<
        >

          NFL Nation

          Seahawks drop spot in ESPN's Power Rankings but remain NFC West favorites

          • Brady Henderson, ESPNSep 19, 2017, 04:21 PM ET
            Close
              Brady Henderson is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Henderson covers the Seattle Seahawks. He joined ESPN in 2017 covering the team for Seattle Sports 710-AM. You can follow him via Twitter @BradyHenderson.

          Style points don't count in the win-loss column.

          They do count when it comes to evaluating those wins and losses.

          That's why the Seattle Seahawks dropped a spot in this week's ESPN Power Rankings after slogging their way through a 12-9 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, needing a late touchdown drive and another outstanding performance from their defense to put away a team they were favored by two touchdowns to beat.

          The Seahawks went from eighth to ninth this week after holding the No. 3 spot in the preseason.

          That downward trend has everything to do with an offense that has managed only one touchdown and 21 points during the first two games. Believe it or not, Seattle's offense got off to a worse start last season, scoring one touchdown and only 15 points during the first two games. The Seahawks averaged 30 points during their next three games and went on to finish 10-5-1 despite three injuries to quarterback Russell Wilson, a revolving door at running back and an offensive line that struggled.

          A few more reasons to be optimistic:

          • ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI), which is a computerized predictive system for the NFL, gives the Seahawks a 68.8 percent chance to win the NFC West. That makes Seattle heavy favorites, per FPI, over the Arizona Cardinals (22.6 percent), Los Angeles Rams (8.2 percent) and San Francisco 49ers (0.5 percent). Only the New England Patriots (85.1 percent) and Tennessee Titans (76.3 percent) are heavier favorites in their divisions, per FPI.

          • FPI gives the Seahawks a 74.3 percent chance of making the playoffs and a 6.1 percent chance of winning the Super Bowl, both sixth-highest in the NFL.

          • The Seahawks are projected to finish 10-6, per FPI. Among NFC teams, only the Atlanta Falcons at 11-5 are projected to have a better record while two others -- the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers -- are also projected at 10-6.

          The Seahawks have won at least 10 games in each of the last five seasons. That includes 2015, when they lost their first two games and four of their first six. So they've overcome a slow start before. FPI likes their chances of doing it again this season.