Seahawks get to play the role of underdog again

Since 2013, the Seattle Seahawks have usually been the favorite. That will happen when you win a Super Bowl, almost win another, and are regulars in the playoffs’ second round, but things have changed the season. Though the Seahawks were definitely an underdog against the Carolina Panthers at this time a year ago, the perception never seemed quite as hopeless that they could actually still win the Super Bowl. Per Vegas oddsmakers and the people who gamble: It does seem hopeless.

According to Bovada, Seattle is tied for being the second-unlikeliest team to win the Super Bowl, ahead of only the hapless Houston Texans.

The thing is that it does seem kind of reasonable when you consider that there are four teams who get a home game this week, a significant advantage, especially in the playoffs. The Seahawks aren’t one of them.

However, I think it might still be a little shortsighted to assume that the Green Bay Packers are almost neck-and-neck with the Dallas Cowboys. Yes, Aaron Rodgers is incredible, but the Packers lack a lot of other things to make them a complete football team, namely a defense and a running back. I think the Cowboys are a solid favorite at home this weekend, though the prospects of a rookie quarterback making his first career playoffs start is always an unknown. I think Dak Prescott can handle it though.

In a way, I think it’s better for Seattle to take back the role of underdog and to be doubted. It’s something that guys like Richard Sherman, Doug Baldwin, and Russell Wilson have run with for their entire careers. The Seahawks came into the season as favorites, by many, to win the NFC, with talk of them being as good as they were in 2013 — and we saw how that worked out. It could give them a little extra something to fight for this Saturday against the Atlanta Falcons, which they will need because ... well ... they’re the underdogs.