After throwing a career-high five interceptions in the most lopsided loss of his Seahawks career, quarterback Russell Wilson sat next to quarterbacks coach Carl Smith on the bus ride between Lambeau Field and the airport and the two went over film of the game.
It what the same routine those two have gone through on every postgame bus ride of Wilson's career, win or lose.
"That process always is kind of continual and you're just constantly critiquing and trying to learn and study and be on a constant quest for knowledge, and continue to build that knowledge and continue to move on," Wilson said. "Whether it's good or bad, we want to continue to move on to the good stuff and keep making good things happen, then when the bad stuff happens try to figure out how to eliminate those things."
Wilson's matter-of-fact description of his postgame routine two days after Seattle's 38-10 loss to the Packers was in line with the mood of just about every player in the Seahawks locker room Tuesday. The players know there is plenty to fix from Sunday's loss, most notably the six turnovers, but rather dwelling on the team's first loss by more than 10 points in five years, they're moving on to Thursday's game against the Rams very confident that they will get things right heading into the final three games of the regular season.
"I'm really confident we'll bounce back," linebacker Bobby Wagner said. "We're not going to have another game like that. It was a just a crazy series of events. I can't see us doing that twice in one week. We're hungry, we're ready to get back out there, and it's going to show."
As Wagner alluded to, one reason the Seahawks are able to put that loss behind them is that they know how unusual that performance was, particularly the turnovers. Heading into Sunday's game, the Seahawks were averaging less than one giveaway per game this season, and dating back to 2012, their 83 turnovers are the second fewest in the NFL behind only New England, even with Sunday's performance factored in.
"That's not typical us," receiver Doug Baldwin said. "For instance, we had a lot of balls we dropped as receivers; we don't do that. Five interceptions, we don't do that. It's easier for us to get past, because we know that's not normal."
And there's another significant reason for the Seahawks to be confident in their ability to bounce back from Sunday's loss beyond just the odd manner in which that particular loss occurred, and that's the fact that the Seahawks have proven to be a very resilient team coming off of a loss in recent years. Dating back to the 2012 season, the Seahawks have lost consecutive games only three times, and none of those back-to-back losses came late in seasons. In games played in November and beyond, the Seahawks are 9-0 coming off a loss since 2012, outscoring their opponents 248-90 in those nine games.
So when Seahawks coach Pete Carroll says, "I'm counting on us playing really well," he has good reason for being confident that his team will bounce back with a strong performance against the Rams.
"I'm extremely confident, because I know our mindset is always in the right place," Baldwin said. "… We're emotional, obviously, especially after games that we play horribly in, but the one thing about this locker room is that when we come back on Monday and start preparing for games, we have the right mentality, we have the right mindset, because Pete instills that in us. So we know it's just the next opportunity. If we do have a bad game, we can look at it, learn from it and get better, and that's what we always do. It's another opportunity for us to grow."
And as painful as it might have been for fans to watch a 28-point loss, players feel the same when they lose regardless of the deficit, then they quickly move on to the next challenge in front of them.
"It's no different than any other loss, honestly," cornerback Richard Sherman said. "It doesn't hurt any less if you lose by 20 or by 2. They hurt just as bad. They suck, it's a loss. It felt the same as any other loss."
And as Wagner points out, if the Seahawks can finish strong and "end the season how we want to end the season" then one bad Sunday in Green Bay "is a game we don't even have to remember."
As for Wilson, he was ready to move on to this week's game after putting the loss on his shoulders following Sunday's game.
"You just learn from the learning experiences, you continue to have the resolve to overcome situations," Wilson said. "I keep it pretty simple, what went well and what can you get better at? I think those two questions are kind of the fundamental questions I always ask, win or lose. I think that keeps things really clear and just keeps the truth there, keeps your perspective. We have great guys, we have great players, we have the right system and all that kind of stuff. We're excited about the opportunity to play this week and that's always the case."
And even if Wilson's stat line suggests he was the main reason for Seattle's loss, his teammates won't let him accept the blame for what they said was a team loss.
"Fortunately for us he's such a humble guy that he takes it all on his shoulders, but the truth of the matter is, that wasn't on his shoulders," Baldwin said. "There were a couple of interceptions in there that were on us as receivers, and we've got to do better for him. He'll take the blame, but the truth of the matter is, as an offensive unit, we've got to do better around him so he can have more success when he throws the ball down the field."
Wilson and the Seahawks believe they'll bounce back from Sunday's loss with a strong performance on Thursday night, and if recent history is any indicator, they have every reason to be confident.
"I'm 100 percent confident we'll bounce back," center Justin Britt said. "Something like that game, it was unfortunate and it sucks that it happens, but we understand that wasn't us. We just didn't show up and play our A game. So I'm very confident being back home in front of the 12s. We're going out there with another championship opportunity, and we'll just be ourselves. That's the key, just preparing like we always do."
