There are two ways of looking at the recent on-field play of the NFC West Divisions Seattle Seahawks; theyre an upper echelon team that seems unable to ever catch a break , or theyre a top NFC team that consistently underperforms.

You can draw your own conclusions, but the Seahawks have come into every season in recent years as a highly-touted squad that has been expected to go deep into the playoffs. However, most years, it just hasnt worked out that way.

It could be that Seattle plays soft , that their home games are played indoors and they dont play well in cold weather games outdoors , or that their starting quarterback has been hurt too frequently and missed too many games. In the NFL, every team needs at least solid play from the quarterback position and it is almost always difficult to get that from a back-up player.

Whatever the reasons, the Seahawks have been somewhat of a disappointment to their fans in the Pacific Northwest. Theyve had top talent , theyve been playing in a mostly-mediocre division , and theyve continued to come up short, year after year after year.

In the NFL, windows of opportunity are limited. Core groups of players stay together only for so long , and then changes are made. Its becoming reasonable to assume that the window for the Seahawks — and their current group of star players, is getting ready to close, yet they are expected to dominate their division , and go deep into the playoffs.

An NFC West Division team did go deep into the playoffs, right to the Super Bowl in 09, in fact, but it was the Arizona Cardinals and not the rugged bunch from Seattle.

So, what can fans expect in the upcoming seasons? For starters, their team will have a new Head Coach because longtime team leader Mike Holmgren stepped down after last season. The team will start the new season with all hands on deck, no injured players, including at the all-important quarterback position. And , theyll have lots of questions to answer.

For example: will the new Head Coach make dramatic changes on offense and defense? And if he does, how well will the players adapt? Are the Seahawks going to be a scoring machine , or a defensive juggernaut , or a little of both? Will they be a team that consistently covers the spread , a worthy favorite , or a live underdog? And, in fact, will they be a team that deserves a wager?

There are no pat answers to any of these questions, not yet, anyway. Thats why they play the games , to get the answers. For fans and for those who bet, the first few games will be critical in determining just what kind of team will be playing in Seattle.

It should make for exciting football.