'The Seahawks will be a legitimate Super Bowl contender again:' National media see opportunity, question marks

SEATTLE – We have a pretty good idea how you felt after the Seattle Seahawks’ season died a premature death on Sunday.

But what’s the rest of the world saying after the Seahawks’ furious second-half rally fell short and they fell to the Carolina Panthers, 31-24, in an NFC divisional playoff game?

ESPN’s Sheil Kapadia writes that the Seahawks still have a large window of opportunity, thanks in large part to Russell Wilson:

For fans, it will be difficult to acknowledge with Sunday's loss still fresh, but the best thing to happen to the Seahawks this season was Russell Wilson taking another step in his development. He led the NFL in passer rating. He showed he can dissect defenses when given time in the pocket. And he put the team on his back with a 24-touchdown/one-interception stretch that resulted in the Seahawks earning a wild-card berth.

Wilson turned 27 in November. There's a good chance he has yet to reach his ceiling, and because of that, the Seahawks will be a legitimate Super Bowl contender again going into the 2016 season.

There was plenty of panic from the Seahawks early. When it was over, the Panthers had broken Seattle's season. They had shoved them, bounced them, and had stolen Seattle's perch atop the NFC.

Lynch has missed large chunks of time over the last few years and considered retiring last offseason. He will turn 30 in April and has two years left on his deal. Whatever the team and Lynch decide to do, the Seahawks have comfort in knowing they found a big-time talent in undrafted rookie Thomas Rawls, who will have to come back from a fractured ankle suffered in December.

GM John Schneider has bigger problems than the public outcry when he lets Lynch walk. No longer can Seattle have the attitude that Tom Cable can fix everything on the offensive line. It was too consistently a sieve, and Schneider needs to spend multiple draft picks fixing it this spring