Seahawks to meet Saints in NFC divisional playoffs
Jan 4, 2014, 8:35 PM | Updated: Jan 5, 2014, 4:29 pm
By Brent Stecker
The Seahawks finally know who they will host in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs at 1:35 p.m. next Saturday: the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 26-24 in the wild card round Saturday on a last-second field goal by Shayne Graham to ensure next week’s meeting with Seattle.
The Saints will play the Seahawks, the NFC’s top seed, because they are the lowest-seeded wild card team. If they had lost, the Seahawks would have played the winner of Sunday’s Packers-49ers game, but now they can only meet either of those teams if they advance to the NFC championship game.
The Saints and Seahawks have plenty of history heading into their playoff battle.
The Seahawks defeated New Orleans in the infamous “Beast Quake” game, a 2011 NFC wild card playoff contest Seattle won 41-36 behind running back Marshawn Lynch’s 67-yard touchdown run in which he broke numerous tackles.
The Seahawks also own a dominant 34-7 “Monday Night Football” victory over the Saints on Dec. 2 at CenturyLink Field. In that game, Seattle held New Orleans to its lowest total of points since Sean Payton became the head coach in 2006, and its lowest total yards of offense (188) since Jan. 6, 2002. It was also the first time Saints quarterback Drew Brees didn’t break 200-yard mark passing since Week 17 of the 2010 season.
