Seahawks, Pete Carroll and Bye Weeks

While most of the NFL is battered and bruised after a tough Sunday of football, the Seattle Seahawks are just getting back to work after a much-needed week off. It was their bye week, and a chance for the banged up Seahawks to get healthy.

In a scheduling oddity, the Arizona Cardinals are also coming off their bye. The two teams will go into Sunday’s game in Seattle well rested and mostly free of minor injuries. Having opponents both coming off of their bye is very rare in the NFL.

This is just the second time in the Pete Carroll era that the Seahawks have been at home following their bye week. For some reason, the NFL likes to make Seattle travel after their week off.

Perhaps surprisingly, the Seahawks have a winning record in those games. Considering all the road game and that the Seahawks were definitely not a good football team for the first two years, their winning record is significant.

The two losses in those games are interesting in their own right. The Cleveland game in 2011 was a game in which the Seahawks were without starting QB Tarvaris Jackson, TE Zach Miller and C Max Unger. Then just before kickoff, RB Marshawn Lynch’s back problems flared up and he also couldn’t play. The entire gameplay had to be thrown out.

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In the Miami game the following season, the Seahawks twice gave up a lead 4th quarter. The lack of a pass rush was apparent, and foreshadowed Seattle’s eventual struggle to close out their playoff game against the Falcons.

Overall though, Seahawks fans have to feel confident about the team’s post-bye-week record under head coach Pete Carroll. This is an important home game for Seattle, and one this team cannot afford to lose.