The Seattle Seahawks are about to embark on a journey they’ve taken multiple times.
However, this time they’re traveling a different path to their destination.
If the Seahawks want to reach their third straight Super Bowl, this time they’ll have to do it on the road.
Seattle began the season with aspirations of becoming just the third team in NFL history to play in three straight Super Bowls, joining the Miami Dolphins (1972-74) and the Buffalo Bills (1991-94). As the regular season came to a close, there was no reason to think the Seahawks aren’t capable of being one of the two teams that take the field on Feb. 7 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
They have the pedigree, having reached each of the previous two Super Bowls, winning it two years ago and coming one goal-line play away from repeating last year.
They have the momentum, having won six of their past seven games and doing so in impressive fashion.
The rest of the country took notice. The oddsmakers list Seattle at 6/1 to claim the Super Bowl. Just three of the other 12 teams in the playoffs — Arizona, New England and Carolina — are given better odds. This despite the Seahawks being the sixth and final seed in the NFC.
However, Seattle’s past two runs to the Super Bowl both went through CenturyLink Field. As the NFC’s top seed, Seattle received a bye in the first round of the playoffs, then needed to win just two home games to reach the greatest spectacle in American sports. That was a boon for a team that went 14-2 at home over those two seasons.
But if the Seahawks are to achieve a third straight Super Bowl, they’ll need to pull off a different kind of trifecta: winning three straight games on the road.
As the sixth seed, Seattle is guaranteed to have nothing but road games in the postseason. As a wild-card entrant, the Seahawks will have to win three times to get to the Super Bowl. That’s three times Seattle will be forced to hop on a plane and win in front of tens-of-thousands of screaming fans rooting against them.
History suggests the Seahawks face a monumental task. Seattle moved into the NFC West in 2002. Since then, of the 26 teams that reached the Super Bowl, 18 received first-round byes. That fact alone gives the Seahawks just a 30.7 percent chance of getting to the Super Bowl.
What about teams that had to go the entire way on the road? Of those 26 teams, just three reached the Super Bowl by winning three road games — the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2005, the New York Giants in 2007 and the Green Bay Packers in 2010. That’s just 11.5 percent.
The cold, hard numbers do not give the Seahawks much of a chance of pulling it off.
However, there are a lot of arrows that point toward Seattle being that rare team with the chance to reach the Super Bowl through the road.
First, the Seahawks have been good on the road this season, particularly of late. Seattle went 5-3 in its regular-season road games, winning its last five. The Seahawks outscored their opponents 142-34 in those five victories, allowing double-digit points just once. This Seattle team has proven it’s plenty comfortable on the road.
Second, Seattle’s path looks doable. The Seahawks face third-seeded Minnesota on Sunday, then — if they win — travel to play top-seeded Carolina in the divisional round. If they win again — and the seeds hold — they would face second-seeded Arizona for the NFC Championship. Seattle already throttled both the Vikings and Cardinals on the road, winning 38-7 in Minnesota five weeks ago and prevailing 36-6 at Arizona last week. The Seahawks also had Carolina against the ropes at home in Week 6, until a dramatic late collapse saw the Panthers steal the victory. Seattle will have no reason to fear any potential playoff opponent.
Third, this group has experienced success in the playoffs on the road before. In 2012 the Seahawks were the NFC’s fifth seed and had to hit the road for the playoffs. Seattle went to Washington and won in the wild-card round. Then the Seahawks traveled to Atlanta and nearly pulled off a miraculous fourth-quarter comeback, only to see the Falcons kick a game-winning field goal with 8 seconds remaining. Seattle’s core players know what’s required to win on the road in the postseason.
“I think it’s an exciting opportunity for our team,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “We’ve been through some really extraordinary years, and to have this opportunity like we were faced (three) years ago now, this is a great challenge for us. We understand what it’s like when you have two games to play (at home) and you’re there. That’s an enormous opportunity. This is different. This would be really cool if we can make it through this game and have a chance to keep seeing if we can pull it together. It’s a great challenge. It truly is this one week, and that’s what it is. But when you stack up what it could be, it’s most challenging, and it’s really exciting to have a shot at it.”
Seattle knows first hand it’s possible to win a Super Bowl from the road. Who did those sixth-seeded Steelers beat in the Super Bowl in 2005? None other than the Seahawks.
Now, after two years of following the direct path, Seattle gets its shot at taking the long and winding road to Super Bowl glory.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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