The Seahawks’ next two games are what really matter

Nov 13, 2024, 11:28 AM

The 49ers' George Kittle scores a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks' Julian Love in 2023. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

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With a glass half-full approach, you can start peering down the Seattle Seahawks’ remaining schedule and making the case for a win here or there — against the struggling Bears’ offense, perhaps, or even against a volatile Jets squad.

But don’t look too far ahead, because nothing matters more than the next two games.

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The Seahawks are heading out of their bye week with a road game against the San Francisco 49ers (5-4) in Week 11 and then hosting another NFC West rival, the Arizona Cardinals (6-4), at Lumen Field for Week 12.

A loss to both would put Seattle at 0-4 in the division and 1-6 in conference play, virtually eliminating any tiebreakers in a tight NFC race.

“The term ‘must win’ gets thrown around a lot, but I’ll throw it out right here,” ESPN Seahawks reporter Brady Henderson told us on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy. “They’ve got to win at least one of these games when you consider that they’ve already lost two in the division. So if you start 0-4 in the division, then all the sudden you’re 4-7 through 12 weeks. I mean, you could basically kiss the playoffs goodbye.

“Looking at our research department at ESPN, we’ve got the Football Power Index, and I think right now it gives Seattle about a 6% chance of making the playoffs as it is. If you lose both of these next two games, I don’t know what that number would be, but it would be pretty close to zero.”

It’s not all doom and gloom. While Henderson issued a warning — that at least one of the next two contests must be a Seahawks win to give Seattle a shot at the playoffs — he also had updates on a potential Week 11 return for right tackle Abe Lucas, who was activated from the physically unable to perform list on Wednesday morning.

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Seattle’s offensive line could badly use the reinforcement of a starter. Lucas has missed the entirety of the season so far with a lingering knee issue but was designated to return from the PUP list on Oct. 24, meaning his 21-day window would have closed this week. Though Lucas has now been added to the team’s 53-man active roster, whether he’ll play Sunday is another matter.

Henderson, who wasn’t surprised the Seahawks didn’t make a move for an offensive lineman at the trade deadline, said the team’s best hope for improvement there is the return of existing players.

“I think this team realized the best chance it has to get better on the offensive line this season was going to be one, Abe Lucas coming back, and two, maybe some of the younger guys continuing to develop — whether it’s Anthony Bradford at right guard or Michael Jerrell at right tackle until Lucas comes back. I know there was some kind of speculation — and (coach Mike) Macdonald confirmed this — that they did consider, at least had a discussion, about possibly moving Connor Williams from center to right guard and then plugging somebody else in at center. He did say they discussed that but they’re going to stick with what they’ve got right now. And I think the key words there are ‘right now.'”