FanPost

DraftWatch - Week 11

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DK edit: For some reason, this photo of Matt Moore is hilarious to me. "You might not believe me if I told you, but I can run like the wind blows." "... if I was going somewhere, ... I was RUNNN-ANG!" ...

I'm seeing quite a few posts popping up on this site about the playoff potential for the Seahawks. How much the team has improved, how easy the remainder of our schedule is, which teams we have to leapfrog in order to avoid getting eliminated by tiebreaks, all of that.

Had I started writing a posts after our Week 2 game entitled "PlayoffWatch", listing the playoff seedings of both conferences week by week so that we could track the postseason positioning of us and the other teams in the league, I'd be right along with them in the pep rally. Alas, I'm the Eeyore of the bunch here, reminding everyone that the Seahawks still have a sub-.500 record and are still in the bottom half of the league standings.

It sucks to be the wet blanket. But then again, when your handle on the site is "Hmph", I guess it's easy to be typecast.

Last week, we highlighted the four other teams that are probably going to look at drafting a quarterback in the first round: The Colts, Dolphins, Redskins and Browns. Indy was on their bye this week, so they remain winless with a two-game "lead" over the rest of the competition. The Dolphins and Browns both won while the Redskins fell to Dallas in overtime. That puts all three teams at 3-7, one game in front of Seattle for draft consideration. And even if the Seahawks had lost, they'd still be behind all of the QB-needy teams thanks to our schedule strength being so strong. So the fact that we've dropped yet another spot in line is less important than the fact that the teams that might snatch away all the QB talent remain ahead of us in the draft.

Here's how the order looks now:

1. Colts (0-10, 83-77 SOS)

2. Panthers (2-8, 81-79 SOS)

3. Rams (2-8, 91-69 SOS)

4. Vikings (2-8, 92-68 SOS)

5. Redskins (3-7, 74-86 SOS)

6. Jaguars (3-7, 75-85 SOS)

7. Cardinals (3-7, 76-84 SOS)

8. Dolphins (3-7, 82-78 SOS)

9. Eagles (4-6, 81-79 SOS)

10. Browns (4-6, 82-78 SOS)

11. Chiefs (4-6, 83-77 SOS, 1-2 Div.

**12. Seahawks (4-6, 83-77 SOS, 2-1 Div.)**

13-14. Buccaneers (4-6, 86-74 SOS, 2-1 Div.)

13-14. Chargers (4-6, 86-74 SOS, 2-1 Div.)

15. Titans (5-5, 72-88 SOS)

16. Jets (5-5, 78-82 SOS)

17. Bills (5-5, 79-81 SOS)

18. Broncos (5-5, 85-75 SOS)

19. Falcons (6-4, 75-85 SOS, 1-2 Div.)

20. Cowboys (6-4, 75-85 SOS, 2-1 Div.)

21. Bengals (6-4, 77-83 SOS)

22. Giants (6-4, 81-79 SOS)

23. Raiders (6-4, 83-77 SOS)

24. Patriots (7-3, 71-89 SOS)

25. Saints (7-3, 73-87 SOS)

26. Steelers (7-3, 76-84 SOS, 1-2 Div.)

27. Ravens (7-3, 76-84 SOS, 3-0 Div.)

28. Texans (7-3, 77-83 SOS)

29. Bears (7-3, 84-76 SOS)

30. Lions (7-3, 91-69 SOS)

31. 49ers (9-1, 71-89 SOS)

32. Packers (10-0, 78-82 SOS)

(Strength of Schedule is the total win-loss record of every opponent on a team's schedule. Divisional opponents are counted twice since they appear on the schedule twice. Division record is the only other tiebreaker, except for a coin toss. And thank God everyone's had their bye week now so I can go back to the simple W-L records and not have to calculate the percentages anymore.)

At the start of the season, the Seahawks looked like one of the worst teams in the NFL (and certainly among the worst teams whose iconic quarterback wasn't surreptitiously helping his front office tank the season). Now with the season 2/3 over, we're now in the same neighborhood with the Chargers, Bucs, and Eagles - teams that looked destined to be Super Bowl contenders but did not live up to their potential. Those teams are on a downslide. We look to be improving week to week - and that's saying nothing of our remaining schedule, where only two of our last six opponents have a winning record (one of which has just lost their QB for the regular season).

We should still keep an eye on those four other teams, just in case we start sliding away from mediocrity and back to just being bad.

The Dolphins travel to Dallas to take on the 6-4 Cowboys. It's a short week and a road game, but Miami seems to be enjoying the role of spoiler now, and c'mon - Romo has to start unraveling at some point, right?

The Browns head to Cincy to face the 6-4 Bengals. I can already feel the excitement radiating from this track meet of a match-up. (Final score prediction: 7-5)

The Colts are going to have to start backing into wins if everyone else wants to have any hope of wrestling the #1 pick away from them. With the 2-8 Panthers coming to town, this may be the last best chance for Indy to blunder their way into a victory.

And the Redskins, of course, will be visiting the CLink.

On that note, it's unlikely I'll see you guys before Thursday, so everyone have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. And be thankful that Ken Behring sold the team.