THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: Just how long can this run last?

It’s perfectly fine. 

It’s only September. 

There’s still time.

Try telling that to your nerves sitting in a crowded stadium sometime. 

SITTING AT the top of Lumen Field last Sunday, it was hard to imagine what might unfold in the next few hours. 

The Seattle Seahawks, at 1-1, had their moments in the first game of the season against San Francisco, but lost. On the road against Pittsburgh, again, the moments were there at Pittsburgh, but it took a big fourth quarter to hand the Steelers a loss. 

Sure, New Orleans doesn’t have those guys like Drew Brees, Reggie Bush or other gamebreakers that made those playoff matchups between the teams so entertaining, but new coach Kellen Moore — the former Boise State star — was coming home after growing up in Prosser, Wash. 

Before you knew it, it was 21-0 and it seemed like Seattle was going to run the Saints out of the stadium. 

Not sure how you could have predicted a punt return, the longest in franchise history, and then a blocked punt in the first seven minutes, but it happened. 

Quick. 

Seattle won 44-13 and it didn't even seem all that close.

Not a bad start at all. 

FOR THE next few weeks hopefully, the attention of most sports fans will be on that team across the street from Lumen Field, but it makes you wonder ...

Just how far will these teams go this year?

Deep playoff runs aren’t something either the Seahawks or Mariners are really known for. Sure, Seattle has those three Super Bowl appearances, but the Mariners are still fighting for their first World Series appearance. 

Going into last weekend, there was no guarantee the Mariners were going to the playoffs, with three key AL West games in Houston. 

The Mariners swept.

Standing in the Mariners Team Store as traffic thinned out last Sunday, listening to the ESPN broadcast of J.P. Crawford's grand slam, and shortly thereafter, Cal Raleigh's 58th home run, along with other interested fans, was something that I won't soon forget.

As Houston struggled with the Athletics midway through the week, Seattle kept the pedal down, beating Colorado and clinching the team’s first division title since 2001. 

And sure, it's exciting to have a bye into the American League Division Series by finishing with one of the top two records in the league, but nothing is guaranteed.

No matter who Seattle ends up playing in the ALDS, that team is going to be good, coming off playing in the wild-card round. Seattle won't have played a meaningful game for a week prior to that game.

Those memories of games in the American League Championship Series haven't been all that fun as a fan, with heartbreaking losses to Cleveland in 1995 and the New York Yankees in 2000 and 2001. 

But these Mariners just have something about them. Whether it's the pitching staff or an offense that can have someone step up and get a clutch hit at any time, this group seems to have something special.

The Mariners have won 17 of 18 games entering Friday’s series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Incredible. 

And hopefully, it isn’t quite over yet. 

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1206 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on ‘X’, formerly Twitter @JECdAPress.