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The Seattle Seahawks take on the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday Night Football in Week 13. This is game two of a brutal four-game stretch of the Seahawks seasons that will likely determine if they make the NFC playoffs or not. At 6-5 with the teeth of the schedule coming, at least one NFL insider, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, gives Seattle almost no chance to make it to the postseason.
Mike Florio gives Seahawks little chance to make the playoffs
On the Tuesday, Nov. 28 episode of Pro Football Talk Live host Mike Florio and his co-host for the day, Chareen Williams, played a “confidence meter” game where they assigned a number to how confident they are that playoff contenders make the playoffs.
When it got to the Seahawks, Florio set the scene, noting that the team is currently in the No. 6 seed spot in the NFC playoff picture but after back-to-back losses to the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers and the Cowboys, 49ers again, and Philadelphia Eagles on deck, the next three games will be brutal for Pete Carroll’s squad.
Williams says she likes the Rams’ chances to make the postseason better than the Seahawks but still puts her confidence in Seattle at a not-great but respectable four out of 10 because “somebody’s got to get those six and seven seeds.”
Florio, however, is far less sold on the Seahawks’ chances.
“These next three games, I’m going to pick them to lose each one of them, and they’re going to be 6-8 if it plays out the way I think it will. I’m going one!” Florio boldly predicted. “I have no confidence they are going to make the playoffs. I don’t care that they’re the six-seed now. They have emptied their tank and now they are running on fumes, and they are not going to make it to the end of the line and a playoff berth.”
The NBC pundit even went a step further and speculated that quarterback Geno Smith could be out of a job if the team doesn’t reach this postseason in early 2024.
“It makes me wonder what that means for Geno Smith. Because even though it was trumpeted as a three-year, $100 million-plus contract, it’s a one-year deal worth $28 million, and they can move on after this year,” Florio explained. “And if they don’t make the playoffs, maybe they will.”
The Seahawks face a tough Cowboys defense in Week 13
How the Seahawks come out the other side of their current schedule gauntlet is a conversation for another day, though. Right now, the team is fully focused on playing the Cowboys on Thursday night, and that is no easy task.
Dallas is 8-3 on the season, which is two games behind the 10-1 Eagles in the conference and the NFC East and tied with the 49ers and Detroit Lions. Their record makes them the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoff picture right now, and if they put away Seattle on Thursday, they should pretty much wrap up that spot.
In addition to the wins and losses this season, Seattle is facing some other daunting stats heading into this game that will kick off the Week 13 slate.
The Cowboys are 5-0 at home this season, and their average margin of victory at AT&T Stadium is 29 points. Much of this is because of their dominating defense, which has given up just 12 points per game during this home winning streak.
Dallas’ Big D is second in total yards (3,039), passing yards (1,839), and first downs (186) allowed, third in scoring (185), and 12th in rushing yards allowed (1,200). The unit also has 17 takeaways (T-12), and defensive back DaRon Bland has set a new single-season NFL record with five interception returns for touchdowns.
Backing the raw numbers up, PFF grades the Cowboys defense third overall (88.7) — behind the 49ers and Baltimore Ravens, who both destroyed the Seahawks in the last month — first in tackling (80.8), second in pass rush (90.6), fourth in coverage (90.7), and 10th in run defense (67.5).
The Seahawks are in for an incredibly tough challenge in Week 13 against the Cowboys, and with starting running back Kenneth Walker III likely out with an oblique injury and Pete Carroll’s recent comments on offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and the offense, things could get ugly fast.
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