KIRKLAND – Mathematically, the Seattle Seahawks might be able to trip up in one of their final two games.
That’s the kind of arithmetic that a prominent political leader might refer to as “fuzzy math.”
The only way to assure themselves of a legitimate chance of making it to the postseason would be for the Seahawks to win both of their remaining games. And even that wouldn’t guarantee anything.
Following Sunday’s 27-22 loss to the St. Louis Rams, the Seahawks (8-6) find themselves in an unenviable position. They probably have to win their final two games and have either Green Bay or Minnesota suffer at least one loss.
“Now it’s very clear what we have to do to have a chance to get in,” coach Mike Holmgren said Monday.
All three teams have an identical record, and either Green Bay or Minnesota will be the NFC North champion. That leaves two teams fighting for the final playoff berth, probably joining Dallas (9-5) as a wild card.
Either the Vikings or Packers, both of whom have head-to-head wins and the tie-breaker over Seattle, could realistically lose their final two games. That would put the Seahawks in position to make the postseason even if they went 1-1 over the next two weeks.
But no one in the Seattle locker room is thinking that way.
“It depends on these two games,” offensive lineman Walter Jones said. “If we lose, it really doesn’t matter what everybody else does.”
It might not sound that difficult for a team to win back-to-back games, but the Seahawks haven’t done it since the middle of October. They are currently riding their first two-game losing streak of the season while trying to recover from five losses over the past eight weeks.
Seattle has also lost six consecutive road games, so a Dec. 27 matchup at San Francisco should be particularly daunting. Further complicating things is the 49ers’ 6-1 home record.
“We know that we have to win on the road eventually, because if we do get into the playoffs, (the game is) going to be on the road,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. “That’s just part of it.”
Because of the Seahawks’ road woes, few people outside the organization expect them to pull off the win in San Francisco. Hasselbeck said he doesn’t mind being an underdog, which is a role he feels the Seahawks have held all season.
“I don’t think people have really respected the Seahawks from the beginning,” he said. “And that’s understandable; I don’t think we’ve done anything to earn people’s respect. But I know that we’ve thought more of ourselves than other people have thought of us.”
Before anyone can start looking at the 49ers game, the Seahawks must finish off an unbeaten home schedule this weekend against Arizona (3-11). That game is just as important as the one in San Francisco, both of which Seattle probably has to win to continue playing in January.
“It’s not a mystery,” fullback Mack Strong said. “If we don’t go out and take care of business this Sunday, it really doesn’t make any sense to think about anything else.”
After a 6-2 start, the Seahawks looked like they might well breeze into the postseason. But a 2-4 record over the past six weeks has put them in between a rock and a hard place.
“We made our bed,” Holmgren said. “We had our chances to be a little more comfortable at this stage in the season, and we didn’t get it done. We just didn’t. Now we are where we are, and we have to win these last two.”
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