Before we dive into the implications of the Seahawks 21-12 Christmas Eve win over the Dallas Cowboys, let’s take a quick second to recognize a few items of note:
• The Seahawks beat the damn Cowboys! That’s always delightful.
• The Seahawks will have a winning record this year, despite playing most of the season without defensive superstars Richard Sherman, Cliff Avril, and Kam Chancellor, and playing a number of crucial games without the likes of Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright, Earl Thomas, Sheldon Richardson, Naz Jones, and Jarran Reed.
• Despite an uneven couple of weeks, Russell Wilson has ensured that he will start his career with a 6th straight winning season.
• Punter Jon Ryan played great, which is good because I hate pointing out that he, too, has had an uneven season.
• The Seahawks beat the Cowboys! That’s always great in and of itself!
• Despite the comments our terrible president has made, no one stopped saying Merry Christmas. Now, though, because of him and his terrible presidenting, if someone says it to me with a little too much glee, I tend to look at them askance as I try to suss out whether they are really moved by the holiday spirit, or if they’re trying to stick it to me for some reason.
• Byron Maxwell brought back the punch-fumble maneuver to bring back some warm memories from that good Super Bowl we won.
• The Seahawks stole Justin Coleman from the Patriots, and he’s been awesome for the Seahawks all year. His game on Sunday, which included a pick-six and a monster sack, was the culmination of that awesomeness.
• DID I MENTION THAT THE SEAHAWKS BEAT THE COWBOYS????
Now let’s talk about the two major implications that emerged from this otherwise kinda boring Seahawks win:
The first is that Earl Thomas is a damn weirdo. After the win, in which he played a crucial role, he went to the Cowboys locker room to chat with receiver Dez Bryant, and was caught on tape telling Cowboys coach Jason Garrett to “come get me.” He then confirmed what he said to reporters, essentially sending a warning shot to the Seahawks about his presumed upcoming contract negotiations.
The whole thing is a bummer. Earl is either the second or third most important Seahawk behind only Russell Wilson and mayyyybe Bobby Wagner, and yet the team only has him under contract for one more year. If he moves on, there is no plan B; we saw how porous the Seahawks defense becomes without Earl last year. He’s also very young! He’s somehow only 28 and safeties generally age well. It would not be surprising if he were to have five more great seasons in the NFL. It would be sad if those were not with the Seahawks.
And the final implication: the Seahawks are somehow still in the thick of the playoff race. This Sunday, they will play the Arizona Cardinals while the Atlanta Falcons play the Carolina Panthers. If the Seahawks win while the Falcons lose they are in the playoffs. Given the relative strength of their opponents this has about a 30-35 percent chance of happening. And if it does happen, the Seahawks will not only have transcended their most injury-plagued season in over a decade to make the playoffs, but they’ll likely get a rematch against the Rams in Los Angeles… but that’s looking too far ahead.
Win or lose this weekend, this team has had a really strong season considering everything they’ve been forced to overcome. It’s easy when a team is on a run like the ‘Hawks are to lose sight of the little victories, but this year has been loaded with them despite the frustrations. Hopefully, they’ll get one more win, but even if they don’t, they’ll still have beaten the damn Cowboys.