That’s the Seahawks’ advantage in NFC West as they enter the stretch race



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The rest of the season is going better for the Seahawks than for the Rams. (Getty)

Everyone knew that the Seahawks’ five-game streak after the break was going to partly define the season.

Huard: What the Seahawks need to do to win the NFC West

The Seahawks started 2020 5-0, but they knew they had trouble ahead. They played five games against teams that had winning records. Three of the matches were on the road. Three were in the NFC West. It wasn’t going to be easy and it wasn’t.

Seattle finished the streak 2-3 and sat tied with the Los Angeles Rams for the NFC West lead, although the Rams had the tiebreaker due to their win over the Seahawks. Now the Seahawks are entering the easier part of the program.

They face three teams in the NFC East starting with Monday night’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. They face the New York Giants, New York Jets and the Washington football team. Where the San Francisco 49ers had to make the long trip to Metlife Stadium in New Jersey to face the Jets and Giants in consecutive weeks, the Giants and Jets must make the long trip to Seattle in consecutive weeks. .

Seattle Advantage.

Because the Seahawks have a chance to go 4-0 in those next four games, they could go into Week 16 when they host the Rams with an 11-3 record. What have we learned over the past five weeks? The Rams at this time may find it difficult to stay with them. In the next four games, Los Angeles will face San Francisco, Arizona, New England and the Jets before arriving in Seattle. Chances are the Rams will lose one or two of those games.

Seattle has learned how good the Rams have become. They’re great on defense, pretty good on offense, and they’re a factor. But if they lose a game or two, they may have to come to Seattle in the face of the possibility of being knocked out of the NFC West title race. The Rams also end the season with a second game with the Cardinals.

As it stands, we pretty much know the picture of the playoffs. It will be three teams from the NFC West (Seattle, Rams and Arizona), two teams from the NFC South (New Orleans and Tampa Bay), plus Green Bay and someone from the dreaded NFC East. There aren’t enough tough games for any of these teams to have a big drop. All are expected to win 10 or more games except for the NFC Est teams.

What’s interesting is that you have older quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers in the south and north, while in the west it’s Kyler Murray’s young quarterbacks, Russell Wilson. and Jared Goff (and who care about the NFC East).

Basically the Seahawks have a four-game streak in which they should win and should be able to prepare for the Rams. Over the past two weeks, the defense has improved. Defensive end Carlos Dunlap had 3.5 sacks in three games. That’s more than Jadeveon Clowney, who had three of the Seahawks’ 28 sacks last year, combined 2019 and 2020. Dunlap has already helped take the Seahawks to 25 sacks in 10 games. They may not be 40 years old, but they are on the right track.

Things should improve in high school with the return of cornerback Shaquill Griffin. Safety Jamal Adams always looks great. Also, the Seahawks could bring back cornerback Quinton Dunbar for the Rams game.

The other important thing is that the racing game has to be good. Carlos Hyde played well against the Cardinals and Chris Carson is expected to be back for the Eagles game. This will help Wilson not to overdo it and eliminate that recent four-game streak where he had 10 turnovers.

Follow John Clayton on Twitter.

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