back from that; sometimes it takes a little time to bounce back from that.”

The Seahawks and Panthers will meet on Dec. 4 at CenturyLink Field.

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