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Coming into Sunday it’s no surprise the Seattle Seahawks are favored to win over Washington, a team that has been decimated by injuries this year, in case you missed it. The injury bug bit long and hard all over their roster, and while Seattle has their own injuries coming into Sunday’s matchup it certainly seems that the Seahawks are in prime position to win in front of the home crowd.
So, what does the national media say about Seattle’s chances of improving to 6-2?
Over at ESPN, Brady Henderson is counting on Russell Wilson’s phenomenal early season performance to continue behind a strengthened offensive line:
“The Seahawks are confident that newly acquired left tackle Duane Brown will provide an immediate upgrade to an offensive line that badly needed one. With their top weakness addressed and Russell Wilson off to the best statistical start of his career. . .”
Additionally, all ten of ESPN’s analysts favored the Seahawks to win this week.
Here at SB Nation, Seattle is listed as a virtual lock:
“The Seahawks are home again this week. Somehow I doubt that Washington will put up the same kind of fight that the Texans did last week. Our panel agrees with that assessment.”
Lastly, Sports Illustrated was in complete agreement that Seattle is the overwhelming favorite.
While I appreciate the vote of confidence against a beleaguered and injured Washington lineup, there’s something almost uncomfortable about being so highly thought of against an upcoming opponent. If you win, you were expected to. But God help you if you don’t. I suppose the best thing about the NFL is that there’s no notion of a selection committee, a series of wins, no matter how ugly, is all you need.
Personally, for my own illogical reasons, I vastly prefer the narrative that the Seahawks are underdogs. I like to think the team, specifically the defense, plays better when they’re mad. Perhaps they do, or perhaps it’s my own bias coloring my perception of games past. So if we could manage to convince Skip Bayless or some other talking head to doubt Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson, and the Seattle Seahawks again, perhaps it would settle my nerves a bit. Frankly, all this positivity makes me nervous.