Pittsburgh Steelers at Seattle Seahawks Prediction: Winner Sees Red (Zone)!

Pittsburgh Steelers at Seattle Seahawks Prediction: The Stats Say NFL Week 17 Winner Sees Red (Zone)!

The classic paradox goes something like, "What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?"

When it comes to one specific aspect of the the Seattle Seahawks on offense, as well as one specific aspect of the Pittsburgh Steelers on offense ...

This Sunday's NFL Week 17 matchup ain't that.

The Seahawks are 8-7 and have won back-to-back games to push themselves up to the No. 7 playoff seed in the NFC.

Similarly, the Steelers are also 8-7, but they are the No. 10 seed in the AFC and presently outside of playoff picture entering Sunday.

So where is the fulcrum point? Who becomes more "unstoppable''? Who becomes less "immovable''? 

“It’s all about the red zone,” ex-NFL receiver Micael Bumpus noted this week on Bump and Stacy on Seattle Sports.

And why? for all of the positive things that QB Geno Smith and the Seattle offense has accomplished, as Bumpus points out, “The Hawks are the 28th red zone-scoring offense.''

And the Steelers? "Pittsburgh,'' Bumpus said, "is the 27th red zone-scoring offense.”

And there is your fulcrum point.

It so happens that Pittsburgh is a top-five NFL team in terms of red-zone scoring defense. That presents a problem for Seattle, even though the Steelers have other numbers that don't match that one.

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"The Pittsburgh Steelers are a weird team,'' Bumpus said. "They’re 21st in total defense, 21st against the pass, 20th against the run, but they’re seventh when it comes to points allowed. Why? Because they find a way to pack things in and get physical inside the red zone. ...

"That situation is going to determine the ballgame right there.”