Last year’s record – 16-3, Super Bowl ChampionsNew faces – DT Kevin Williams, rookie WR Paul Richardson, T Justin Britt, T Eric Winston, rookie DE Cassius Marsh.Key losses – WR Golden Tate, T Breno Giacomini, G Paul McQuistan, DE Red Bryant, DE Chris Clemons, CB Walter Thurmond, T Michael Bowie, DT Clinton McDonald.Strengths – QB, RB, WR, CB, S, K.Weaknesses – OL.What’s New – Speed everywhere on offense. With Percy Harvin healthy, addition of rookie Richardson and expected addition of RB Christine Michael to game plan, Seattle pos-sesses speed to stretch defenses to sideline but also verti-cally downfield. That speed element could be next transfor-mation of scheme.Expectations – Seattle might be best positioned team to repeat as Super Bowl champs in 10 years since repeat was last accomplished by New England. Still young, still talent-ed. And offseason losses through free agency have been mitigated by additions or young players who barely saw ac-tion last season during title run. QB Russell Wilson could set stage for massive offseason payday by leading Seattle to another Super Bowl trip. Secondary remains best in NFL and Seahawks insist there will be no backslide despite Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor all getting paid during past two offseasons. – The Associated Press

September 3, 2014 The Reflector B

SportsCoach Carroll keeps his Super Bowl champs humbleThE ASSociATEd PrESS

RENTON — It started on the first day back during offseason workouts.

There was no acknowledg-ment of the case being construct-ed in the lobby where the Seattle

Seahawks' first Lombardi Trophy would reside. Or of the giant ban-ner hanging in the indoor practice facility listing the name of every player and coach a part of the 43-8 Super Bowl triumph.

Pete Carroll's way of humbling his players still on a high from earning the first title in franchise history came from returning to the most basic elements. Things as rudimentary as cradling the

football properly in your arm as a ball carrier. Or as a defender, ways to knock the ball free.

Seems simplistic, almost con-descending to professional ath-letes. But that wasn't the point. It was a conscious effort by Carroll to reprogram his team.

"Repeating doesn't matter un-less we take care of our business right now," wide receiver Doug Baldwin said. "There was no

talk about repeating. It was going back to the basics."

Don't be mistaken. The end goal, albeit unspoken, is to be the first team since the New England Patriots 10 years ago to become repeat champions. Why is Seattle more likely than others to accom-plish the feat?

At least in part, because of Carroll. He went through the pro-cess of winning a title and trying

to do it again at the University of Southern California. The blue-print is similar, if not the same.

"I love this opportunity that we have," Carroll said. "We are so for-tunate to have this chance to come back after a season like that to see if we can find that kind of disci-pline and find that kind of ability to focus. It's challenging, it's diffi-cult, it hasn't happened a lot and we are going to see what happens."

Seahawks trying to join rare group to repeat

Carroll believes Russell Wilson should be better in his third year. This after Wilson completed 63 percent of his passes and threw 26 touch-downs against only nine interceptions last season and capped his year with a pair of touchdowns tosses in a nearly flawless Super Bowl perfor-mance. Whenever the Seahawks needed a play, Wilson came through.

Wilson’s thrown for more than 300 yards only three times, but as part of Seattle’s offensive evolution, he may get more chances this season to put the ball in the air.

“He’s elevated his ability to see what’s going on and anticipate and read defenses,” Carroll said. “He’s real excited about that because he’s seeing things better than he has before.”

ThE FiXEr

Seattle’s secondary remains the best in football. The Seahawks insist that will not change even with safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor and cornerback Richard Sherman getting big contract ex-tensions in the past two years. Cornerback Byron Maxwell will be in the spotlight moving into the role of full-time starter opposite Sher-man and knowing he’ll get picked on.

BriNG ThE BooM

Speed could be the element added to Seattle’s offense that was never fully on display a season ago. Percy Harvin will be used all over the field as Seattle tries to get him the ball in space and use his quickness. But he’s not alone. Second-round pick Paul Richardson could be just as fast as Harvin, but in a more traditional wide receiver role. And Seattle intends on getting running back Christine Michael more involved after he barely saw the field last season.

“Being explosive is what we want to do,” Wilson said. “We want to be able to get the ball in the right guy’s hand at the right time, make the right decisions and be on time with it and throw a great pass where they can get upfield and make a play.”

SUPErSoNic

The unit that took the biggest hit in the offseason was Seattle’s defensive line, losing three main contributors. Re-signing Michael Bennett was vital to pair with Cliff Avril, but the signing of veteran Kevin Williams could be a coup. The addition of Williams provides Seattle the flexibility to play a bigger run-stuffing grouping of three defensive tackles, and continue the rotation of linemen that was so successful last season.

iNSidE JoB

If Seattle is to join a rare fraternity to reach consecutive Super Bowls, it will have to manage a schedule with no rhythm early and that gets extremely difficult late.

After the Thursday night opener with Green Bay, the Seahawks face San Diego and host a Super Bowl rematch with Denver on con-secutive Sundays before the earliest bye week in the league. Seattle returns from its bye for a Monday night road game at Washington.

But Seattle would probably trade the lack of normalcy early for a less punishing close. The Seahawks face Arizona twice, San Fran-cisco twice, go to Philadelphia and host St. Louis over the final six weeks of the regular season.

ThiN Air

2014 SEATTLE SEAhWKS

SEATTLE SEAhAWKS’ Earl Thomas (left) returns a punt as Chicago Bears punter Pat O’Donnell makes a touchdown-saving tackle in the first half of an preseason NFL football game, Aug. 22, in Seattle.

SEATTLE SEAhAWKS quarterback Russell Wilson smiles after the Seahawks’ 34-6 win over the Chicago Bears in a preseason NFL football game, Aug. 22, in Seattle.

SEATTLE SEAhAWKS running back Christine Michael (left) jumps over a teammate as Chicago Bears defensive tackle Stephen Paea moves in during the first half of a preseason NFL football game, Aug. 22, in Seattle.

AP Photo/John Froschauer

AP Photo/Stephen Brashear

AP Photo/Stephen Brashear

here's what to watch this season as Seattle attempts to repeat: