Seahawks' 2013 opponents, locations finalized after crazy Week 17

The Seahawks will have to wait until sometime this offseason to learn the exact details of the 2013 NFL schedule, but for now, they at least know the teams they'll face at home and on the road. The Hawks get the AFC South and the NFC South next year, in addition to their division rivals, and the Vikings (2nd in NFC North) & Giants (2nd in NFC East). This means, based upon how the standings ended up and with the Seahawks just barely missing out on the NFC West crown, that the Hawks will get the Saints, Bucs, Titans, & Jags at home and then face the Falcons, Panthers, Texans, & Colts on the road.

HOME:
San Francisco 49ers
Arizona Cardinals
St. Louis Rams
Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Jacksonville Jaguars

ROAD:
San Francisco 49ers
Arizona Cardinals
St. Louis Rams
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
New York Giants

Some really interesting matchups, on paper, for next season. Drew Brees and the Saints, reunited with Sean Payton, will have to make the trek to Seattle. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who I believe will be much improved in 2013 after another offseason under Greg Schiano, will come to Seattle. The Titans... well, things don't look great for the Titans right now, but there's always the fun Jake Locker/Matt Hasselbeck connection. The Jaguars are a bit of a mess too, mostly at Quarterback, but they've got some young talent at skill position spots and MJD should be back, and that combo could make for interesting matchups. The Vikings have Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin, and should Christian Ponder figure some things out or get hot, they'll be a very tough matchup.

Traveling to Atlanta to face the Falcons is always tough, so that will be a big challenge for the Seahawks. Going on the road to face the Panthers again will be tougher this upcoming year, I think, than it was this season, as Carolina adjusts to whoever is named to their new coaching staff and as Cam Newton and company improve over the offseason. The Texans are going to be good, period, so that's going to be a very tough road game, and the Colts end this season as a very hot team with a playoffs berth, and will have another year's draft to stack their roster with some more talent. The Giants are pretty Jekyll and Hyde, but playing in the Meadowlands is never an easy proposition.

It's never easy in the NFL, really, but to me, Seattle's road schedule looks pretty daunting at first glance.