Rugged NFC West clearly prepared Seahawks for Super Bowl XLVIII

Bottom line? Stuff happens in the NFL, and you can't predict it. Seattle looks loaded. But the Seahawks are also in a very tough division, and only one game

Teams in the NFC West combined to go a gaudy 42-22, five games better than the next best division :: Rod Mar/SI

Bottom line? Stuff happens in the NFL, and you can't predict it. Seattle looks loaded. But the Seahawks are also in a very tough division, and only one game separated them and the 49ers this season, meaning it could easily have been Seattle taking entirely to the road in the playoffs while San Francisco stayed home. The playoffs could have played out entirely differently in that scenario.

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