Sky-High Expectations For Seahawks: Why Not?

It's official: the Seattle Seahawks are flying higher than ever before.

Today, the team opens training camp at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton carrying the highest preseason expectations in team history. Fans know it too - snatching up seats for every session over the next few weeks.

They will watch a team that people across the country - from oddsmakers in Las Vegas to a certain sports television network in Bristol, CT - think can win the Super Bowl.

But training camp? We're not even at the first preseason game and fans are rabid for this team. They want Hawks, Hawks, Hawks with even more Hawks and a side of Hawks.

Credit the team's breakout season last year that had the region dreaming again. The team saw the emergence of a tough, swagger-filled defensive backfield that injected the nasty back into Seattle's defense. The offensive line - an achilles heel the last few years - followed suit and helped create a bruising Seahawks running game.

And of course, the region saw the emergence of Russell Wilson - the quarterback, the leader and the face of the team. In his rookie year - a year that started with hardly anyone pegging him as the team's starter - he led the Seahawks to late-game victories (including an infamous Monday Night Football Hail Mary against Green Bay) a playoff victory and a belief that, no matter what, Seattle would be in the game.

It will be interesting to see how the Seahawks respond this season, a season that will produce questions that the team must answer:

• Can Wilson continue to maintain his poise and injury free status, especially with the expectations, and prove that he is one of the best quarterbacks in the league?
• Can the defense shore up its weaknesses on its pass rush and third downs, especially with a new defense coordinator?
• Will Richard Sherman and the rest of the "Legion of Boom" be able to continue to back their swagger, especially with the NFL knowing what to expect against them?
• Will the Seahawks be able to topple Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and the nemesis San Francisco 49ers, oh, who by the way were a touchdown away from winning last year's Super Bowl?