After sleeping on it I'm still so deflated you could mistake me for one of Tom Brady's footballs. We managed to create a genuine juggernaut and it feels like it all went wrong through an unfortunate mix of badly timed injuries, inexperience and running into one of the hottest teams in the league.
With that said, I do think our success can be sustained long-term, especially if we keep Greg Roman. And I think the worst thing we could do is throw the baby out with the bathwater (this is your regular reminder that I'm glad the fans don't run the team).
The Seahawks, Falcons and 49ers all had multiple playoff disappointments before reaching the Super Bowl, and as long as we can keep the core together there's no reason to think we won't get better at playing in the postseason.
As fans I think we've been spoiled by Joe winning playoff games in his first eight or so seasons to the point where it's easy to forget how rare it is for a team with a young core to win as frequently as we did with those teams (not to mention those teams being battle-hardened by pre-2008 disappointments).
Yanda has one more year on his contract so hopefully we can send him out with another ring next year. But I still don't see any reason to think we won't come back next year or the year after and be better for it.