The Seahawks earned the signature win of the Pete Carroll era and locked up at least a wildcard berth to the playoffs on NBC’s Sunday Night Football with a 42-13 over the division rival 49ers in front of a national audience and raucous crowd at CenturyLink Field.
Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson continued his ascension to one of the top signal-callers in the league with four more passing touchdowns while the defense and special teams did their share as well.
Richard Sherman, who will learn his fate for the remainder of the year when the league rules on the appeal of his suspension this week, had an interception in the end zone and returned a blocked field goal for a score in the first half.
The scoring outburst of the past four weeks has also moved the team’s scoring offense to eighth in the league at just more than 26 points per game while the rushing game is still second best in the league at 161 yards per contest.
Since the 24-21 loss to Miami at the final buzzer more than a month ago, Seattle is 4-0 and averaging better than 43 points per game and winning by an average margin of more than 30 points.
This week’s game against St. Louis will give the team a chance to avenge its 19-13 loss in the fourth game of the season and hand the Rams their first division loss of the year. New head coach Jeff Fisher has his team at 7-7-1 on the year but is 4-0-1 against NFC West foes.
Quarterback Sam Bradford has thrown for 3,450 yards and 20 touchdowns with 12 interceptions on the year while running back Steven Jackson needs just 10 yards for another 1,000 yard season.
A win by the Seahawks combined with a loss from San Francisco would give Seattle the NFC West championship. If the Green Bay Packers were to lose as well in their game with the Minnesota Vikings, then the Seahawks could earn the conference’s number two seed, along with a first round bye and home playoff game. If San Francisco is able to beat the Arizona Cardinals, Seattle will face the winner of the Dallas-Washington game on the road in the wildcard round of the playoffs. Dallas visited CenturyLink Field in the second week of the season and left with a 27-7 loss.
Aside from Sherman, who could see his four-game suspension for PED use upheld when the league announces on his appeal this week, the team should be at nearly full strength after escaping the San Francisco game without any significant injuries.
