The playoffs show Seahawks held their own in the ultra tough NFC West

The Seattle Seahawks season was a huge disappointment, yes. But when you consider how the postseason has played out so far, the Hawks didn’t do so badly after all. I see the glass half-full here. Okay, maybe one-quarter full, but that’s still better than nearly empty.

I am not about to say that a 10-loss season is okay, nosiree. The Seahawks are used to the penthouse suite, not the basement. The 12s expect nothing less and should accept nothing less. The Hawks clearly feel the same way. The dismissal of Ken Norton Jr. is clear evidence of that -thank the football gods, at last.

That being said, let’s take a closer look at Seattle’s season. When you see how the postseason has played out so far, that 7-10 record looks a little better.  With a better than mediocre DC, the Hawks win a couple more games at the least. Without the injury to Russell Wilson – and the subsequent rush back to the lineup – Seattle wins at least another. Not a great season by any means, but 10-7 is more than a bit more palatable than what we got.

Seahawks record versus the dominant playoff teams was pretty darn good

I say what we got was better than those 10 losses show. Ultimately, it’s all about the scoreboard, I agree. But let’s look at those 10 losses. Out of conference, Seattle went 3-2. Nope, not great at all. But both of those losses were to playoff teams, Tennessee and Pittsburgh. They both made quick exits, it’s true, but they both made the postseason party. And as we’ve seen, anything can happen once you’re in.

As for conference games out of our division, the Seahawks didn’t fair well at all with a nearly inexplicable 1-5 record. Of the five losses, only one team, the Packers, had a winning record. And they got dumped from the playoffs. Channeling my inner Nelson: Ha – ha! The Vikings outplayed us, but the Football Team, the Saints, and the Bears losses were simply inexcusable.

But let’s talk about the team that knocked the Pack out of the playoffs, and their brethren of the NFC West. Most pundits pegged the division as the best in the league going into the season. I’d say the postseason results bear that out, wouldn’t you? Every team, with the gut-wrenching exception of your favorite, made the playoffs. Yes, the Cardinals lost, but only to the Rams. And the Niners not only dismissed the Cowboys but then throttled the Packers not-so-special teams for their second playoff win. The only team to keep an NFC West rival out of the Super Bowl will be another division team.

And how did our beloved Hawks fare against their division rivals? Okay, fine, the Rams treated us like their little brothers, again. For the second time in four years, Los Angeles swept the season series. The last time the Hawks pulled that off, they were the St Louis Rams, in 2013. Versus the Cardinals, the Hawks have had better luck.

Seattle was 1-1 versus Arizona this season, including the season finale which the Cards needed to win for a shot at the division title. As for the playoff surprise, the 49ers, our boys in navy, gray, and green sorted the Niners business with two of their losses.

Overall, that’s 3-3 in a division that has dominated the postseason. The NFC West is 4-1 so far while the rest of the conference is 1-4. The one loss, of course, was the result of the Rams escorting the Cardinals to the sidelines. I don’t think a 3-3 record against that group is such a terrible result after all. One of our rivals will be in the Super Bowl, and we all know how those teams are typically raided for both staff and roster. This one time, let’s go, NFC West.