Seahawks’ 2017 home and away opponents finalized
Jan 1, 2017, 11:55 PM | Updated: Jan 2, 2017, 8:57 am
The Seahawks will play the Packers at Lambeau Field for the third time in as many seasons next year. (AP)
(AP)
The Seahawks’ 2017 home and away opponents are finalized now that the 2016 regular season is in the books. The order, dates and times won’t be known until they’re announced in April, but here’s a rough sketch of Seattle’s schedule for next season.
Home games: Washington, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis, Arizona, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Away games: Dallas, the Giants, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Green Bay, Arizona, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
At first glance: It’s hard enough to assess the difficulty of a schedule in April, let alone at the end of the previous regular season, but Seattle’s collection of opponents seems fairly manageable. Five of those 13 teams will be coming off a playoff appearance: Atlanta (11-5), Dallas (13-3), the Giants (11-5), Houston (9-7) and Green Bay (10-6). Of the other eight opponents, only Tennessee (9-7) finished with more than eight wins. The Falcons (potential playoff rematch) and Colts (Russell Wilson vs. Andrew Luck) stand out as two of the more intriguing home matchups. The marquee away games are at Dallas (the NFC’s best team this year) and Green Bay (recent conference rival). The Seahawks will make third trip in as many seasons to Lambeau Field, where they’ve lost their last two meetings.
How it works: NFL schedules are comprised of six divisional games, eight games against two other divisions – in Seattle’s case next year, the NFC East and AFC South – and two games against teams that finished in the same place in their respective divisions. Which divisions play each other is based on a pre-set rotation that pits same-conference divisions against each other every third season and non-conference divisions against each other every fourth season. So Seattle last played the NFC East in 2014 and the AFC South in 2013. The Seahawks long ago wrapped up the NFC West while the Falcons had already clinched the NFC South entering Week 17, so the Packers became the final opponent to be determined when they beat Detroit Sunday night to win the NFC North.
