Field Gulls
Last week, the Seattle Seahawks saw their rankings rise into the top five in the league once again after they defeated the Tennessee Titans. Will a shutout over the reeling Minnesota Vikings continue this upward trajectory?
In short, the win over the Vikings has moved the Seahawks up, however, once you’re already in the top five, there is not much room to move up. Regardless let’s see where all all five national media sites polled (NFL.com, Pro Football Talk, Bleacher Report, ESPN, and CBS Sports) have moved the Seahawks up in their rankings.
Last week, all three of Bleacher Report (BR), Pro Football Talk (PFT), and ESPN had the Seahawks ranked as their 5th best team in the NFL. This week, all three sites are in lockstep once again, this time ranking Seattle at 4th. In their ranking, Bleacher Report talked about how dominant the Seahawks defense is, doing exactly what a Super Bowl level defense should do to an undrafted rookie quarterback, taking “them behind [a] woodshed and tub-thump[ing] them.” In total the Seattle defense held the Vikings offense to only 162 yards, including a 20% third down conversion rate, and five turnovers. Despite this dominant defensive performance, PFT did note that the Seahawks offense struggled with the ball a bit too.
ESPN, in this week’s ranking, made note of which player would be the X-factor to watch in the final stretch of the season. For Seattle, that player was Rashid Shaheed. Up to this point, Shaheed’s addition as yet to be as impactful as the Seahawks had hoped when trading for Shaheed from the New Orleans Saints (Shaheed only has 73 scrimmage yards on nine touches in four games with Seattle.) ESPN notes that the Seahawks will need Shaheed to step up entering this final part of the season.
BR, PFT, and ESPN were not the only national sites putting Seattle at 4th in their rankings this week. Also joining the group is CBS Sports, who kept Seattle in 4th. In their rankings, CBS also made note of Seattle’s dominant defense doing what they are supposed to do to an undrafted rookie quarterback, and how this defense may be what propels the team deep into the playoffs.
As has been the case most of this season, the highest ranking for the Seahawks this week once again comes from NFL.com, who have kept the Seahawks ranked as the 2nd best team. Of note, NFL.com did not move the Los Angeles Rams (ranked 1st) after their loss to the Carolina Panthers. After applauding the Seattle defense, NFL.com did note that the Seahawks will need to get their offense in order up front and in the passing game before they take on the aforementioned Rams, which likely will be for the NFC West title.
Overall, the national media has not changed their attitude much on Seattle. They are projected to be a Super Bowl contending team, who needs to work out some wrinkles before the playoffs begin (as all teams in...
