Seahawks in real trouble, Packers rolling
Last year, the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers were the two best teams in the National Football League. The two teams appropriately met in the NFC Championship game in January at CenturyLink Field, with Seattle winning one of the more amazing games of all-time in overtime.
Coming into this season, it was expected that the Seahawks and Packers would both be great again, with a high likelihood that the two would meet in the conference title game once more. It seems only one will be arriving there.
The Packers are 6-0 and heading into their BYE wek with a ton of momentum. Despite having all sorts of injuries – headlined by wide receiver Jordy Nelson tearing his ACL in the preseason – Green Bay has been nothing short of a complete juggernaut. The Packers are riding the golden right arm of Aaron Rodgers and the tough running of Eddie Lacy, something that keeps opposing defenses wondering what to do.
Green Bay is going to win the NFC North, and is likely heading toward home-field advantage provided Rodgers stays healthy. Considering the Packers lose at Lambeau Field approximately once a decade, beating the Packers in January could be an almost impossible ask. Green Bay is a machine that can play both offense and defense, and it seems destined to go to its second Super Bowl in the Rodgers era.
Meanwhile, things are not looking so rosy for the two-time defending NFC champs. The Seahawks began the season 0-2 and then won a pair of games, albeit the second won coming controversially. It seemed all was right again when Seattle took a 24-7 lead in the fourth quarter last week against the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals, until an unthinkable event happened; the Legion of Boom collapsed.
Seattle blew the lead and lost in overtime, putting it at 2-3 and in a tie for second place with the St. Louis Rams in the NFC West. This week, most pundits believed the Seahawks would bounce back against the also-undefeated Carolina Panthers, with this game in Seattle. Instead, the Seahawks once again took a fourth-quarter lead (this time 23-14), only to watch the Panthers score two touchdowns in the final five minutes.
At this point, Seattle is 2-4 and would be lucky to reach the postseason. On Thursday night, the Seahawks play what almost amounts to an elimination game against the San Francisco 49ers, who are also 2-4. The game is in San Francisco, and the 49ers would love nothing more than to end its rival’s season in its building.
Two teams that both shared the same expectations coming into the campaign. One is right on course, and the other has drifted into oblivion, left only to wonder what had gone wrong.
