NFC playoff seeding--too soon?

[Lords of Scythia]

Is it too soon to start watching the playoff standings? Or presumptuous to be talking about the Super Bowl at this point? We need to get one of the top 2, or we'll have a hell of a tough road just to get to the SB. Vikes and Eagles are ahead of us, the former plays on MNF, and both are on our schedule. Atlanta has the same record we do--that game in two weeks is looking huge.

Go HAWKS!

 

[FortWorthSeahawk]

Yeah, it's a little early in my opinion. Usually halfway through the season is a good starting point.

And I don't think we play Minnesota in the regular season this year, but I could be wrong.

 

[Lords of Scythia]

The seeding you end up with at the end is decided by these early games, especially Atlanta and Philly--we'd be bumping them and getting the tiebreaker. My bad on Minn, I was looking at the preseason schedule.

 

[BocciHawk]

One thing I really like about the schedule this year is that we do have many head to head opportunities to get tiebreakers and record advantages over other typical NFC contenders. It's a great schedule for that reason.

(I also think that it is important to play tough teams in the regular season -- otherwise you get to the playoffs, the intensity jumps up a level, and you might also be playing a team that's a lot better than you've faced before. I really like the NFC West for precisely this reason, it always seems there's another good team or two in our division, so we get lots of reps against tough teams... but it's even better when we get to play teams out of the division that are strong teams.)

 

[Lords of Scythia]

I agree about the division. Even when the Rams sucked, they still tested us hellishly. Either the Cards or Niners have always been an elite team we had to deal with in the reg season. Even last year, or even Wilson's rookie year, the Hawks have never looked intimidated by the teams they faced in the playoffs.

GO HAWKS!

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

Is it too soon to start watching the playoff standings?
Go HAWKS!

Not at all. But I'd caution that really this early, you don't win playoff seeding. You merely lose the opportunity for it.

Teams like Arizona and Carolina. They are done in the race for a playoff bye already. Just as we were last year with our stumble out of the blocks.

So it's worth watching in the sense that it exposes the teams that play their way out of the standings picture. Thus far, the ones to emerge after the first month should be very encouraging if you're a Seahawks fan. Not many of these teams look to have the kind of consistency that you'd expect them to maintain their momentum (Philly, Dallas, Green Bay, LA, Atlanta).

So far, so good.

 

[RussB]

Not at all. Its already a quarter through the season. Some teams have already dug themselves into a hole like the cardinals and panthers. Meanwhile hawks are 3-1 with a bye week. Having good start to the season always helps late.

 

[RussB]

Good thing for the seahawks is that they started early. We already know they rally late so having a good start will help in the race for the #1 seed and a first round bye. They arent trying to go back to over .500 at this stage like they were last season.

 

[Hawkpower]

Teams like AZ and Carolina would essentially have to go 11-1 or 10-2 down the stretch to challenge for HFA.

Probably not going to happen. As we know, starting slow takes away your room for error later in the year.

So then you turn your attention to teams like GB, Minnesota and maybe an NFC east team as the only other viable threats at a top two seed.

Gotta keep winning, but it sets up nicely as of now.

 

[JesterHawk]

The main thing to look at earlier on in the season is number of losses. Early losses make #1 or #2 seeding very tough to obtain. You have to figure #1 and #2 seeds are usually going to be of the 12-4 variety, or 11-5 with a pile of tie breakers assessed. So if you drop 2-3 games in the first 4 weeks it gets a lot harder to be in the discussion. Most of the NFC has lost a game already - which bodes well for us.