TNF: Seahawks vs Packers Game Thread

Thursday Night Football, Week 11. Tonight the Green Bay Packers travel west to take on the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle, Washington.

As the 2018 NFL season wears on the playoff picture comes into focus and the games take on added significance among contenders. The 4-4-1 Packers and the 4-5 Seahawks are both on the fringe of the NFC playoff race, making this game a must win for both teams. The losing team tonight will have to win all of their remaining games just to reach 10 wins and have a shot at the playoffs.

The Packers come into the game having lost three of their last five games and sitting in third place in the NFC North. Aaron Rodgers has been great as usual, with 17 touchdowns and only one interception. Despite those numbers the Packers have struggled with turnovers. They have fumbled a whopping 16 times already this season, losing nine. Solve the fumbling problem and this Packers team is dangerous.

The Seahawks, like the Packers, come into this game losers of three of their last five games. With games against the Packers (tonight), the Vikings, the Panthers and the Chiefs still on their schedule, a loss tonight, giving them six losses on the season, would all but end their playoff hopes in 2018. The Seahawks suffer from a declining defense and an overly conservative offense. The Seahawks rank first in the NFL in rushing attempts and rushing yards, and last in the NFL in passing attempts. That was a formula for success when Russell Wilson was young and inexperienced and the defense was dominant. Now, however, the defense is far from dominant, and Wilson is an established star quarterback with a 110 passer rating this year. Running the most conservative offense in the NFL under these changed circumstances is ill advised and a measure of how stuck in his ways and inflexible Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is. Change at the top in Seattle should be something on the menu as early as the end of the 2018 season.

Two teams and two star quarterbacks that have been playoff mainstays most of the last decade but are struggling just to stay relevant in 2018 clash tonight in Seattle. The winner stays alive to fight another day. The loser’s playoff hopes will be on life support after the game. This should be a fascinating game.

It’s the Seahawks and the Packers in an intriguing matchup in tonight’s Thursday Night Football action.

Enjoy the game everybody.