So much for our backloaded schedule

At the start of the season, the conventional wisdom was that our last 8 games would be the toughest part of our schedule, with the Pats, Pack, Cats, and Cards lining up to take a shot at us. But that was in September. Here on Turkey Day and on the cusp of our playoff drive, we have the easiest schedule remaining of all 32 NFL teams, with no one currently sporting a winning record.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... -schedule/

I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch, but we have a good chance of running the table and locking up at least a first round bye if not HFA if the 'Pukes stub their toes a couple of times.

Just goes to show you the difficulty of handicapping strength of schedule at the start of the season.

With our current rash of injuries and the parity in the league this season, I would not consider ANY of our remaining games easy AT ALL.

I dislike the "static steady state" view of NFL teams. Teams rise and fall, peak and dip, throughout the season.

We are a much tougher team against Philadelphia than we were against Los Angeles. We change over time. We are a "second half team". We know this about ourselves, but somehow when it comes to opposition, they are what their record says they are regardless of changing circumstances.

Carolina at 4-6 should be a pushover, but remember they started badly and have won 3 out of the last 4. Treat them as a 4-6 team at your own risk.

Tampa has a lot of confidence after a big win on the road in Kansas City.

Los Angeles always plays us tough and we will only have 4 days of recovery/preparation after Green Bay.

This is not a skate-through schedule, and may prove tougher than it looks on paper.

Given that in the past 4 seasons we have split second halves evenly between going 7-1 and 6-2, it's a reasonable expectation that we will lose only one or two again this season. Unlike other teams, the Hawks have been very consistent that way.

I don't care what their records are, I don't think any of those game will be easy.

@TB - travel, injuries and TB has won 2 straight and coming off a good win at the Chiefs
CAR - this is always a close games
@GB - having a down year, but will still be a tough out at home

Last 3 are division games which are always tough.

KiwiHawk":1b25xuda said:

I dislike the "static steady state" view of NFL teams. Teams rise and fall, peak and dip, throughout the season.

We are a much tougher team against Philadelphia than we were against Los Angeles. We change over time. We are a "second half team". We know this about ourselves, but somehow when it comes to opposition, they are what their record says they are regardless of changing circumstances.

Carolina at 4-6 should be a pushover, but remember they started badly and have won 3 out of the last 4. Treat them as a 4-6 team at your own risk.

Tampa has a lot of confidence after a big win on the road in Kansas City.

Los Angeles always plays us tough and we will only have 4 days of recovery/preparation after Green Bay.

This is not a skate-through schedule, and may prove tougher than it looks on paper.

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This is critical thinking at work. Very well stated. The static view is convenient. It allows you to think you have a grasp of things based simply on a win column and a loss column.

LolaRox":2wkjbc78 said:

I don't care what their records are, I don't think any of those game will be easy.

@TB - travel, injuries and TB has won 2 straight and coming off a good win at the Chiefs
CAR - this is always a close games
@GB - having a down year, but will still be a tough out at home

Last 3 are division games which are always tough.

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Good argument.

But it seems like a lot of posts (okay, not you necessarily) express anxiety about coming games, especially the immediate one up next on Sunday, because of a need to feel that anxiety, that addictive nervousness, that want for it to be a cliffhanger of a game. Which is a perfectly natural thing. But here's the real deal:

This Seahawks team may be the best one EVER. We should EXPECT great victories from here on out. And APPLAUD them for their effort even if they do lose a tough game or two down the stretch.

LeftHandSmoke":paej440q said:

Given that in the past 4 seasons we have split second halves evenly between going 7-1 and 6-2, it's a reasonable expectation that we will lose only one or two again this season. Unlike other teams, the Hawks have been very consistent that way.

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With Britt out for who knows how long and Earl freaking Thomas also sidelined, we've taken an equally large hit on both sides of the ball. One side can't really bail the other out right now. I'd lean toward the Bucs pulling this one out at home. Winston will challenge us in a way were Earl's absense will be felt. That latest coach speak about Terrell fell upon my deaf ears. He has proven nothing in any of his chances at starting.

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LeftHandSmoke":2c0fc3on said:

LolaRox":2c0fc3on said:

I don't care what their records are, I don't think any of those game will be easy.

@TB - travel, injuries and TB has won 2 straight and coming off a good win at the Chiefs
CAR - this is always a close games
@GB - having a down year, but will still be a tough out at home

Last 3 are division games which are always tough.

Click to expand...

Good argument.

But it seems like a lot of posts (okay, not you necessarily) express anxiety about coming games, especially the immediate one up next on Sunday, because of a need to feel that anxiety, that addictive nervousness, that want for it to be a cliffhanger of a game. Which is a perfectly natural thing. But here's the real deal:

This Seahawks team may be the best one EVER. We should EXPECT great victories from here on out. And APPLAUD them for their effort even if they do lose a tough game or two down the stretch.

Click to expand...

And injuries to key players with crap replacements have absolutely no effect.

Let's all bury our heads in the sand because there is so much less stress when you don't have to deal what's real.

Take a rain check on the facts, then freak out after losing to a team that we 'should have beat.' The forum is so much fun when that happens. We are good WITH Earl, as we are good WITH Bennett and Britt. There is not enough sunshine in the world to compensate for losing all of them at once.

