Seahawks hope Kam Chancellor will be difference-maker against Bears
It hasn’t just been Kam Chancellor missing from the Seahawks the first two weeks of the season.
Also absent, some close observers of the team think, has been the team’s usual style of play.
“I haven’t seen this team being really excited, jumping around, having fun,” said Warren Moon, the Hall of Fame quarterback who is now the team’s radio analyst. “It seems like everything has been kind of like business as usual. Something that has really made them special is the way that they play for each other. So maybe that will come back as he’s back in the lineup. I think they’ve missed his inspiration. He’s one of the guys that gets guys excited.”
Chancellor officially came back into the fold Saturday when the team added him to the active 53-man roster, waiving Dion Bailey to make room.
The fun and the excitement could follow on Sunday.
The Seahawks are favored by 15 points, one of the biggest spreads in Seattle history.
Part of the reason for the big spread is a Chicago team that comes in racked by some key injuries, notably to starting quarterback Jay Cutler, who is out with a hamstring issue. Jimmy Clausen, who is 1-10 as an NFL starter and has started just once since 2010, will take over.
That should make for a soft landing for Chancellor’s season debut and a chance for the Seahawks to get back on track after an 0-2 start that has left Seattle not only as one of just nine teams without a win, but also with some around the league questioning whether this team has what it takes to get back to another Super Bowl.
The Seahawks, though, can point to the fact that they lost two close games on the road in tough environments as evidence that they aren’t far off.
“I mean, you take five plays in total from the last two games and we are 2-0 and this conversation is totally different,” said right tackle Garry Gilliam. “So anybody that wants to buy into what they want to (about the demise of the Seahawks), that’s their issue.”
Or, as safety Earl Thomas said: “It’s going to turn to our favor. It always does.”
Certainly, the return of Chancellor and coming home ends any excuses.
Chancellor’s holdout, which lasted 54 days, undoubtedly lingered over the team emotionally the first two games, though even more costly was simply his absence from the field.
“They missed that physicalness that he brings to the table,” Moon said.
During the holdout, players seemed weary of being asked about Chancellor. On the one hand, they undoubtedly missed him. On the other, some seemed reluctant to want to say that they couldn’t win without him.
Moon, who played 17 years in the NFL, said that if Chancellor’s holdout created any hard, or simply conflicting, feelings among teammates, those will likely wash away quickly.
“Players have short memories about that type of stuff,” Moon said. Once a holdout is over, “they are just glad to have you there.”
As for Chancellor, Moon said, “I think because of his pride and who he is, he will go out there and play even better than he has played in the past and want to make even more of an impression.”