The Seattle Seahawks aren’t just playing for a 4-1 record or national attention or any kind of Super revenge this Sunday — they’re playing for conference pride.
This time around, the Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t battling for the Vince Lombardi Trophy, but to help settle any lingering argument about AFC versus NFC.
The Steelers are in the AFC, which is the NFL equivalent of being a 95-mile-an-hour flamethrower from the Dominican Republic. The Seahawks are in the NFC, which roughly translates to being a hockey player from the Dominican Republic.
And so this is Seattle’s chance to win one for the conference.
The AFC has won six of the past seven Super Bowls. It has a remarkable 46-28 record in inter-conference games over the past two seasons, and is 39-18 since Week 7 of last season.
Ask the so-called experts to name the Super Bowl favorites and the answers begin and end with New England and Indianapolis.
Well, Seahawks, here’s your chance to put yourself into that mix. The NFC flag needs some carrying, and Seattle might be just the team to do it.
After posting a 5-7 interconference mark in their first three seasons in the NFC West, the Seahawks have gone 6-3 over the past three. Their only regular-season losses to AFC teams since Week 2 of the 2005 season were nail-biting defeats against Kansas City and San Diego last season. Seattle beat Cincinnati two weeks ago and looks like a legitimate favorite to win the NFC.
But are the Seahawks an actual contender to win the Super Bowl?
Sunday’s game might answer that question.
The Steelers are off to a 3-1 start this season, suffering their only loss last week at the hands of Arizona (yes, an NFC team). They’re one of the top teams in the AFC and look like a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
They’re also the kind of team the Seahawks need to beat to put themselves on the national map.
The importance of last week’s game at San Francisco was pretty clear-cut for Seattle: The Seahawks were playing an up-and-coming divisional opponent that was trying to knock them off their NFC West perch.
This week, it’s not that simple.
The Seahawks won’t clinch anything with a win, and they’ll still be leading the division even if they lose. But their reputation, and that of the NFC, may well be on the line.
Carrying the conference flag, the Seahawks hope to end all that talk of this being a one-conference league.
Scott Johnson is The Herald’s pro football writer.
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