A Grip on Sports: The Seahawks are at a tipping point in their season with Eagles coming in
A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s not often the remainder of a franchise’s NFL season revolves around one game. Except maybe each December.
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• And a week before Christmas, the Seahawks are right on schedule.
The season on the line. A Monday night national TV audience. Defending NFC champions, somewhat in disarray, arrive in Seattle. Lumen Field illuminated by the roars of 60,000 people.
Not clockwork, actually, but pretty close.
The NFL is built around rule-induced parity. Teams rise and fall, sure, but if the suits in New York had their way, everyone in the league – except maybe the Cowboys, Packers and whatever AFC team is in favor at the moment – would be 9-8 or 8-9 at the end of the year.
The Seahawks are pretty much the poster boys for such parity and have been for a few years. Tonight’s foil, the Philadelphia Eagles, have not, but their 10-3 record seems a bit overblown at the moment, what with some highly publicized issues among the coaching staff. There is, however, the past season-and-a-half to buttress any claim of NFC superiority, as not only did Philly represent the NFC in last year’s Super Bowl, the Eagles also won 10 of their first 11 this season and avenged their three-point loss to the Chiefs with a four-point road win. But in the what’s-happened-lately file, there is this: A home blowout by the 49ers – Seattle can relate – and a road one to the Cowboys – hey, Seattle didn’t do that.
The two consecutive defeats have some folks wondering if Philadelphia is reverting to the mean. Or just tired. Or their defensive issues are finally catching up. Whatever, with the 49ers already sitting at 11-3, tonight’s game seems a little more important to the Eagles than it did a couple weeks ago.
It is crucial to the Seahawks.
At 6-7, they are at a tipping point. Lose and the road to the playoffs seems akin to a yak path up the back side of Mt. Everest. Win and the final three games – Titans and Cardinals on the road, Steelers at home – look paved with gold.
Though 9-8 might be the ultimate goal of everyone who works for Roger Goodell, that’s doesn’t pencil out as being good enough to get into the crapshoot his minions call the postseason. Not this season. Not for Seattle.
It’s going to take a 10-7 record. And a 10-7 record demands a win tonight.
A win that might have to come with Drew Lock playing quarterback again.
Funny thing. Fourteen games into the season, the Hawks and Eagles both list their starting quarterbacks as questionable. No, not in the way most fanbases think about their favorite team’s starter these days. As in there are injuries and they may be bad enough to make playing impossible. Or not.
No Geno Smith. No fun. No Jalen Hicks. No fun. Lock versus Marcus Mariota isn’t why the Disney folks switched this game from Sunday to Monday.
It was more about the stakes. Those are still high for both teams.
• Nothing crucial in college basketball just yet. Sunday’s wins for the Gonzaga and Washington State women were impressive, though not ones that will decide whether they play in March Madness or not. There is just way too much of the schedule left for that.
The same can be said of tonight’s Eastern Washington visit to Cal Poly. Though it can be seen as momentum builder for the upcoming Big Sky season.
No, it’s not the opener. The Mustangs may be in the Big Sky for football but they remain in the Big West for hoops. Same with UC Davis.
Though both have losing records – Eastern is 3-6, Cal Poly 3-7 – they have built them in different ways. The Eagles have challenged themselves repeatedly, with road games against tough opponents. The Mustangs? Their strength of schedule has been rated by Ken Pomeroy as 167th toughest, 165 spots worse than Eastern’s.
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WSU: We mentioned above the Cougars’ win Sunday and it came at the expense of a Houston team that visited Pullman with just one loss. That total doubled, with Charlisse Leger-Walker leading the way in a 98-48 victory. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, John Canzano sort of sees Washington State and Oregon State as America’s teams. … Washington is becoming a destination. … The Beavers are rebuilding their high school recruiting class quickly. They are also attracting transfers. … USC, and the Pac-12, is facing an NLRB lawsuit that could possibly lead to athletes being designated employees. It is a big deal. … So is the Trojans losing another quarterback. … Colorado has rebuilt its offensive line. … Arizona’s center is getting a lot of attention. … In basketball news, Washington defeated Seattle U. for the 18th consecutive time Sunday, though it took double overtime to get it done. … Beat-up Oregon fell hard against Syracuse. … Oregon State once again rallied late and won, this time over UTSA. … Arizona rallied against Purdue behind a zone. … Colorado’s 3-point shooting has improved. … How much does a newly eligible player help Utah? … The Oregon women got past visiting UTSA. … Arizona traveled up the interstate to Tempe and pounded Arizona State.
Gonzaga: Despite all the success the Zag women have had over the years, they had never defeated Summit League power South Dakota State. That’s not the case anymore, after their 83-58 win in the Kennel on Sunday. Greg Lee has this coverage of the 21st-ranked Bulldogs’ victory.
Idaho: The Vandals visited Stanford on Sunday and fell 82-64.
EWU: Jake Kyman has been around. UCLA. Wyoming. Now Eastern. He’s getting comfortable with the Eagles and it’s helping them with their depth. Dan Thompson has this on the super senior who scored 25 points in back-to-back games against USC and Air Force. … Cooper Kupp is back playing at a Pro Bowl level and that’s helped the Rams move into playoff position. That news leads off Taylor Newquist’s column on how locals fared in the NFL. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, we can pass along a power ranking for the conference’s basketball teams. … Montana’s men have won four consecutive games. … The Idaho State women came close but fell on the road to BYU in overtime on Sunday.
Preps: Dave Nichols has this story on the all-state volleyball teams announced next week.
Mariners: The Matt Calkins column we linked yesterday concerning a lack of investment in the team? We link it in the S-R today.
Seahawks: With both teams possibly playing backup quarterbacks, and the Hawks’ desperation, Bob Condotta’s prediction of a Seattle upset might just be on point. … It would help Pete Carroll’s standing, that’s for sure.
Kraken: Ryker Evans has been doing well.
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• We’re planning on heading over to Cal Poly tonight to watch Eastern play. We haven’t been out to Cheney yet this season but we’ll brave the weather – rain – and get to seem the Eagles before Big Sky play at least once. Until later …