The Seahawks are the luckiest team in the NFL.

There, I said it. Begin the ranting and raving.

You probably think that's the most absurd thing you've heard since the season started. Wouldn't a luckier team be the Cowboys, whose decision to sign TO hasn't become the worst signing in NFL history, and whose quarterback switch has worked out amazingly well?  Or what about the Raiders? Isn't the worst team in the NFL lucky to draw sixty-thousand suckers to every home game?

Maybe. But they're not as lucky as the Seattle Seahawks.

It all comes down to injuries, really. Shaun Alexander has been out for 6 games.  Matt Hasselbeck has missed four weeks, and will be rusty this Sunday against Green Bay.  Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack, Robbie Tobeck, Marcus Tubbs, Bobby Engram, and Jerramy Stevens have all missed time. The Seahawks are one of the most banged-up teams in the league.

And they're still sitting atop the NFC West at 6-4.

The Seahawks are leading the West thanks to an easy schedule and a laughable division. How laughable? How about this: No team in NFC West has scored more points than its opponents.  While San Francisco is beginning to make a run at the division lead—as evidenced by their 20-14 win over Seattle last week—I don't think anyone honestly believes the 49ers have a serious playoff push in them.  At best, they're a wild card destined for a first-round exit.

Which leaves the door open for the Seahawks, despite their crowded injury list. Much of the credit should go to kicker Josh Brown, whose heroics against Detroit and in two wins over the Rams make him a frontrunner for team MVP. Half of Seattle's wins, in fact, have come on the strength of Brown's leg.

But luck and field goals will only take you so far, and sooner or later the, Hawks have got to regain at least a touch of last year's form if they want to challenge for a first-round bye in the playoffs. Getting Hasselbeck back this week will help. So will the remainder of their schedule, which should be a cakewalk outside of matchups against Denver and San Diego. If Seattle can win one of those two toughies—and not blow any of the four easy ones—they'll finish at 11-5—which should be good enough to beat everyone in the NFC not called the Bears.

Not that anything is guaranteed, of course. The problem is that nobody really knows what to expect from Seattle; they've been an up-and-down team for the entire season, and they could still lose more key players to injury. What's worse, their run defense has been pitiful of late, and their pass defense—improving though it is suspect. Bottom line: The 'Hawks have a long way to go before they convince themselves and the league that they're truly the class of the NFC—and Mike Holmgren has his work cut out for him if he wants to lead his squad back to the Super Bowl.

As for the Seattle faithful—the boys are making us nervous. We all said that they'd break the Super Bowl Losers Curse, and that Shaun wouldn't get hit with the Madden Jinx—but now we're not so sure. Yeah, the Seahawks have had plenty of luck in 2006. We're just hoping it doesn't run out.