At Sunday Night Football in Seattle, a 'tremendous showing' — by the Rams

“Well. That was a, uh … let me say it this way, a tremendous showing by the Rams.”So began the doleful press conference of Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, after his team lost to Los Angeles 42-7 at home. The near-shutout capped a three-week losing streak, which was marred by everything from conflict with fans to Twitter beefs. The Seattle PI’s Michael-Shawn Dugar sat down with host Ross Reynolds to discuss where the team is now, and what’s next.

First off, Dugar said he’s crunched the numbers and the team is not completely out of the playoffs – at least not mathematically. But realistically, “if the Seahawks win all their games, and the Rams somehow forget what good football looks like, they could get to the playoffs.”

Two big ifs. And that’s the traditional path to the post-season. When asked about the wild card option, Dugar said that to do the math of those probabilities, he’d have to take off his shoes and count on his toes.

The slim chances are probably a big part of why players have been on a short fuse: not just on the field, but with the opposing team’s fans, and even each other. And a temper is also just built into the game. “You gotta be angry to play football,” Dugar said. “You have to, to be okay with guys just hitting you in the head every day. You get paid millions of dollars, but your head hurts.”

The Seahawks’ next chance for a headache is this Sunday, against the Dallas Cowboys. In addition to the blood in the water from the recent losses, star Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott is coming back from a six-week suspension (which he spent getting fit in Mexico). He’s betting he can rush 200 yards in that game, and the Cowboys have been playing well – so for Seattle fans, it may soon be time to start hoping for better luck next year.