If the Seahawks had home field advantage throughout the playoffs, they’d be the Super Bowl favorites by far. They went 8-0 at home this season, beating three highly seeded playoff teams, the 49ers, Packers, and the Patriots. Those 8 wins came by an average of 18.5 points per game. And unlike past seasons, they aren’t just a good home team. They’re a good team with an excellent home field advantage. They rank 1st in both weighted and regular DVOA by a wide margin. You could call them the best overall team in the league. They’re one of two teams to not lose a single game by more than a touchdown and they beat the only other team who is (Patriots).

However, their relative road struggles are important because they’ll have to win 4 straight games away from Seattle to win the Super Bowl. I don’t doubt their ability to win a road playoff game, but 4 away from home in a row? They were just 3-5 on the road this year, losing to Miami, Detroit, St. Louis, and Arizona. While all 4 of those losses could have gone either way, so could have their wins in Carolina and Chicago.

Their only convincing road win was against the Bills, a huge 50-17 win. That does happen to be their most recent road game and they have won their last 2 (including an overtime win in Chicago), but that’s not enough to change my mind about their Super Bowl chances as a wild card. They should be able to win in Washington and maybe even in Atlanta, but I don’t like their chances of winning in Green Bay or San Francisco.

Projected fate: Lose to Atlanta in divisional round

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