3 reasons Seahawks fans should not panic after upset loss to Giants
By John Buhler
2. Relax, you are a playoff team and you play in a division that is still up for grabs
Though losing at home to a backup quarter leading a sub-.500 team is a bitter pill to swallow, relax, Seahawks fans, relax. Your favorite football team is 8-4 on the season and it is not like you play in a division headlined by someone like the Kansas City Chiefs, the New Orleans Saints or the Pittsburgh Steelers. You are competing with other teams that are about as good as you are.
The NFC West will presumably get three teams into the playoffs this year: Seattle, the Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams. While the Cardinals are at 6-6, they have looked more like a playoff at times then they have not. Also, the San Francisco 49ers are not going away quietly, although they are not repeating as division champs. It comes down to the Rams or Seahawks.
Though a top-two seed in the NFC feels like it is out of the reach at this point, as the Green Bay Packers and the Saints will be duking it out for No. 1 and No. 2, Seattle should feel great about its chances to get one of five spots between No. 3 and No. 7. Because they have proven they can win on the road, seeding really does not matter for this NFC West-contending team all that much.
The other important thing to know here is playoff contenders like the Cardinals and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have not been to the postseason in a while. They are quality teams, but they are in untrodden territory to some extent. Since the Seahawks always make the playoffs, history will repeat itself. Come January, you have to like Seattle’s chances to win a playoff game or two.