AP: 24d236a1-4060-4822-9378-21e4523460c0
A potential first-round playoff matchup would have the Seahawks traveling to Washington to face Robert Griffin III and the Redskins. (AP)
Since the Seahawks' win against Chicago in overtime, a game they effectively won twice with two long touchdown scoring drives, the Hawks have taken us on the hottest winning streak in franchise history. The 2012 Hawks are for real right now and bring to mind the 1986 team that finished the season with five straight wins, beating its opponents by an average score of 35-14.

This team has a chance to match that streak Sunday against the St. Louis Rams at CenturyLink Field, where the Hawks are undefeated this season. The difference is that unlike the '86 team, the '12 Seahawks have qualified for the playoffs and have outscored their last four opponents by an even more impressive average of 43-12.

It's official, the Seahawks have become the team that nobody wants to face right now and it comes at a perfect time. The Hawks showed up on ESPN's power rankings as the No. 6 team in the NFL. Three of the teams ahead of Seattle are teams the Hawks have already beaten – Green Bay, New England and San Francisco. Of the other two – Atlanta and Denver – one doesn't scare me and the other is an AFC team that the Seahawks would only face in the Super Bowl.

I realize that it's difficult to go 13-2 as the Falcons have but Atlanta fails the eye test of a hot playoff team right now. Yes, they shut out the New York Giants two weeks ago, but the Giants are a team on the decline and have lost their last two games by a margin of 67-14. The Falcons' most recent win was over a Detroit team that recently lost to the Arizona Cardinals 38-10. That's the same Cardinals team that lost to the Seahawks 58-0 the week before that. If the Seahawks were to go into Atlanta right now, I would expect them to win.

The most likely outcome of this weekend, assuming that the Seahawks take care of the Rams on Sunday, is a trip to the nation's capital to face the Washington Redskins in the first round of the playoffs. If the Redskins can beat the Dallas Cowboys at home, we'll be watching two of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL go head to head. A Russell Wilson vs. RGIII matchup would pit two of the top Rookie-of-the-Year candidates against one another. Certainly the Redskins are a force and rank No. 9 in ESPN's power ranking, but again I would expect the Hawks to beat them on the road.

But there's still a scenario alive that would treat Seahawks fans to a first-round bye and at least one playoff game at CenturyLink Field. If the Minnesota Vikings are able to beat the Green Bay Packers at home this Sunday and the lowly Cardinals can get a win over the 49ers in San Francisco, the Hawks would be the No. 2 seed in the NFC and would host at least one playoff game.

Of those two scenarios, the Vikings beating the Packers is totally realistic whereas the Cards beating the Niners is a pipe dream. The Vikings are the second hottest team in the NFC and riding a three-game winning streak, including a win at Houston, the No. 1 seed in the AFC. They could easily get a win over the Packers at home as they work to get their running back, Adrian Peterson, over 2,000 yards rushing.

But the Cardinals beating the 49ers is not likely with quarterback Brian Hoyer at the helm. Hoyer has thrown one touchdown and two interceptions in his career. Santa Clause came last Tuesday.

But we can dream, right? Since we're dreaming, let's dream big. Believe it or not, there's a scenario alive in which the Seahawks would host the NFC Championship game just as they did in 2005. If the aforementioned sequence of events plays out and one of the other playoff teams knocks off the Falcons, the road to the Super Bowl would pass through Seattle. The Seahawks' No. 2 seed would be boss and if that were the case, I'd say pack your bags for New Orleans, folks, because this team would be headed back to the big dance.

Realistically, the Hawks don't need some fantasy to come true in order to get to the Super Bowl. Head coach Pete Carroll has this team believing they can beat anybody as long as they play their game.

I predicted a blowout win over San Francisco during the pregame radio broadcast and felt something special was about to happen. Those feelings haven't changed. This is an extraordinary team and they've come together at the perfect time.

These guys aren't done.

