Red-hot Seahawks won't be able to overcome slow start
Russell Wilson kept working his passing magic by throwing five touchdowns, and the defense received an early Christmas gift by facing a journeyman quarterback (Jimmy Clausen) claimed off waivers three weeks ago.
Seattle has now won four straight and six of its past seven after Sunday's 35-6 rout of Baltimore. Despite red-hot running back Thomas Rawls suffering a season-ending broken ankle in the first quarter against the Ravens, the Seahawks shouldn't be cooling off any time soon with matchups against Cleveland (3-10) and St. Louis (5-8) at CenturyLink Field next on the schedule.
Seattle catching fire down the home stretch is nothing new. The Seahawks were 15-3 combined in the final six weeks of the past three regular seasons. The past two campaigns ended with Super Bowl trips.
Still, I've got the feeling that the 2015 season will ultimately be remembered as too little, too late because of a poor start and the challenge that looms in the playoffs.
The 2013 and 2014 Seahawks were able to enjoy home-field advantage throughout the postseason by winning the NFC West and capturing the NFC's No. 1 seed. Barring a collapse by Arizona, the 2015 Seahawks won't have either luxury.
Carolina (13-0) clinched one of the conference's top two seeds Sunday by crushing Atlanta 38-0. As for the Cardinals, they should reap the rewards of having played better than Seattle for the entire season.
As the Seahawks stumbled to a 2-4 record largely because of poor offensive line play and uncharacteristic struggles in the secondary, Arizona was building its division lead by opening 4-2. The Cardinals haven't looked back since with a seven-game winning streak that continued with last Thursday night's victory over Minnesota.
Arizona will clinch the NFC West title by winning one of its next two games (at Philadelphia in Week 15 or at home against Green Bay in Week 16) or if Seattle gets upset by the Browns or Rams. Even if the Cardinals lose both while the Seahawks sweep, Arizona would still be the favorite to win the division. That's because the Cardinals, which beat the Seahawks on the road in Week 10, hosts Seattle in the season-finale.
Being a wild-card team isn't necessarily a kiss of death. But the road to the Lombardi Trophy would get much longer -- literally and figuratively -- for the Seahawks.
But there's a good reason why only 10 wild cards have reached the Super Bowl with six winning it since that designation was added to the NFL's postseason format in 1970. Stringing together at least two and usually three straight road victories is a daunting task.
The challenge is compounded for the Seahawks because of the franchise’s locale. The most likely set-up has the No. 5 seed – a slot Seattle currently holds in the NFC playoff scenarios -- headed to play the NFC East winner and No. 6 seed journeying to meet the NFC North champs. Wherever the Seahawks would venture, the travel miles from the Pacific Northwest will start to accumulate and take a toll as the postseason unfolds.
The 2010 Green Bay Packers were the last wild-card team to reach and/or win a Super Bowl. The Seahawks have the potential to enjoy that type of run with the way they've played in recent weeks.
But if Seattle becomes the 22nd consecutive team that fails to make a return Super Bowl trip after losing in the championship game the previous season, nobody should be surprised. The dye was cast as the 2015 Seahawks were trying to create their own identity while recovering from the hangover caused by a devastating loss to New England.
