LIONS RARE
Last road playoff win in '57
SEATTLE — Only a few weeks ago, the Seahawks and Lions were fighting for the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs and a coveted bye that makes getting to the Super Bowl so much easier.
Stumbles by both teams over the final few weeks have led to the Seahawks hosting the Lions in the NFC wild-card game Saturday night and a test of whether momentum even matters going into the playoffs.
“There’s obviously been a bunch of different teams that have done different stuff going in and then turn on a real good show and get going in the playoffs,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Both teams will look back on the final few weeks with a certain level of regret.
Detroit (9-7) faced a gauntlet schedule, closing with three playoff teams — Giants, Cowboys, Packers — and lost all three to give away the NFC North title and its shot of hosting a playoff game.
Seattle may view its stumble as more costly. The Seahawks (10-5-1) lost control of the No. 2 seed when they lost at home to Arizona in Week 16 and with it the chance to be resting.
“History kind of shows you that it’s a true restart,” Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “We’re looking at data and who’s won it and how, and all that kind of stuff. I’m sure there’s been teams that have gotten hot and gone and won it, but there are teams that have not had the finish that they wanted and still gone on to be really successful.”
There is a lot in favor for the Seahawks playing at home against a Detroit franchise that last won a playoff road game in 1957.
Seattle is 5-0 in the playoffs at home since 2010 and has won at least one game in each postseason appearance under Carroll. Since 2012, the Seahawks are 7-3 overall in the playoffs.
All that experience and success doesn’t take into account the statistical differences. The Seahawks finished the regular season better than Detroit in every major statistical category offensively and defensively.
But the Lions have shown re- siliency all season, recovering from a 1-3 start and winning an NFL-record eight times when trailing in the fourth quarter or overtime.
“Their belief — like the way they believe — you can just see the energy change when they make a big play,” Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “Whether it’s on defense, special teams, offense. Something typically happens where they feed off that energy.”