Getting players back from injury and having a much healthier Marshawn Lynch should make it easier for the Seattle Seahawks to put their disappointing start of the season behind and head off towards what they’ve done the last two seasons: Win their division.
Now, they are two games behind the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West. They have two games remaining with the Cardinals in what should be a feast for the eyes for those who love physical football, but more importantly, determine who finishes first in a division that’s changing: Suddenly the St. Louis Rams are good (and we haven’t forgotten about them either, and the San Francisco 49ers keep their quick, painful downward spiral towards irrelevance.
The Seahawks are getting players back from injury: Jeremy Lane, Paul Richardson. Not huge game changers, but the Seahawks have been successful built on a lot of small pieces doing a lot together. It’s not going to automatically fix the problems they have on both sides of the ball, but it gives Pete Carroll a little bit more to work with, and he’s been needing more help than ever this season.
The schedule might help. Playing the 49ers has been an automatic gimme for them this season. The Cleveland Browns are a joke, and the Steelers without Ben Roethlisberger, even on the road (where the Seahawks have plenty of problems), aren’t very daunting. The Seahawks might still not make the playoffs if they hover around the .500, but it’s too early to tell what’s going to be enough for the 5-6-7-8 spots in the NFC.
One thing worth mentioning is how close the Seahawks games have been this season, except for two. Three of their losses have been by four points or less; two of their wins have been by three points or less. The Seahawks were one bad officiating call away from starting the season 1-3. It didn’t take much for them to lose against a Dallas Cowboys team missing their starting quarterback. The Seahawks are far from fully functioning, but it’s not unreasonable to think it’ll get better from now on.