Can Anyone Beat the Seattle Seahawks at Home in the Playoffs?

A fact of life in the NFL is that the 8-5 Seattle Seahawks are just a different kind of team at home. Led by rookie quarterback Russell Wilson, running back Marshawn Lynch and a swarming defense, Seattle has compiled a 2-5 road record while sweeping all six of their home games.

It has knocked off the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals within the confines of CenturyLink Field. The early-season wins may have been close and/or controversial, but the Seahawks have worked their last three visitors by increasingly impressive margins. They bested the Vikings by 10 points (30-20), beat the Jets by 21 (28-7) and body-slammed the Cardinals, 58-0.

Fifty-eight. To nothing.

Nobody is mistaking Arizona for a playoff team—it isn’t September anymore—but there’s something to be said for taking care of business like that against another NFL squad. Those guys collect checks too.

With its remaining schedule, assuming that Seattle is a playoff-bound squad makes sense. The Seahawks could conceivably win out with a trip to Buffalo in Week 15 and two more home games (against the San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Rams) following that.

They’ll most likely have to beat the 49ers to have a shot at winning the NFC West crown and the opportunity to host a playoff home game. If they beat San Francisco in the regular season—and Richard Sherman wins his suspension appeal—they can do it again in Seattle in the postseason.

Currently, the Atlanta Falcons are the only team that is unlikely to make the trip to Seattle under any circumstances this season by virtue of being a higher seed. It could conceivably happen to anyone else, which should be a major concern for the Seahawks’ conference rivals.

As a Seahawks opponent, you know you’re going to be in for a long day when Seattle’s defense plays as well as it does at home in addition to Wilson’s stellar home-field play. The Seahawks are allowing 12.3 points per game in front of the “12th Man.”

Wilson has thrown 12 touchdowns in Seattle—and just one interception.

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