SECOND OPINIONS

[Editor's note: Non football fans may want to move on to the next page, because we now bring you now a selection of news from around the web about the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, and some of the challenges they (and their fans) face during the upcoming season.]

Will The Niners be Too Strong?

It's Colin Kaepernick and the passing game that has (the San Francisco 49ers) on the brink. It's also what can make them better, against the Seahawks' secondary or otherwisehellip;

hellip;The reigning champion will be the hunted, and will find out just how hard it is to repeat based on their tough division competition alone. Seattle's main goal should be getting to the conference/ league championship rematch with San Francisco.

hellip;Coming back strong the year after winning a Super Bowl is a tall task. Seattle looks a little too sound defensively to misfire in 2014, but the schedule is more difficult and the division is also improved. The Seahawks should be playoff-bound, but more than 11 wins seems like a big askhellip;

~The Sporting News, which picks the 49ers to win the NFC West Division this year and then go on to win the 2015 Super Bowl

A Meaningless Play

Seattle Seahawks kicker Steven Hauschka had no problem with his six extra-point attempts in the first two preseason games, but some other kickers did.

The two-game experiment on snapping the point after from the 15-yardline, making it a 33-yard kick, resulted in a few misses.

"I understand eight were missed in the first two weeks and there were only five missed all last season," said Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. "So, it's obviously a factor. If that's where it goes, it will change the gamehellip;"

hellip;The extra point has become one of the most meaningless plays in professional sports, because it's almost automatic when the ball is snapped from the 2-yard line. Last season, NFL kickers made 99.6 percent of their extra-point attempts.

~Seattle Times

Playing the Super Bowl 50,000 Times

In an unusual way of predicting the outcome of the 2014 NFL season, Prediction Machine.com has the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos returning to the Super Bowl, but with a different outcome.

The website, which was founded by Paul Bessire, plays every 2014 game 50,000 times in a computer (known as the Predictalator) to come up with the most likely results.

The way it came out in the end was Denver beating Seattle 24-23 in a Super Bowl rematch. However, that result happened only 52.9 percent of the time, hence the close score.

~ESPN

Don't Rock the Boat, Seahawks Fans!

Workers mistakenly allowed an extra 484 passengers to board a Seattle bound ferry Friday afternoon, forcing the vessel to turn back to Bremertonhellip;

hellip;Shortly after the ferry departed, staff realized their mistake, ( Washington State Ferries spokeswoman Marta) Coursey said.

"It appears that we overloaded the ferry," she said.

Passengers were delayed about an hourhellip;

hellip;The ferry was noticeably full, said Alisha Harrison, of Bremerton, who, like many of her fellow passengers, was headed to the Seahawks game.

"It was more crowded and smelly and 'thick' than I've ever seen," Harrison said.

~Seattle Times