It is likely that three road wins stand between the Seahawks and a return trip to the Super Bowl. It is likely that Seattle, in addition to beating Philadelphia on Sunday, will have to take down two 13-win teams to reach that goal as well.
People will say that, in order to defy these ultrathon odds, quarterback Russell Wilson will have to play the best postseason football of his career — and they may be right. But what this will ultimately come down to is whether the Seahawks defense will actually show up.
That hasn’t been the case for most of the year.