The second season starts now. The first weekend of the NFL playoffs is finally here and will conclude on Sunday when the Seattle Seahawks face off against the Philadelphia Eagles on the road.
Sunday’s showdown between the Seahawks and Eagles will be a rematch of their Week 12 meeting in which Seattle slugged out a 17-9 defensive win over the Birds. Unfortunately for the Seahawks, rematches haven’t exactly been their thing lately.
Over the past two years, the Seahawks are a measly 1-6 when they play in-season rematch games, with their only win coming in Week 17 of last year when they beat the Cardinals on a last-second field goal. Blame attrition, questionable coaching, opposing teams figuring Seattle out, or just bad luck, but whatever it is, the end result is still the Seahawks struggling to beat teams again.
A lot has changed for the Seahawks and their Eagles following their first game this year. Seattle was looking like perhaps the best team in the conference and competing for home-field advantage, while the Eagles appeared to be destined to miss the postseason.
Now the Seahawks enter the playoffs as a wild card, losers of three out of their last four games, including two straight at home. The Eagles, however, have gone 4-1, won a division title, and quarterback Carson Wentz hasn’t thrown an interception since Week 13.
Both these teams overcame significant injuries to limp into the postseason, but they are trending in opposite directions.
Prediction: Eagles upset the Seahawks 24-20
The narrative surrounding Philadelphia has been how injured their receiving corps is, however it hasn’t seemed to slow them down as Wentz just became the first 4,000+ yard passer to not have one receiving target reach at least 500 yards.
Eagles receiver Greg Ward gave the Seahawks defense difficulty last time, and since then has gone on to be a solid option for Wentz in the passing attack.
Conversely, Seattle’s injuries have completely reshaped this team. The loss of running backs Chris Carson, Rashaad Penny – who ripped off a 58-yard touchdown run the last time these teams met – and C.J. Prosise has hindered the Seahawks offense. While the constant flow of injuries on the other side of the ball has taken the teeth out of the defense.
When these teams met last, the Seahawks offense already was struggling and really relied on the defense – specifically the pass rush – to secure a win. Seattle’s defense hasn’t been what it was during its peak stretch in the middle of the season, and the pass rush is nonexistent.
The Seahawks have one of the worst road playoff records in league history with a record of only 3-12. While two of those wins came during the Pete Carroll/Russell Wilson era, Seattle has also lost its last three road playoff games. Most recently coming last year when the team lost to the NFC East Champion Cowboys when the Seahawks were the No. 5 seed as well.
