The Seattle Seahawks lost Sunday to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it probably doesn’t matter. The outcome didn’t change Seattle’s overall playoff chances, as the Seahawks maintain a three-game lead in the NFC West over the Arizona Cardinals that keeps them above 98 percent expectancy to make the postseason by all noteworthy simulations. The loss likely limits Seattle’s best prospects to protecting its second-seed slot in the conference playoffs, which itself becomes a harder challenge, but otherwise I’m not too bothered by the performance.
I realize I’ve said this before. I told you not to worry after the Seahawks put up three points in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams in week 2, and again I wasn’t discouraged by Seattle’s 21-0 third quarter slipup against the Atlanta Falcons.