What is the realistic pathway to a wildcard?

[TwistedHusky]

It should be pretty clear we will not win the division.

Handwringing aside, I think most expected this. We expected a wildcard, that is what the talent level seems to indicate.

Wilson is spectacular, but the tear he went on was unsustainable. Even great QBs have bad games. He seems to have them in the rain, but it is more when you rely on your QB to make plays, rain tends to diminish your QB's ability to make that impact.

Here the teams (hopefully besides us) that look playoff bound:

Rams
49ers
Packers
Cowboys
Vikings
Saints
Panthers

Some we have a better record than. But we certainly don't look to have a better team than any of these.

Our division will probably go to the 49ers. Leaving us to compete with the Rams for the WC.

Saints almost certainly get their division, but that leaves Panthers in the WC running.

Packers probably get their division, because the NFL seems to be regularly assisting their drives. That leaves the Vikings for the WC.

2 WC slots means it is Seahawks, Rams, Vikings, and Panthers for a playoff slot. I don't like our odds being the top 2 of those 4.

Thoughts?

 

[sutz]

Well, we won 2, lost 1. Then we won 3, lost 1.

We need to win the next 4, at least. :mrgreen:

The surest path to the wildcard is to continue to fight for the division title, and not give up on that until we are mathematically out of it.

:229031_shrug:

 

[Shanegotyou11]

Winning.

 

[TwistedHusky]

The remaining schedule still has what looks like 4 more losses in it.

We might get out with 3, I don't see less than that.

Can we still make a wildcard then?

Because it looks like we will be competing with a few 10 win teams for it.

 

[rcaido]

i think we will win our division...All we need to do is beat the 49ers twice.

 

[getnasty]

i think we will win our division...All we need to do is beat the 49ers twice.

Yeah let's pump the breaks on the Niners winning the division until we get a little further down the road. If the Seahawks would have won the way the Niners did against one of the worst teams in the league people would be freaking out.

 

[rcaido]

Also Panthers has to play against the following...
49ers
Packers
Saints x2
Colts
& Seahawks.

So you can rule them out...

We just need to win more than the Rams or Vikings. 1 of 3 chance to make it. Rams dont look so hot w/ Goof & Gurley not the same...Lots of injuries.

Vikings are hot and cold team. Can Cousins keep it up, will they turn on him again once they start losing or not getting enough passes?

Also, historically we are 2nd half team...We will get stronger, we are actually better shape than usual. Our defense look a lot better w/ Blair...Take out Thompson and put Amadi or Mcdougal. Reed will be back in football shape...I still feel optimistic.

 

[AgentDib]

Sitting at 5 wins now with the following forecast:
57% @Falcons
76% Bucs
38% @49ers
60% @Eagles
56% Vikings
37% @Rams
33% @Panthers
78% Cardinals
52% 49ers

Which translates to the following W/L records:
6-10 1%
7-9 7%
8-8 19%
9-7 29%
10-6 26%
11-5 14%
12-4 4%
13-3 1%

Of course NFL games are dependent events and so there is a still a much better chance of extreme outcomes than shown above. There's a real possibility that the Seahawks could materially improve over the remainder of the season due to a few reasons:
- Seahawks fare better than opponents when it comes to key injuries.
- Jarran Reed and Ziggy Ansah significantly bolster the defensive line.
- Seahawks youth gains experience and makes increasingly positive contributions

I wouldn't rule out 12+ wins for those reasons even if it seems very unlikely today.

 

[Uncle Si]

It should be pretty clear we will not win the division.

Handwringing aside, I think most expected this. We expected a wildcard, that is what the talent level seems to indicate.

Wilson is spectacular, but the tear he went on was unsustainable. Even great QBs have bad games. He seems to have them in the rain, but it is more when you rely on your QB to make plays, rain tends to diminish your QB's ability to make that impact.

Here the teams (hopefully besides us) that look playoff bound:

Rams
49ers
Packers
Cowboys
Vikings
Saints
Panthers

Some we have a better record than. But we certainly don't look to have a better team than any of these.

Our division will probably go to the 49ers. Leaving us to compete with the Rams for the WC.

Saints almost certainly get their division, but that leaves Panthers in the WC running.

Packers probably get their division, because the NFL seems to be regularly assisting their drives. That leaves the Vikings for the WC.

2 WC slots means it is Seahawks, Rams, Vikings, and Panthers for a playoff slot. I don't like our odds being the top 2 of those 4.

Thoughts?

I like the Seahawks chances over the Rams and Panthers

 

[HawkerD]

i think we will win our division...All we need to do is beat the 49ers twice.

Yeah let's pump the breaks on the Niners winning the division until we get a little further down the road. If the Seahawks would have won the way the Niners did against one of the worst teams in the league people would be freaking out.

did you see that soup bowl they were playing in? Fedex Field continues to be a catastrophe.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

Win the next 2, an absolute must. If you want to be a playoff team you beat inferior teams and Atl and TB are inferior, pure and simple.
From that point forward, win 4 of 7 which gets you to 11-5 and will get a WC slot.

 

[nanomoz]

Two out of the Panthers, Cowboys, and Vikings will stumble a bunch in the last third of the season. You can already tell that the Cowboys are erratic as hell. And the Vikes have similar issues as Seattle, but dont have the late-season track record that Seattle does.

If the Hawks win the next two, and they should, it would be a surprise if a Pete and Russ team couldn't at least win four of seven the rest of the way.