The Seattle Seahawks traveled to San Francisco last weekend. They entered last Sunday’s contest against the 49ers as the consensus No. 1-ranked team in the NFL. Despite racking up their second loss of the season, they left San Francisco on Sunday night as the consensus No. 1-ranked team in the NFL.
As I noted in my article last week, the Seahawks’ loss to the 49ers mattered little to Seattle’s playoff fortunes. Their destiny is still 100 percent in their own control.
The good news: despite the Seahawks’ stumble in San Francisco, they should still be favored in each of their three remaining games to close out the regular season. Coming into last Sunday’s game, the Seahawks only needed to come up with two wins to seal the NFC’s top seed. That still remains true. Their margin of error, however, has diminished by 50 percent.
The land of the Giants
The Seahawks next travel to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for a 10 a.m. Pacific game against the 5 – 8 New York Giants. The Seahawks have already been installed as seven-point favorites as visitors.
The last time the two teams met, in October of 2011, Seattle had to lean on since-departed backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst to relieve the injured Tarvaris Jackson to steal a 36 – 25 win over the eventual Super Bowl Champion Giants. The previous two times the teams met found the Seahawks on the very short end of the stick, losing 7 – 41 at home in 2010 and 6 – 44 in New Jersey in 2008.
Conclusion: The Seahawks historically have a tough time against the recent New York Giants, for what it’s worth.
Home, cacophonous home
If the Seahawks are able to come out of New Jersey with a win, they can count on some home cookin’ to help fortify them for their remaining two regular season contests.
First, they’ll host the 8 – 5 Arizona Cardinals, who have legitimate designs on a Wild Card playoff berth. If the Cardinals are successful in landing a playoff spot, it will almost certainly have to come at the expense of the San Francisco 49ers.
Hard to know who to root for in that one. Oh, who am I kidding? Seahawks fans would sell a toe to keep the 49ers out of the playoffs. Seattle fans may have some ambivalent feelings if the Seahawks manage to defeat the Cardinals in week 16, thus ruining the red birds’ playoff dreams and simultaneously birthing San Francisco’s.
The Seahawks handily thumped the Cardinals in week seven earlier this year in Phoenix, 34 – 22.
Ram tough
If the Seahawks have taken care of business against the Giants and Cardinals, they will enter the week 17 game against the St. Louis Rams with an interesting dilemma: With the No. 1 seed locked up — what is there to play for? Many a playoff parade have been ruined by teams that decided to let off the gas in week 17 games that “did not matter.”
If they do not have the No. 1 seed locked up by the time of this game at home against the Rams, things could get interesting. The Rams have proven to be more than a little pesky when it comes to battling the Seahawks, of late.
Few have forgotten the Seahawks’ by-the-skin-of-their teeth win at the Kellen Clemons-led Rams earlier this season in week eight. Looking at the 2012 contests between the Rams and the Seahawks reveals an even split between the two teams with Seattle scoring 33 points in the two contests and St. Louis scoring 32.
So there’s the path to the playoffs. Having lost in San Francisco, Seattle can know their fate probably no earlier than week 16. Not bad. Any of the previous Seahawks squads — with the possible exception of the Super Bowl-bound 2005 team – would take that without squawking.
Julian Rogers is a freelance writer and communications consultant. Follow him on Twitter (@mrturophile), or connect with him on LinkedIn and Google+.
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