Seattle atop NFC West and NFC Playoff Standings
The Seattle Seahawks return to action this week after enjoying a bye week during Week 12.
The New Orleans Saints visit Seattle to take on the Seahawks in Monday Night Football action on December 2.
Currently Seattle sits atop the NFC West standings by three games over both the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals.
Only five weeks remain in the regular season and it would require Seattle to have a major collapse for either Arizona or San Francisco to catch the Seahawks.
In the NFC Playoff picture, the Seahawks are also atop the standings. Seattle, New Orleans, Dallas and Detroit are currently the division leaders. Seattle holds the best overall record, which comes in handy for home field advantage during the playoffs.
Monday Night’s game versus New Orleans will likely determine which of the two is the overall No. 1 seed for the postseason.
Behind the Seahawks and Saints is a group of teams that are fighting for the postseason, but most likely will not know until the last week of the regular season whether they qualify or not.
Due to this being a bye week, a press conference was not held by Peter Carroll the Seattle head coach. Therefore, there was not an update on injuries. Regardless, the Seahawks are very healthy.
Only two players might have not played, if the Seahawks would have played this past weekend.
Brandon Browner a cornerback is one and he was suspended by the league on Monday anyway. He is expected to miss the rest of the season and the start of 2014.
Jermaine Kearse is the only question mark for Monday’s game. Kearse sustained a concussion versus Minnesota in Week 11. Before Kearse is allowed to play again, he must pass a protocol set up by the NFL. Fourteen players were in Seattle’s injury report heading into the bye, but all were available to play and all should be suited up for the game next Monday.
According to reports, two players for Seattle were suspended by the NFL for violating the substance abuse policy of the league.
Brando Browner as mentioned earlier has been suspended for a complete year, while Walter Thurmond was given a suspension of four games. Both are defensive backs for the Seahawks.
This was not needed by the team as they attempt to win a division crown and the top seed in the NFC.
Now Seattle has lost two of its best cornerbacks heading to a game against the pass-happy Saints and quarterback Drew Brees.
However, Seattle has great depth at that position and should be able to play without the two, as they did for the last four games of last season.
Regardless of the suspensions, the Seahawks are poised to have a strong finish to their regular season and head into the postseason with the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
