Wild things tend to happen when the Seattle Seahawks host the Green Bay Packers.
First, there was the “Fail Mary” of 2012. Then there was the 2014 NFC championship game, which featured a 12-point Seahawks comeback in the final three minutes.
The Week 15 iteration of “Sunday Night Football” will be just the second time the Packers and Seahawks have faced off in Seattle since that meeting in the 2014 playoffs. It’s also a game that could have playoff implications for both teams.
Green Bay is coming off of a Week 14 loss that all but dashed its hopes of an NFC North title. While the Packers currently hold a wild-card spot, they are just two games up on the Los Angeles Rams, who are the current first team out in the NFC.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks enter Week 15 off of a win over the Arizona Cardinals, giving them a leg up on the rest of the NFC West in the race to the division title. A win on Sunday night would help keep Seattle ahead of Los Angeles and the San Francisco 49ers after their Thursday night clash.
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Here’s everything to know about the Sunday Night Football game this week:
Both teams will be looking to get their run games going early and often on what could be a rainy Sunday night in Seattle.
Even if the weather holds up, the Packers’ strong rushing offense – led by running back Josh Jacobs and reinforced by the mobility of quarterback Jordan Love – will likely have a better outlook than its passing offense.
Through 14 weeks, the Seahawks’ passing defense ranks ninth in EPA per dropback allowed (0.010) and 13th in success rate on dropbacks (45.3%). In contrast, Seattle’s rush defense drops to 16th in the NFL by EPA allowed (-0.085) and 22nd in rush success rate (41.0%).
Jacobs enters Week 15 off of two performances among his worst of the season in terms of rush yardage. However, he did score three touchdowns last week, tying a season high. He’ll be looking to return to form against a weaker rush defense.
In contrast, the Seahawks may try to lean more heavily on their passing game.
Second-year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba is having a breakout season and enters Week 15 on a streak of five straight games with more than 70 receiving yards.
In addition, Green Bay ranks 32nd in the NFL with a 51.3% success rate allowed on opponents’ dropbacks, and Seattle quarterback Geno Smith will try to take advantage of that on Sunday night.
The Packers’ dropback marks in EPA allowed and success rate are both ranked around No. 10 in the NFL – they’re ninth and 11th, respectively. That suggests they’ll provide a more difficult challenge for either Zach Charbonnet or Kenneth Walker III, even off of Charbonnet’s 134-yard day against the Cardinals last week.
NFL PLAYOFF PICTURE:NFL playoff odds for every team entering Week 15: Every AFC, NFC team’s chances
“Sunday Night Football” will kick off at its standard start time, 8:20 p.m. ET.
Mike Tirico will handle play-by-play duties during the game, with Cris Collinsworth providing color commentary and Melissa Stark reporting from the sidelines.
NBC’s weekly “Football Night in America” pregame show will begin at 7 p.m. ET and feature insight from a panel of analysts, including Maria Taylor, Jason Garrett, Chris Simms, Mike Florio, Devin McCourty, Tony Dungy, and more.
For the 2024 NFL season, NBC will broadcast “Sunday Night Football” weekly.
Fans who prefer to stream football games can watch “Sunday Night Football” with a Peacock subscription or with Fubo.
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