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This happens every week without fail- people freaking out about how the sky is falling with the Seahawks. Well it's not. And we will destroy the Bucs. And we will destroy the Panthers. The Packers could be closer than those other two, but we will win. There. :mrgreen:

Seahwkgal":13667776 said:

With our current rash of injuries and the parity in the league this season, I would not consider ANY of our remaining games easy AT ALL.

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This exactly. Great point!

This is the dig the NFL has over every other source of entertainment. You just never know. Which injury tips the balance of winning or losing. The NFL game comes down to specific matchups every game. How much time was spent in practice to counter a couple of players tendencies. The Hawks like to not worry about that and rely on honing their own skill sets that should cover 90% of what they will see, the difference will be made up with just pure dominance by elite players. When elite players start dropping like flies, things get interesting, this game against the Bucs is one of those. Tampa has a couple of players that need to be focused on, one of which is the QB.

I could see the Hawks dropping this game, easily. No ET or Bennet on D to create confusion / havoc. If Rawls was a large part of the weekly game plan and gets hurt early, the game plan goes out the window and RW better be able to run to account for the loss of the running back.

No game should be considered an easy win, none. The latest rendition of the Hawks has been very predictable, but not perfect.

Do I think the Hawks will win, yes. Would I say yes before hand, no. I will say they wont be blown out and the game will be close thought.

RiverDog":21rtgn3i said:

At the start of the season, the conventional wisdom was that our last 8 games would be the toughest part of our schedule, with the Pats, Pack, Cats, and Cards lining up to take a shot at us. But that was in September. Here on Turkey Day and on the cusp of our playoff drive, we have the easiest schedule remaining of all 32 NFL teams, with no one currently sporting a winning record.

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FWIW, Football Ousiders with their DVOA analysis, has our remaining schedule ranked at 27th most difficult... not at 32nd.

As long as the Lions and Falcons don't run the table, 4-2 would be enough to clinch a first round bye at 11-4-1. 5-1 would give us the 2nd seed for sure.

I think it's a very likely scenario we win at least 4 more games so it's looking good.

Seahwkgal":3jx6ijgk said:

With our current rash of injuries and the parity in the league this season, I would not consider ANY of our remaining games easy AT ALL.

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I didn't say it was going to be easy. But the fact is that we have A LOT easier post Thanksgiving schedule than what it appeared to be 10 weeks ago. The Packers, Cards, and Panthers all look a lot less intimidating than they did at the start of the season. How many of us predicted that at this point, all 3 of those teams would be sub .500? Those 3 teams, along with us, were the most often mentioned as being favored to win the NFC.

Considering what we've been through, I'm pleased with our current predicament. It could have been A LOT worse.

Seahwkgal":2jvjbtu4 said:

With our current rash of injuries and the parity in the league this season, I would not consider ANY of our remaining games easy AT ALL.

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This is true. Remember a couple years ago when we were down to Tampa at home 21-0?

Anything can and will happen. we also play the Rams like a bunch of sissys lately. Each week is a prove it, and has nothing to do with the past.

nanomoz":24o3grwa said:

KiwiHawk":24o3grwa said:

I dislike the "static steady state" view of NFL teams. Teams rise and fall, peak and dip, throughout the season.

We are a much tougher team against Philadelphia than we were against Los Angeles. We change over time. We are a "second half team". We know this about ourselves, but somehow when it comes to opposition, they are what their record says they are regardless of changing circumstances.

Carolina at 4-6 should be a pushover, but remember they started badly and have won 3 out of the last 4. Treat them as a 4-6 team at your own risk.

Tampa has a lot of confidence after a big win on the road in Kansas City.

Los Angeles always plays us tough and we will only have 4 days of recovery/preparation after Green Bay.

This is not a skate-through schedule, and may prove tougher than it looks on paper.

Click to expand...

This is critical thinking at work. Very well stated. The static view is convenient. It allows you to think you have a grasp of things based simply on a win column and a loss column.

Click to expand...

I agree, it's a good post. Problem is, we've changed (we do every year) but some things stay historically consistent: the Cards play us tougher at home than away, the Rams have won 4 of the last 6 against us, and the Panthers are a team that plays us very close and we almost never blow them out.

On paper, it's an easy schedule. We should know better.

I will say that GB looks a lot worse than I thought they would, and I still think we win at least 11 games.

I would always laugh at the idea of SOS in April.

KiwiHawk":1th7tiy3 said:

I dislike the "static steady state" view of NFL teams. Teams rise and fall, peak and dip, throughout the season.

We are a much tougher team against Philadelphia than we were against Los Angeles. We change over time. We are a "second half team". We know this about ourselves, but somehow when it comes to opposition, they are what their record says they are regardless of changing circumstances.

Carolina at 4-6 should be a pushover, but remember they started badly and have won 3 out of the last 4. Treat them as a 4-6 team at your own risk.

Tampa has a lot of confidence after a big win on the road in Kansas City.

Los Angeles always plays us tough and we will only have 4 days of recovery/preparation after Green Bay.

This is not a skate-through schedule, and may prove tougher than it looks on paper.

Click to expand...

I just wanted to call attention to this again.