Seahawks this close to ruling the roost

This is the finale of a two-part look at how close the Seahawks came to landing in this year’s Super Bowl, and what it might take to get there after the 2020 season.

Quarterback Russell Wilson has implored Seattle management to add some “superstars,” but anyone familiar with the NFL knows that’s easier said than done.

Coach Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider, however, certainly can do some wheeling and dealing — not to mention drafting — to close that smallish gap between the Seahawks and the teams that played in Super Bowl LIV.

Let’s look at how they might get there.

AIMING AT the Super Bowl these days has become an exercise in two parts.

First, there is the matter of winning your conference, which suddenly has changed depending on whether we’re talking about the NFC or the AFC.

Then there’s the matter of winning the Super Bowl itself.

For instance, the Seahawks were just a whisker away from snatching the NFC West away from the 49ers.

But from what we saw in the Super Bowl, there was a bigger gap than expected between arriving in Miami and walking out with a trophy.

I suspect that a huge part of that difference comes down to quarterbacks, and specifically finding one who can win you a Super Bowl.

San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo still has room to improve, but he’s neither mobile nor explosive — so if Jimmy G is going to celebrate under the Super Bowl confetti, the rest of his squad will have to give him a pretty fat lead to defend.

That was the difference between the 49ers and Kansas City.

The Chiefs surely would have enjoyed a lead throughout the second half, but with Patrick Mahomes available to unleash some magic, they didn’t NEED one.

THE NFL changes every season, of course, but at the moment there are only a handful of quarterbacks who can face one of the league’s toughest defenses...

And take it apart in the fourth quarter.

Mahomes tops that list, obviously, followed by gifted QBs like Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson, Buffalo’s Josh Allen and — depending on how you view age and nimbleness — Hall of Famers Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.

Plus, with a drumroll, please...

Russell Wilson.

Interestingly, Danger Russ is the only get-out-and-go QB in the NFC, unless you like Dak Prescott or feel that Rodgers still has that full-field weapon in his holster.

In terms of MAKING the Super Bowl, Wilson gives the Seahawks a nice edge — as he proved with all the late comebacks this past season.

Fans tend to ask: “Why don’t teams like the Seahawks go up-tempo sooner in games?”

Or: “Why not let Wilson let the ball fly right from the beginning?”

Carroll would tell you that the best way to make a guy like Russ effective is to create a powerhouse running game, thus opening the door for play-action passing.

But consider this: Two years ago, Seattle led the NFL in rushing, and yet Wilson was sacked a career-high 50 times.

The fact that Wilson has never missed a game since joining the league in 2012 is truly amazing.

IF CARROLL could design a team from top to bottom, he’d start with a bruising defense (and one with plenty of depth along the front, since pass rushers all get tired late in games).

Then Pete would construct a massive, run-first offensive line — the kind that just beats you into the ground.

Next, he’d recruit at least two bruising runners, guys like Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny, to smash and hammer through four full quarters.

And yes, this seems odd, but Pete FINALLY would take the toughness and leadership of a quarterback who also has the skills to make eye-popping plays out of nothing when games are on the line.

I know, I know.

You’d think Carroll would be lining up these guys in reverse, especially since QBs like Mahomes, Jackson, Watson (and yes, Wilson) are almost impossible to stop for four quarters.

Several scouts have simply shaken their heads when I’ve asked if you can beat someone like Mahomes with a big, powerful running game to use up the clock and wear out a team like Kansas City.

Here’s the answer, in general: “Patrick will get his points. You saw him play awful for three-and-a-half quarters in the Super Bowl against the classic ball-control team — and the Chiefs still won by two scores.

“You can only beat guys like Mahomes and Jackson by outscoring them.”

That leaves out QBs like Kirk Cousins, Jared Goff, Matt Stafford, Joe Flacco, Ryan Tannehill (despite a great year), the legendary Brady and, as we discovered, Garoppolo.

Our very own Russell Wilson would be standing among the very short list of contenders.

WOULDN’T THAT analysis, then, suggest that Carroll should run the ball more like Kansas City — jet sweeps, RPO, screens, traps — rather than trying to play three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust while waiting for Wilson to do something miraculous late in games?

Yes, it would.

This is sort of a joke, but wouldn’t Seattle’s best running game be Wilson on some options, Carson with a few direct snaps (like Travis Kelce in the Super Bowl) and finally Beast Mode to smash those last few yards?

Deep down, Carroll loves to win with violence, with the Legion of Boom, with a terrifying edge rush and so on.

The problem, if Pete and Schneider continue to draft and sign with the emphasis almost entirely on defense, is that NOBODY can stop these fast and deadly QBs for an entire game.

Not even an upgraded Seattle defense.

Ask Richard Sherman, who played well in the Super Bowl but will be remembered for getting torched by Sammy Watkins on the Chiefs’ go-ahead drive.

There are scouts and executives, who naturally want to stay anonymous, who genuinely fear a new-look Seattle — an offense with added speed (signing, say, former Patriots WR Phillip Dorsett and finding a specialist runner who is quick and scary).

AS FOR the defense, Carroll has always been able to coach that side of the ball, to improve from within.

So...

Why not keep doing it?

In the meantime, find weapons and more weapons on the attack side of things — because you need to blitz these pedestrian NFC offenses, and eventually outscore an AFC assault.

It’s instructive that the Chiefs had the fastest offense in football a year ago, yet STILL went out and drafted sprinter Mecole Hardman.

With Mahomes pulling the trigger, nobody could keep up with all that speed.

Now here’s your shock...

The closest gap between the Seahawks and new champion Kansas City, believe it or not, is at quarterback.

Thus, the answer...

Go get Russell a decent offensive line that can run (and understands angles), and then find more and more weapons for his arsenal.

If the Hawks are going to win the next NFC title game, it’ll be 38-35 or thereabouts — and then they’ll need 45 more points to enjoy all that confetti when Super Bowl LV gasps to the finish line.

Sorry, but...

That’s the new NFL.

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball each Tuesday.

Steve’s various tales from several decades in sports — “Moments, Memories and Madness” — run on Sundays.