Seattle Seahawks: How the Team Will Avoid a "Hangover" Loss to the Rams

Hey, did you hear the Seahawks won on Monday night? Apparently, it was a really clean win.

In all seriousness; however, that win was awesome. Trust me, I was there. But with any big victory comes a big caveat. All too often, good teams that get an impressive victory are often upset the very next week.

My favorite example of this occurred during the 2011 season. The Baltimore Ravens had just won an incredibly tight match vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers, and came into Seattle banking on an easy win. Four quarters later, the Ravens walked out of C-link as the biggest losers of the week.

Tomorrow, the Seahawks might see a very similar scenario vs. the Rams. To avoid this, the team must focus on avoiding one thing entirely: overconfidence. Overconfidence is a virus that permeates team and coaching staff alike. It starts at the practice level. After big wins, players don't go as hard in practice, due to still being on a high from the previous weekend. Instead of focusing on the future, players revel in their current glory. This effectively wastes important practice time, and the gameplan isn't learned as well as it should be.

The NFL is such a competitive league that any lapses in focus by one player almost certainly gives an advantage to his opponent. Even though some teams are very obviously better than others, every team has players with incredible talent. Forgetting one cue on a playcall, missing one blocking assignment, or running one wrong route can spell disaster for the overconfident team, thereby shifting momentum. Especially on the road, the Seahawks cannot afford to do this.

In St. Louis, the Rams will be looking to prove that they are an improved team under their shiny new head coach and his old, greasy mustache. Getting shut down in Week 3 will undoubtedly have this team hungry to get back in the division race. Speaking of division races, don't forget that this is an NFC West grudge match as well. Nothing will come easy.

With all the emotion that will certainly be involved in this game, it is imperative that the Seahawks do not come in overconfident. Yet, I don't think they will. The defense has shown that it is consistent. That's not too much of a worry, and they really are that good at that they do. The offense, conversely, has no reason to be overconfident. Despicable playcalling, hesitation on the part of Russell Wilson, and overall lack of crisp route running by wide receivers should not have been enough to beat the Packers. The Seahawks forced five three-and-outs, and held the Pack to zero points in the first half. With ample opportunities, the Seahawks need to put points on the board. If the offense consistently relies on the defense to do it all in the future, winning will not result. Therefore, this offense will not be overconfident (except for Golden Tate). They'll have watched the film, they'll have realized how many opportunities they wasted, and they'll be screaming for redemption against the Rams.

Hopefully, we'll be just fine.