Are Seahawks approaching must-win territory on Sunday?

With a 3-0 start to the season, the Seattle Seahawks had put themselves in a good position to contend for a playoff berth in Mike Macdonald’s first year at the helm.

But after three straight losses, the path to a playoff spot suddenly looks much more difficult.

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According to ESPN’s NFL Football Power Index, the Seahawks have the fifth-toughest remaining schedule. All 11 of their remaining opponents are ranked in the top 21 of ESPN’s FPI, including seven top-15 opponents and four top-eight opponents (Buffalo, San Francisco, Green Bay and Minnesota).

To nab one of the NFC’s final wild-card spots, Seattle likely would need to finish either 10-7 or 9-8. Since the NFL went to a 17-game schedule in 2021, all nine 10-7 teams have reached the playoffs. But of the 17 teams that went 9-8 over that span, just six have reached the postseason. With the Seahawks currently sitting at 3-3, that means they would need to go either 7-4 or 6-5 the rest of the way.

Seattle looks to snap its three-game losing skid on Sunday, when it faces the 4-2 Falcons on the road. According to ESPN’s FPI, it’s the fifth-toughest remaining game on the Seahawks’ schedule.

Given where they stand and what lies ahead, is this approaching a must-win matchup for the Hawks? During Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy on Friday, co-host Stacy Rost presented that question to producer Curtis Rogers, who was filling in for Michael Bumpus.

“I think yes,” Rogers said. “You don’t have much more room to lose games. You talk about potential playoff records: 9-8, 10-7 – that’s usually what can get you into that sixth or seventh wild-card spot. The Seahawks can only afford to lose four more games the rest of the way. … You have got to get this figured out quickly if you want to have a shot at the playoffs, which I think was a realistic goal for this team heading into the season.”

Rost, meanwhile, didn’t go quite so far to label it a must-win situation. As she argues, contending for the Super Bowl simply isn’t realistic for where the Seahawks are at in their development as a franchise in Macdonald’s first season in charge.

“I wouldn’t call it must-win territory, because I personally am not looking at the Super Bowl as your goal this year,” Rost said. “… (But) for the health of the culture of this team, I think they badly need a win. Mostly I just wanna see them improve as the season goes on.”

Brock and Salk’s view

Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard and co-host Mike Salk also touched on the importance of Sunday’s game this week on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk. Both looked at it from the perspective of the foundation Macdonald is trying to build.

“I think (it’s very important) not just even for the 2024 season and the win-loss record, … but just for the psyche of your team and the players and for Mike as a young guy wanting to show these guys, ‘Hey man, we can fix this. This staff can fix this. Our scheme can fix this. These fundamentals and these techniques that we’re preaching and all that we’re living and everything we’re doing, this works,'” Huard said.

“So I think from that standpoint of a psyche more of than even an analytic scheduling standpoint, (it’s) pretty hugely important.”

Salk echoed that point.

“It’s a big week for Mike Macdonald,” Salk said. “It’s a big week for these Seahawks. It’s a big week for everyone involved. 4-3 and 3-4 in it of themselves aren’t that different, but losers of four straight with Buffalo coming in next week, that’s a hard, hard situation to be in, because then all of the gains it feels like you make in meetings, in practices, etcetera can get thrown right out the window if you don’t then see it manifest itself into success on the field.”

Wyman and Bob’s view

During Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob, former NFL linebacker Dave Wyman said he just wants to see improvement over the next few weeks against the Falcons, Bills and Rams ahead of the Seahawks’ Nov. 17 matchup in Santa Clara against the division rival 49ers. Seattle fell 36-24 to San Francisco last Thursday night, marking its sixth consecutive loss to the 49ers.

“Even if they do lose against Atlanta, I just hope that there’s a steady improvement so that by the time the second San Francisco game rolls around, they’re up to speed and they’re playing well,” Wyman said. “… Maybe you go 1-2 or 2-1 hopefully in these next three (against) Atlanta, Buffalo, Los Angeles. But as long as you’re going down to San Francisco on Nov. 17 and it’s like, ‘OK, this is going to be a fair fight,’ then I think they’ll be OK.”

Co-host Bob Stelton shared a similar view. He wants to see the Seahawks make progress in the areas they have struggled in recently, especially their porous run defense and sputtering rushing attack.

“If you lose, give me something to cling to,” Stelton said. “Give me something I can look at and go, ‘OK, don’t like the result, but I like what they did here. I like the improvement here. At least it’s pointed in the right direction.'”

Listen to the full conversation on Bump and Stacy at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Hear the conversation on Brock and Salk at this link or in the audio player near the middle of this story. Listen to the conversation on Wyman and Bob at this link or in the audio player near the bottom of this story. 

More on the Seattle Seahawks

• A year removed from D-II, Seahawks rookie to make 1st NFL start
• Seahawks rule out 3 key players for Sunday’s game vs Atlanta
• The problems Mark Schlereth sees in Seattle Seahawks’ run defense
• Mike Macdonald previews Seattle Seahawks’ Week 7 game vs Falcons
• How Seattle Seahawks’ Derick Hall has emerged in second season

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