Rising to challenge? Seahawks in morning
Apr 19, 2013, 3:29 PM | Updated: 4:20 pm
By Danny O’Neil
It could’ve been worse.
That’s about the only bright side that can be drawn from the announcement of Seattle’s schedule in which the Seahawks were scheduled for five games that will start at 1 p.m. Eastern.
That’s five games that start at 10 a.m. here in Seattle, which is four more 10 a.m. games than the San Francisco 49ers were assigned. Cue the cries of outrage and indignation locally, and the hand-wringing about body clocks and the difficulties of travel.
| SEAHAWKS 2012 | 10 A.M. STARTS |
ALL OTHER GAMES |
| 1st Half scoring | 8.2 | 14.7 |
| 1st Half points allowed | 12.2 | 8.3 |
| Record | 1-4 | 11-2 |
But Seattle could have had six games that started that early. Road games in St. Louis often start at noon locally, which is 10 a.m. Pacific, but the Rams host the Seahawks on Monday night, plopping a potential early start into prime time.
Look no further than last year to see the importance that start time can play. The Seahawks played five games that started at 10 a.m. Pacific last season if you include the Divisional Playoff game at Atlanta, and there was some evidence pointing to early difficulties.
And before we start tossing around words like outrage or travesty, it’s worth considering history. Over the past 12 seasons, Seattle is 19-34 (.358) in regular-season games that start at 10 a.m., and 17-36 (.395) in all other road games. Is that a significant difference? Sure. An insurmountable one? No.
