Seattle Seahawks Breakdown: Close look at second-half schedule

After a bye this past week, the Seattle Seahawks kick off the second half of their season with a road matchup against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday afternoon.

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The Seahawks are currently last in the NFC West at 4-5, but they are still in the thick of the wide-open division race, trailing the first-place Arizona Cardinals by just 1 1/2 games. However, Seattle has an arduous second-half slate. According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Seahawks have the fifth-toughest remaining schedule in the league. Five of their remaining eight opponents are ranked in the top 12 of FPI and seven of the eight are ranked in the top 20.

With the second half of its season about to get underway, here’s a closer look at Seattle’s final eight opponents:

• at San Francisco 49ers (5-4) – Nov. 17: The Seahawks have lost six straight to their bitter Bay Area rivals, including a 36-24 loss in Week 6. The 49ers hold a whopping 1,110-420 advantage in rushing yards over those six contests, capped by a 228-52 margin in their first meeting this year. And unlike that Oct. 10 clash, Seattle will have to deal with star running back and reigning AP Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey, who made his season debut this past Sunday after being sidelined by Achilles tendinitis.

• vs. Arizona Cardinals (6-4) – Nov. 24: After back-to-back four-win campaigns, the Cardinals are the surprising leaders atop the wide-open NFC West. Arizona sputtered to a 2-4 start, but has since won four straight under second-year head coach Jonathan Gannon. The Cardinals’ defense has taken a major leap, skyrocketing to 13th in points allowed per game this season after ranking 31st each of the past two years. Arizona also has benefited from a return to health for quarterback Kyler Murray, who was limited to just 19 games over the previous two seasons.

• at New York Jets (3-7) – Dec. 1: With four-time All-Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers back from a torn Achilles that wiped out his 2023 campaign, the Jets entered 2024 with high expectations. But this season has been a major disappointment for New York, which has lost six of its past seven games – including a blowout defeat to the Cardinals on Sunday. The Jets have the 10th-ranked scoring defense, but their offense ranks just 26th and they have been held below 300 total yards in six of their 10 games.

• at Arizona Cardinals (6-4) – Dec. 8: The Seahawks will face the Cardinals twice in a span of three weeks, with the rematch taking place in the desert. In some ways, State Farm Stadium has been a house of horrors for Seattle. Most notably, it was the site of the Seahawks’ heartbreaking Super Bowl 49 loss to the Patriots. It was also was the site where the three most prominent Legion of Boom members – Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas – each suffered injuries that ultimately ended their Seahawks careers. But at the same time, Seattle has excelled in Glendale with a 9-1-1 road record against the Cardinals since 2013.

• vs. Green Bay Packers (6-3) – Dec. 15: The Packers’ only three losses have come against the NFC’s top three teams by record: the Lions, Vikings and Eagles. Green Bay is strong on both side of the ball, ranking ninth in scoring offense and 11th in scoring defense. Jordan Love is having a solid season in his second-year as the full-time starting quarterback, but it’s the Packers’ rushing attack that’s leading the way. Green Bay ranks third in the NFL with 154.8 rushing yards per game, led by the league’s fourth-leading rusher in former Raiders star running back Josh Jacobs.

• vs. Minnesota Vikings (7-2) – Dec. 22: The Vikings were the early-season surprise of the NFL as they raced to a 5-0 start. They then stumbled to a pair of losses, but have responded with back-to-back wins to keep pace in the loaded NFC North. Minnesota excels on defense, ranking third in points allowed per game (17.4), first in takeaways (20) and first in pressure rate (29.1%). The Vikings also rank 10th in scoring offense, led by a career resurgence at quarterback from former No. 3 overall pick Sam Darnold and another big season from Justin Jefferson, who ranks second in the NFL with 831 receiving yards.

• at Chicago Bears (4-5) – Dec. 26: After a 4-2 start, the Bears have spiraled to three straight losses. They have mustered just 27 points combined over their three-game skid, capped by a 19-3 loss to the 3-7 Patriots on Sunday. That prompted Chicago on Monday to fire offensive coordinator Shane Waldon, who was in his first season with the Bears after spending the past three seasons as the Seahawks’ OC. The struggles of Chicago’s 24th-ranked scoring offense have overshadowed the Bears’ defense, which ranks seventh in the league at just 18.6 points allowed per game.

• at Los Angeles Rams (4-5) – Jan. 4 or 5: The Rams sputtered to a 1-4 start while dealing with numerous injuries, but they have since started to regain their stride with the recent returns of star wideouts Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. Los Angeles has won three of its past four games, including a 26-20 overtime win over Seattle in Week 9. The Seahawks no longer have to worry about eight-time All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who retired in March. But with the addition first-round pick and Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate Jared Verse, the Rams still have a top-tier pass rush, ranking third in pressure rate at 28.4%. That was on full display two weeks ago in Seattle, where Los Angeles sacked Geno Smith seven times.

More on Seattle Seahawks

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• Seattle Seahawks are in a rebuild, whether they call it that or not

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