Seahawks wide receivers have a message: Don't underestimate us

Eric Edholm

PHOENIX — Doug Baldwin went on a tirade after the Seattle Seahawks won the NFC championship game in dramatic fashion, which came off as fairly amusing.

"I want y'all to write this down," Baldwin said at the time. "Write this down, OK? Remember when we were 3-3? Everybody counted us out! Y'all didn't believe in us! A whole bunch of people saying that we weren't going to make it, right? When we were 6-4 [you were like], 'Aw, it's OK, they got a winning record, but they not gonna go to the playoffs.

"Remember that? [Trailing] 16-0 at the first half! How many y'all counted us out?! How many y'all doubted us? It's indicative of our entire season. Y'all don't want to believe in us, it's OK. You ain't gotta believe in us because we can believe in ourselves."

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The rant about the perception of the Seahawks team is laughable. Few were openly beating up the team that has been the best in the NFL over the past two seasons.

But Baldwin's rant might also have contained a hidden message. Perhaps he was feeling the disrespect of the Seahawks' wide receivers, a group that includes himself.

On the cusp of Super Bowl XLIX, the Seahawks' wide receivers come into the game rife with question marks and originating from rather humble roots:

Baldwin, undrafted.

Jermaine Kearse, undrafted.

Ricardo Lockette, undrafted.

All undaunted. For the Seahawks, they pride themselves on turning over rocks to find players.

“We take pride in that a little bit," Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said. "We pride ourselves in being able to find talent. Our scouting department and [general manager] John Schneider do an outstanding job. They’re our kind of guys.

"You can see Doug Baldwin with a chip on his shoulder and Jermaine and how he is and how he persevered through our game a few weeks ago and made a big play for us. Those are our kind of guys.”

In the Seahawks' two playoff games, no wide receiver still on the roster other than those three has played more than seven snaps on offense.

Second-round pick Paul Richardson, the team's top overall selection last May, tore his ACL in the divisional round against the Carolina Panthers. Percy Harvin — whom the team traded first-, third- and seventh-round picks for and doled out a six-year, $67 million extension to — was dealt for pennies on the dollar to the New York Jets. Former Seahawks second-rounder Golden Tate signed with the Detroit Lions before the season and had a career year.

They're all gone. It's up to Baldwin, Kearse and Lockette, along with emerging tight end Luke Willson, to make plays in the secondary for quarterback Russell Wilson and the rest of the Seahawks' offense to step up on Sunday.

"I think our receiving corps plays with a chip on our shoulder," Kearse said.

Baldwin admitted this week that he has heard the chatter about his unit: that it's nothing special. The criticism, he said, is fair game to make — as long as people can back up their assertion with facts.

"If you are going to bring up something, I need the facts," Baldwin said. "I need you to show me exactly why you think that way. If you don’t back it up with facts, it’s just an opinion. I will respect your opinion, but you are going to respect mine as well. I’m going to bring the facts to back my opinion up, as well.” 

The facts are these: In the regular season, only one team (the Kansas City Chiefs, with zero) had fewer touchdown receptions than the Seahawks' wide receivers collectively. The Seahawks trio combined for a pedestrian 115 catches for 1,557 yards (13.5-yard average) as the Seahawks went 12-4 to repeat as the NFC's top seed. But in the postseason, the trio has come more alive with a combined 16 catches for 339 yards and three scores in the two games.

Kearse exploded with a career game against the Panthers, with three catches for 139 yards and a 63-yard score. After a mostly miserable game against the Packers, with all four of Wilson's interceptions in the game intended for him, Kearse stepped up with the walk-off 35-yard TD in overtime.

“It was definitely a roller-coaster of emotions. You kind of have a down moment and you just try to pick yourself back up," the humble, quiet Kearse said. "It’s just about staying in tune, staying in the game and not quitting.”

Baldwin is Kearse's opposite: He's outspoken and brash, and he has carried that undrafted chip on his shoulder all through his career — especially after his college coach, Jim Harbaugh, passed on not even extending Baldwin a free-agent contract after the draft. 

He, too, has been excellent in the postseason. Baldwin scored the opening touchdown against the Panthers, and even with a lost fumble against the Packers, he finished the game with a game-high 106 yards on six catches. And then he launched into the aforementioned tirade. Consider those emotions boiled over.

"It’s not necessarily proving people wrong," Baldwin said. "It’s more so proving ourselves right. We like that negativity that we get from the media and from some fans sometimes, but we use it as motivating, fuel to the fire. We look at it as a way to not only to prove others wrong, but to prove ourselves right.”

The New England Patriots often employ their best cornerback, Darrelle Revis, on the opponent's top receiver — in this case, Baldwin — and use safety help over the top on the other side. That might be a tough assignment for Baldwin to win consistently, but it could open things up for the speedier and taller Kearse and Lockett, who each average more than 14 yards per catch this season.

Keep an eye on the under-the-radar Lockette, who might have some mismatches against Patriots cornerback Logan Ryan, if those two match up.

"He does great things," Bevell said of Lockette. "He’s a really, really talented player.”

Willson and Marshawn Lynch also are big factors in the Seahawks' passing game, giving the Seahawks a balanced feel offensively. But they are not afraid to dial up big plays in big situations to any of their wideouts, and Bevell said they and Wilson have worked hard on their chemistry on broken plays when Wilson scrambles out of the pocket.

"That has allowed us a few more big plays," Bevell said. "Sometimes we get the look we want [defensively], we get the blocking and we hit the play the way it's drawn up. Other times, you have to go off script. I feel a lot better when we do have to do that."

The script right now, is unfinished. Baldwin was a major part of last year's Seahawks Super Bowl run, but each of this year's wide receivers has moved a notch or two up the ladder with Tate and Harvin leaving the team and Richardson out. How big a factor will they be Sunday?

"We don't have to prove anything but to ourselves and win for our teammates," Baldwin said. "We know what we are capable of."

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!