NFL Sticking It to Seattle?

The Seahawks have an unusual situation that deserves to be addressed. Some may say this is conspiracy theory talk, but in reality it is pure fact: the NFL manipulates the schedule to give certain teams an advantage, period. For a few examples look no further than the New Orleans Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles. The Saints and Eagles are two teams the NFL wanted to rebound this season after Hurricane Katrina and Terrell Owens. The schedule is fixed, but the dates are flexible. Each team received a front-loaded schedule of easy games to allow the squads to come together and put up some early wins.

Some people were claiming the schedule-makers had it in for Philadelphia with three straight road games against the rest of the NFC East in Weeks 14 thru 16. However, that means each NFC East team had to travel to Philadelphia earlier in the season. The best thing a team can do is get wins in the beginning of the season. The difficulty of later games is harder to predict with injuries, but building a lead keeps a team relevant and makes it easier to stay focused. A tough start can cause a team to spiral downward. The Eagles played three of their first four games against Houston, San Francisco, and Green Bay - those teams picked 1st, 5th and 6th in the draft last season. The Eagles also got an extra day of rest after travelling out west to San Francisco by following it with a Monday Night game against Green Bay and then another home game after the short week.

What does this have to do with Seattle? The Seahawks are in a precarious position this week thanks to the NFL and those pesky schedule-makers. The Denver Broncos are coming off a week with three extra days of rest, while the Seahawks get one less day than normal. The Seahawks also must travel to Denver adding a travel day. True, the Broncos were on the road last week, but they played in Kansas City - the closest NFL city to Denver. The Seahawks preparation disadvantage is at least four-and-a-half days for an important matchup between two teams that both made it to their respective conference championship games last year. Crazy conspiracy theory? Maybe, but the circumstances certainly put the Seahawks at a big disadvantage.

And if you are looking for more evidence, take a good look at NFL sweetheart Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts. What games are the biggest for the Colts? Jacksonville for the division and New England for the conference. The Colts were lucky enough to get Jacksonville at home after the Jaguars played the Steelers on Monday Night. A few weeks later, they got New England after the Patriots' Monday Night road game in Minnesota.

My point is not that the NFL tries to rig its schedule with every game, but anyone who thinks the schedule-makers do not take these things into account is a fool. The Seahawks-Broncos situation could just be a coincidence, and that is probably the case, but the league was aware of it and chose not to correct it. The NFL takes care of its darling teams when it can and the Seahawks are not among that group, at least not yet.