A look back...the top 10 reasons the Seahawks lost 12 games

10.  Complacency - The Seahawks had dominated the NFC West for so long that it just seemed normal to assume a playoff position.  Toss into that the fact that the rest of the teams in the division were - and still are - utterly terrible and you had a formula for success.  Then suddenly we were playing terrible and the Cardinals had a hot start and now there's a different 9-7 team representing the worst division in football.

9. The Mike Holmgren Effect - So much of this season has been about the legend of Mike Holmgren riding out of town.  We named a replacement last year, which basically assured a year-long focus on his career.  In football, sentimental=failure.

8.  Josh Brown - I know Olindo Mare was plenty good, but I still can't believe this guy left for the Rams.  He was a frickin' kicker with his own radio show and he leaves that town?  Good luck Josh.  You moron.

7.  Kurt Warner - Seriously where the heck did this guy come from?  Didn't he retire a couple years back?  I know it's not his fault we lost 12 games, but it couldn't have helped our guys self-esteem watching a 62-year-old outplay them every week.  That's got to be depressing.

6. No Swagger - You remember when the Seahawks went into every fourth quarter with a chance to win?  Do you remember watching Hasselbeck get the ball with 2:20 left, needing to get 60 yards to set up the field goal and thinking, 'we got this'?  Do you remember knowing that Lofa was going to get us that big stop we needed?  Yep, those were the good old days...of 2007.  The Seahawks lost that swagger and instead of knowing we were going to win, you began praying we could win.  Not a good sign.

5. The Secondary - Man, oh man, did this thing get ugly to watch.  You'd see a couple of series where Josh Wilson was playing out of his mind, Trufant was locking his man down and then, bam!, seven straight completions, touchdown.  How was this happening?  A lot of people may leave this one off their list, but I bet you the secondary contributed to more third-and-long conversions by opponents than all but five other NFL teams.

4.  Expectations - Every since Dennis Green was holding the reigns in Arizona, ESPN talking heads have been picking the Cardinals as the sleeper favorite.  Then, this year, they all stopped.  The Cardinals sucked, the Seahawks would win it again.  And then we didn't.  ESPN used some sort of reverse psychology on us and it worked.

3.  Matt Hasselbeck - Not his fault at all, but we needed our captain.  Sure, Seneca played fine, but Hasselbeck is the spine of the team.  With Wallace, it was more like having a back brace.  Sure you can move with him, but the movements feel really awkward.  Hasselbeck has been playing through injuries and it finally caught up to him.  Without our leader, we wandered aimlessly.

2.  Injuries - I've been writing all year about how injuries are no excuse and, to a large extent, they're not.  But seriously look at what this team was dealing with.  It got to the point where we not only resigned Koren Robinson, but where he became a top target.  We traded for Keary Colbert and signed a guy who hadn't played in two years.  Our rookie tight end was our top receiver.  Walter Jones and the rest of our offensive line went down and our defense was banged up and missing Patrick Kerney.  When 9 of your top 20 players go down, it's going to be an issue.  Why weren't injuries number one, you ask?  Well, because of the...

1. Seattle Sports Curse - Who made the deal with the devil that expired in 2008?  I demand to know, because they better be driving a Bentley and living on an estate with their supermodel wife.  Even then, couldn't have been worth it.  Seattle sports fans suffered the equivalent of having your wife leave you for your slimy neighbor who ran over your dog while he was picking up your daughter for work at his strip club.  That's how I feel right now.  The Seahawks could have saved it, but they never stood a chance.  Somewhere the sports devil is laughing as Howard Schultz cowers in the corner.  2008 was the year of the cursed.  Here's to hoping that wasn't a two-year deal the devil signed.