When the Seattle Seahawks’ equipment team was packing the gear for the flight to Green Bay, they must have wondered one thing:
Did they remember to pack the magic?
There’s been more than a tinge of divine intervention in the Seahawks’ meetings with the Packers over the past three years, and Sunday evening we’ll find out whether Seattle’s magic travels.
Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy must lay awake at night wondering whether in a previous lifetime he somehow wronged the city of Seattle, and now he’s being forced to pay the karmic price. Perhaps he was responsible for the decisions that left I-5 a traffic-tangled mess downtown, or maybe he was the one who whispered the idea into Clay Bennett’s ear that he should try buying the Seattle SuperSonics.
Whatever the cause, his Packers have visited Seattle three times in the past three years, and all three times they left with a loss that came in a manner that must have left McCarthy wondering what he did to deserve such a fate. Consider:
— On September 24, 2012, his team was the victim of the notorious Fail Mary. Leading 12-7, Seattle was down to its final play, a desperation heave into the end zone by quarterback Russell Wilson as time expired. It appeared Packers safety M.D. Jennings had intercepted the pass. However, Seahawks receiver Golden Tate reached his arms in for the ball, the players wrestled for it while on the ground, and the replacement officials — on duty because of a referee lockout — awarded simultaneous possession to the offense for an inexplicable game-winning touchdown. It’s the play that ended the referee lockout as two days later the sides reached a settlement and sent the replacement officials home.
— On September 4, 2014, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers found himself so mesmerized that he didn’t throw a single pass to Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman’s part of the field. That limiting of the offense helped Seattle romp to a 36-16 victory.
— On January 18, 2015, Green Bay had Seattle beat in the NFC Championship Game, dominating play and leading 19-7 with four minutes remaining. However, a Seahawks touchdown drive was followed by an onside kick in which Packers tight end Brandon Bostick, who was supposed to be blocking on the play, instead tried to field the ball. Bostick bobbled it, Seattle recovered, and the Seahawks went on to score the go-ahead touchdown — scoring the two-point conversion on yet another miracle play. Yes, Green Bay regrouped to score the tying field goal and get the game into overtime. But fate was never going to aid the Packers in OT as the Seahawks won it on Jermaine Kearse’s 35-yard touchdown reception, the same Jermaine Kearse who was the intended target for each of Wilson’s four interceptions in the game.
With luck like that, McCarthy may just decide to stay home the next time the Packers are scheduled to visit Seattle.
But McCarthy and the Packers don’t need to pull up the stakes to face Seattle on this occasion. This time Green Bay gets the Seahawks at home, and while CenturyLink Field may be the site of McCarthy’s personal Nightmare on Occidental Ave., Lambeau Field has plenty of spirits of its own lurking within the frozen tundra.
While CenturyLink has deservedly built a reputation as a fortress over the past three seasons — the Seahawks have lost just twice in 28 home games the past three seasons, including the regular season and playoffs — Green Bay has been nearly Seattle’s equal. The Packers are 21-5-1 at home the past three seasons in the regular season and playoffs, and Green Bay was perfect at Lambeau last season, going 8-0 during the regular season and winning its only home playoff contest.
Lambeau hasn’t historically been kind to the Seahawks, either. Seattle won only one game at Lambeau in franchise history in seven previous attempts. The Seahawks have won away games against Green Bay three times, but two of those came at Milwaukee County Stadium. The only Seattle victory at Lambeau was a 27-7 victory way back in 1999, a game in which Matt Hasselbeck saw back-up time at quarterback — for the Packers.
Then there’s the revenge factor. The edict was clearly put out in Green Bay this week to downplay recent results against Seattle, as both McCarthy and Rodgers were curt in dismissing revenge as a factor in Sunday’s game when speaking to the Seattle media in the lead-up. But after the heartbreak suffered at the hands of the Seahawks the past three years, can one really believe the idea of payback isn’t at least occupying a corner of the Packers’ minds?
The Seahawks need a result Sunday. Seattle is coming off a disappointing loss to the St. Louis Rams, and an 0-2 start would not bode well in the Seahawks’ quest to reach a third straight Super Bowl. The last team to start a season 0-2 and reach the Super Bowl was when the New York Giants turned their season around to win the Super Bowl in 2007. So history does not bode well for the Seahawks should they fall Sunday.
But Seattle is looking at a uphill climb on the road against a quality opponent in Green Bay. The Seahawks may need to tap that supernatural assistance again to beat the Packers.
So will the magic travel to Green Bay?
The Seahawks better hope so.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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