A win at Washington would put Seahawks in the playoffs again. Division remains their goal
Shaquill Griffin and his Seahawks have no reason to take this one lightly.
The NFC Least is no more.
Washington has pushed to the top of the East division with four consecutive wins. Quarterback Alex Smith, who is treating a calf injury this week, has made a triumphant return from 17 leg surgeries and rookie pass rusher Chase Young ruined the Pittsburgh Steelers’ undefeated season this month.
A win or tie for the Seahawks (9-4) on Sunday in their 10 a.m. game at Washington (6-7) would clinch their eighth playoff berth in nine years (Seattle would also qualify for the postseason again should Minnesota and Chicago tie).
A victory Sunday would make the Seahawks’ next game, home against the Los Angeles Rams (9-4) Dec. 27, for the NFC West championship. That’s no matter what L.A. does Sunday in its home game against the New York Jets (0-13).
Seattle just thumped the Jets 40-3 last weekend. That was a sign the Seahawks may be done overlooking any opponent, including one that doesn’t have a win four months into the season.
“This was a team that was struggling,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said this week of the Jets. “And it would be a team that most people would say, ‘Oh, you could overlook’ and you wouldn’t be prepared for, and you are looking past, or whatever.
“And we didn’t do that. We didn’t do any of that.
“That’s always been a marker of mine, over the years, to gauge how connected your team is, and how real the conversation is—because this is what we talk about doing week in and week out.”
Last week, Griffin said with refreshing candor the Seahawks overlooked the last NFC East team they played. That was the then-4-7 Giants.
New York mostly dominated Seattle, especially with its defense. The Giants’ 17-12 upset win at Lumen Field knocked the Seahawks out of the NFC West lead.
“We came in taking the team lightly, you know. That’s just being totally honest,” Griffin said last week.
The Seahawks are also still chasing the possibility of the top seed in the NFC and the conference’s only first-round bye in next month’s playoffs. Green Bay (10-3) is ahead of New Orleans (10-4) for the one spot currently. The Packers beat the Saints earlier this season.
Green Bay hosts the Panthers (4-9) Saturday. The Saints host the Chiefs (12-1) Sunday.
The Seahawks currently have the fifth of seven playoff spots in the NFC, the first wild card. They would play at fourth-seeded Washington, the lowest-seeded division winner, in the first round if the standings hold through the final three games of the regular season.
Seattle is one game ahead of the six seed, Tampa Bay. It needs to stay that way. The Seahawks lose a tiebreaker with the Buccaneers (8-5) if both should finish 11-5 and Seattle doesn’t win the West. That scenario would mean both teams would have the same record in conference games.
The next tiebreaker is record in common games. Tampa Bay and Seattle each will have played Atlanta, Minnesota, the Rams and the Giants. In the 11-5 scenario with the Bucs and Seahawks tied for a wild-card spot, Tampa would get it based on a 4-1 record in those common games, to the Seahawks’ 2-3.
As always this time of year, it’s about taking care of your own business and letting the scenarios fall away. That means winning.
And not taking anyone else lightly.
“It’s important, particularly right now. We want to jump-start our way into this fourth quarter (of the season), and try to finish this thing off with a bang,” Carroll said.
“To do that, we’ve got to get this first game.”
This story was originally published December 16, 2020 at 10:56 AM.
