The Seattle Seahawks have officially punched their ticket to the 2025 postseason. We don\u2019t know yet what seed, and likely won\u2019t know until the final game of the season. But they are going, with as good a chance of making some noise as we\u2019ve seen in some time.<\/p>\n
The NFC itself has taken some shape this weekend as well, with the Dallas Cowboys being eliminated from The Dance. There will be minimal shakeup over the next two weeks, so it\u2019s time to rank the Seahawks potential playoff opponents. First up: desirability<\/p>\n
Playoff matchups ranked by most favorable matchup<\/p>\n
The Packers suddenly look like the most obvious one-and-done in the NFC. What a crazy unfortunate turn of events for them. With Jordan Love and Micah Parsons, this was going to be my second-least desired matchup for Seattle. Without them\u2026 Green Bay has lost to two playoff teams in a row.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s incredibly unlikely they\u2019d miss the playoffs outright. It\u2019s just as unlikely that the current version of this team is going to advance their way to face the Seahawks, and it would be a lopsided matchup if they did.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re starting to play better, aren\u2019t they? On the whole, they\u2019re actually not. Bryce Young threw 3 TD on 20 pass attempts against the Rams, and they forced three interceptions. That\u2019s a recipe for playoff success. On either side of that, they\u2019ve lost to the New Orleans Saints twice. Rico Dowdle has come back down to earth, Chuba Hubbard is very fun to say, I don\u2019t know. These guys are interesting, but not intimidating.<\/p>\n
Carolina did beat Tampa Bay, and Bryce Young to Tet McMillan has become impressive, but they\u2019re not trustworthy enough, especially if they have to go on the road. I\u2019ll take the Panthers number one.<\/p>\n
What a Saturday game! Still – for matchup and quarterback purposes, we\u2019d happily take Chicago. The Bears have a wonderful run game – 2nd best in the league. That plays straight into the strength of Seattle once again – they\u2019re 4th in the NFL in run defense and only Sean McVay has found any true weaknesses.<\/p>\n
Once those two cancel out, Caleb Williams is the QB on this list I trust the least. Williams has six games with fewer than 6.2 Yards per Attempt. Sam Darnold has one.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s Williams dancing literal circles around the NFL, which finally worked against the Anemic Bay Packers but would work far, far less against Mike Macdonald and Nick Emmanwori.<\/p>\n
4. The Santa Clara 49ers of San Francisco<\/p>\n
May be a controversial take to some. This could also age terribly in two weeks. But I do not fear any of these seven offenses except Los Angeles, and that includes San Francisco. They are the strangest, most fraudulent 11-win team I think I\u2019ve ever seen. Are we congratulating them for beating the Indianapolis Colts on MNF? The team without both starting tackles, their starting center went down, bupkis of a secondary, and Philip Rivers still put up double everything he did against Seattle. Christian McCaffrey would be the one who could do some damage against the Seahawks, but it\u2019s not enough. Especially considering he hadn\u2019t done it on the ground all year until Monday.<\/p>\n
The matchup here is just not good now. The defense does not have the pass-rush juice to wreck Sam Darnold, the run game is terrible, and it will result in Brock Purdy needing to do too many heroic throws. Not this year\u2019s Purdy. Not this year\u2019s Seattle secondary.<\/p>\n
They beat the Seahawks in Week 1, and a crazy game against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 5. But they also have eight wins against teams with a combined 33 wins. 4.125 total wins per opponent. Frauds.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s call all five of these first teams low fear. The Eagles tried their darnedest to get the whole zip code fired and not even make the postseason, but the Dallas Cowboys beat them to it. They bring with them the unenjoyable prospect of having to defend Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts on the ground, but they also bring mass amounts of dysfunction.<\/p>\n
Hurts and company will be forced to nearly abandon the pass game against Seattle. Only Williams and Young have a lower EPA per play from the playoff hopefuls.<\/p>\n
Once again, a team with an inconsistent pass attack must rely on the run, and that is good news for the Seahawks. Again, Championship teams have a way of pulling out championship mentality, which is why Philadelphia isn\u2019t any lower on the list, but undoubtedly Seattle would be the betting favorite in a head-to-head.<\/p>\n
Struggling with this one. Primarily because the Lions have almost the smallest shot of even making the postseason on this list. Technically, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a better chance <\/a>of winning their division.<\/p>\n