Pete Carroll is creative. He’s different, including for having coached football for a half century. The Seahawks’ 72-year-old coach isn’t particularly a contrarian. Except right now. Opposite all evidence of the last month — his team on a three-game losing streak, not having won since a last-play field goal Nov. 12, playing at mighty San Francisco (9-3) Sunday then hosting Philadelphia (10-2) next — Carroll says 6-6 Seattle is a playoff-worthy team.
“I just believe we are of that caliber,” he said. Losses by one point at the Los Angeles Rams, in another blowout against the 49ers and last week narrowly at Dallas leave the Seahawks outside the NFC playoff picture looking in. They are in ninth place in the conference. Seven teams make the postseason. Tiebreakers have Green Bay and the Rams, both 6-6, ahead of Seattle as the seventh and eighth seeds. Los Angeles beating the Seahawks twice has Seattle in third place in the NFC West. The Seahawks led the division last month, when they were 6-3.
That seems like a decade ago. With five games remaining in the regular season, the Seahawks are three games plus a tiebreaker behind San Francisco for first place in the division. For Sunday in Santa Clara, Seattle is a 10 1/2-point underdog. That’s tied with last Christmas Eve at Kansas City for the largest a team has been favored over Seattle in the last dozen years. The Seahawks were 11-point underdogs for a loss at Dallas in week nine of the 2011 season, Carroll’s second overhauling the franchise. “It’s going to be tough week to week. We can count on that,” Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith said.
