Long road to Super Bowl has been taken before
Can a stay-close-and-survive team really make it to the Super Bowl?
The wild-card Seahawks are a third of the way there, obviously, having dispatched the Eagles 17-9 in what — for this bunch — is becoming routine stuff.
It was Seattle’s eighth win in nine road games and their 11th victory by a touchdown or less.
Of course, it seems like a stretch to imagine a team that couldn’t win its own division managing three victories away from home to reach the Super Bowl.
The odds would appear to be even longer for the Seahawks, who got out of Philadelphia despite missing their top three running backs (Chris Carson, Rashaad Penny and C.J. Prosise), center Justin Britt and the left side of the offensive line (guard Mike Iupati and tackle Duane Brown).
They’ve been without a couple of the top tight ends most of the season — and on the other side of the ball, linebacker Mychal Kendricks is out for the duration.
Can you win in those sorts of circumstances?
SEATTLE IS still breathing as the NFC’s No. 5 seed — having come inches away from beating the 49ers to win the West.
So, if you want to believe…
I mean, if you REALLY want to believe…
Just look across the line of scrimmage on Sunday, because the Green Bay Packers pulled off almost exactly the same kind of accomplishment the Seahawks have in their sights.
The 2010 Packers won the Super Bowl after squeaking into the playoffs as a No. 6 seed, finishing the regular season 10-6 — one game behind their rival Chicago Bears.
To make the possible similarity even more obvious, the Packers beat the Bears 14-7 in the NFC title game, earning them a ticket to put away Pittsburgh 31-25 in the Super Bowl.
Green Bay also suffered a catalogue of injuries in 2010, including the absence of QB Aaron Rodgers for a game and — just like this year’s Seahawks — the Packers ran so short of running backs that they reached out for James Starks, a sixth-round rookie who had spent almost the entire season on the injured reserve list.
Starks wound up as a playoff hero — as did Jordy Nelson, who had been quiet for his first two seasons but caught a TD pass to open the scoring in the Super Bowl and made another grab to set up the Packers on the Steelers’ 2-yard line.
The Seattle duo of Travis Homer and old boy Marshawn Lynch surely would qualify as an unlikely pair of running backs — so there’s something of a similar look to those championship Packers.
THE PACK probably had a better team, at least on paper, than this year’s Seahawks.
But the string of injuries that seemed to crop up every week inspired Green Bay to use a defiant — and now fairly common — battle cry each time someone got hurt…
“Next man up!”
Like this year’s Seahawks, those Packers played a whole string of close games.
They lost six games — but none by more than four points.
There were even a couple of back-to-back overtime defeats thrown into the mx.
One thing that distinguished the Packers that year, however, was a relentless defense that allowed the second-fewest points in the league.
Green Bay boasted four Pro Bowlers on defense: Clay Matthews, Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams and Nick Collins.
That’s three-quarters of the defensive backfield, and cinch Hall of Famer Woodson (65 interceptions, 13 TDs) played all 20 games.
THAT, WE know, is where the Seahawks have struggled — but suddenly they broke out for seven sacks last week in Philadelphia, and the return of injured stars Jadeveon Clowney and Quandre Diggs has made Seattle a lot more formidable.
Free safety Diggs, by the way, was 5-2 against Rodgers and the Pack during his time in Detroit, and he’s won at Lambeau Field.
Besides…
The Packers’ run to glory following the 2010 regular season was ignited by its once-unpredictable offense.
Perhaps the Seahawks can do it on the other side of the ball.
Neither of Sunday’s rosters looks truly terrifying — except at quarterback.
Rodgers and Russell Wilson are the only QBs left in these playoffs who have won a Super Bowl.
The victor in this quarterback matchup will likely be headed to the NFC title game.
That’s how Green Bay did it in 2010, so maybe the Packers will have it done to them.
Even if you’re not a believer…
The Seahawks are confident enough to make up for you.
Email: scameron@cdapress.com
Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball each Tuesday.
Steve’s various tales from several decades in sports — “Moments, Memories and Madness” — run on Sundays.