Follow Dave Wyman, 710Sports.com contributor

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Comments (6)


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  • bigmoccs wrote...
    Rite with you Dave.....
    December 27, 2012 9:40 am
    I predicted a blowout also! We played a terrible game in San Fran and was still only a play away from winning that game. Nationally the Patriots get to much publicity and that win for the 9er's put them at an elite status, NOT! OOOOOH they won in NE so they can win in Seattle or it will be close. I said Seahawks by 20+!
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  • rajuseattle wrote...
    Agree with you Dave......
    December 27, 2012 10:32 am
    but try to be realistic, given Cardinals QB position playing this season, i think its impossible to think about Cards going to SFO and beat them. No chance of Kevin Kolb returning as QB...we may lend Matt Flynn to Arizona for just 1 game. :-) Cards already declared WHITE flag and shown that they are least interested in winning any of their games this season. I dont have the hopes for being 2nd seed, but with 5th seed, i am optimistic about our chances going into Washington DC and then to Atlanta for the Road Ws. I hope our key players remain healthy ( touch wood) and pray for the team's overall health....in January that is what you need to win the Road games in cold and winter weather....Go Hawks....!!!
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  • Johnnymac50 wrote...
    Your opinion
    December 27, 2012 1:57 pm
    means a lot to decades-long football watchers like myself. You have seen it from the inside out. I "voted" that I thought the 'Hawks would win big too, and I also agree that they have a way to win on the road even if they have to go to Washington, but like a lot of fans who show no respect for things like probabilitiy and practicality, I truly am more excited this season than even for the season of SuperBowl XL. I think this is just a better team all the way around, and their chemistry is what will do it for them.
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  • clevesside wrote...
    Unbeatable at home, of course....
    December 27, 2012 2:20 pm
    ...but STILL an unproven road team. Beating Chicago in OT was the last road game of consequence. If we get matched up with Redskins, that would be a game for the ages, given both teams make-up and outstadning young QBs. This is the playoff match I'd like. "We can dream," of course, but wake up gently. Word is indeed out nobody wants to play the Hawks....in their house! We will see, and we will prevail, even faraway, in another galaxy, for that matter. Tip of the helmet once more to our astute analyst.
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  • Derrol_o wrote...
    '86 Hawks
    December 27, 2012 8:40 pm
    Dave, mentioning that '86 team was right on. To this day I always believed that if they had just been able to get into the playoffs they would have won the Super Bowl that year. I always considered seeing them fall short as maybe the most disappointed I've ever been as a Seahawk fan, right up there with losing the AFC title game in '83 after the Miracle in Miami. Curt Warner was finally back to 100% and just tearing it up, Krieg was playing at a high level and if I remember right they beat both Super Bowl teams that year. It was tough seeing Denver in the Super Bowl after the Seahawks just clobbered them the last game of the season. Every now and then I still talk about that '86 team and what could have been, to anyone willing to listen. I never really considered this current run the '12 Hawks are on in light of the '86 season until I read the article but now that you mentioned it, it's definitely similar, only this team might be even hotter than that '86 team was. Then it was that following offseason one Dave Wyman was picked in the 2nd round which would have put you at Stanford for your last season there, correct?
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  • Jef wrote...
    A team that inspires confidence
    December 28, 2012 12:36 pm
    Hey Dave my name is Jeff I am the electrician that wired your hot tub a while back, I don't know if you remember a brief conversation we had about the hawks and I made a comment that you can never relax while you watch the seahawks because it always seemed like we could loose any game. I grew up in LA and was always a Raiders fan and never really followed the seahawks. I moved to Washington in 97 and did not start listening to talk radio until right after I did work for you. I was quite surprised to hear you and Dori on the pregame. So I always wanted to "apologize" for ripping on the hawks without realizing you were one. But since I have been hear in Seattle I have been quite a homer and always think the hawks will win even though I can never really relax while watching them, until now. So when I heard Paul making a similar comment to you it brought back that memory. But I always enjoy listening to you and also had a feeling we were going to dominate the niners. It is a great feeling to see this team firing on all cylinders with the possibility of exploding in any phase at any time. It is amazing to be a fearless Hawk fan! I wish I would have put money on them to win the superbowl at the season start like I have in the past, go hawks!
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