A wild card team making it to the Super Bowl and winning it has happened before. But I don’t think there has ever been a wild card team like the Seattle Seahawks are this year.
The playoff picture in the NFC looks pretty cut and dry on paper. The respective No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals should be the odds-on favorite to make it to the conference championship. On paper it’s not close — Arizona has two wins on the third seed while Carolina has four.
Then you have the sixth seed, Seattle, the team that on paper just made the cut into the playoffs. They weren’t the same dominating team everyone had grown accustomed to. Jimmy Graham was a giant glamorous signing that ultimately did nothing. The human battering ram Marshawn Lynch went down with injuries. Kam Chancellor’s absence was felt on the defense and they looked like they were destined to have a mediocre finish.
But that was then. This is now, and right now Seattle is the most terrifying team left in the mix.
On the broader and more recent scale, Seattle is clicking at just the right time. The way they beat the Cardinals last week was more than just a win — it was a massacre, a public spanking. Look into the details and you’ve got Russell Wilson playing the best ball he’s ever played, Lynch returning to a backfield with a rejuvenated Christine Michael, Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett being almost uncoverable, and a defense that’s beginning to resemble the Seahawks of old. I don’t think there’s been a better sixth seed in the playoffs, and that’s even considering the ones that went on to win it.
I fully expect Seattle to make quick work of the Minnesota Vikings because I don’t think Minnesota has enough pop to keep up with them. Then, after that they’ll draw the Panthers, and I have to admit I like their odds against Cam Newton a lot. Cam beat them by just four points last time, but Seattle always responds in the playoffs. They’re battle tested and have always been clutch when they’ve needed it .
If Seattle keeps clicking like they have been, they’re going to run through the NFC and they’re going to be back in the Super Bowl. Don’t be surprised if that’s exactly what happens — it won’t be because of luck at all.
