The Seahawks know how to win on the road in the wild-card round, as they proved again in Philadelphia. Now the question: Can they overcome their winless record in road divisional playoff games?
Russell Wilson beat the Eagles’ pressure, thanks in big part to rookie D.K. Metcalf’s record-setting game, and the Seattle defense sacked Philly’s passers seven times in a 17-9 win that was a duplicate of their Week 12 meeting in score, if not in other ways.
The Seahawks improved to 3-5 in road playoff games, all of the wins coming in the wild-card round. It was their first playoff win since the 2016 season, 26-6 vs. Detroit at home, and sent them to the divisional round for the seventh time in Pete Carroll’s 10 seasons. (Who wanted him fired again?)
The Seahawks just got upset by a bad division rival at home and now face a big finale against a playoff-bound division foe. Sound familiar?
The Seahawks have built a 10-3 record largely on the strength of the league’s fifth-ranked offense (fourth in DVOA), but we just saw what happens when that unit does not play well enough against a good team and the defense does not get the takeaways.
Everything was set up for the Seahawks to take command of the NFC, but the offense failed to score and a 28-12 loss to the Rams means Seattle probably needs to win its final three to claim the division title.
The Seahawks are a sickly, battered bunch who still can’t win by more than one score. But they’re also 10-2 and in total control of the No. 2 seed in the NFC — with sights set on No. 1.
By the time the Seahawks host the Vikings on Monday night, they will know whether they are playing for first place in the NFC West and a spot among the conference’s top two.
The Seahawks had been doubted after building a 7-2 record on the backs of a bunch of also-rans, but who is questioning them now after knocking off the 49ers, the NFL’s last unbeaten team?
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 