Seahawks’ 2022 opponents are set, and the schedule already looks daunting

The Seattle Seahawks’ last place finish in the NFC West was confirmed with Sunday’s horrendous yet somehow slightly amusing 25-24 loss to the Chicago Bears. Even with a couple of games left in the season, we officially know the opponents the Seahawks will be playing in 2022.

Now keep in mind that despite my sensationalist headline specifically designed to generate extra traffic, we can’t predict that far into the future how good or bad teams will be. But going specifically from the 2021 season, the Seahawks’ 2022 schedule looks absolutely terrifying.

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San Francisco 49ers

Arizona Cardinals

Los Angeles Rams

Carolina Panthers

Atlanta Falcons

New York Giants

Denver Broncos

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Jets

Away

San Francisco 49ers

Arizona Cardinals

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Detroit Lions

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Exact dates and times will be known in May.

Most of these opponents were already known well in advance, but Seattle’s last place finish means they play corresponding last place teams in the AFC East, NFC East, and NFC North. They had an outside chance of running the table and relying on a collapse from the San Francisco 49ers to go into 3rd, but that’s out the door.

Let’s set aside the usual divisional opponents and focus on the non-divisional part of the schedule. The AFC West has the mighty Kansas City Chiefs, the rising Los Angeles Chargers (who somehow lost to the Houston Texans but otherwise could still make the playoffs), the Las Vegas Raiders, and Denver Broncos. Only Denver is under .500 among that quartet and they’re 7-8 with barely competent quarterback play and a ton of injuries on defense.

The NFC South has Tom Brady and the Bucs, and I don’t think Brady is retiring any time soon. Even with the carousel at QB for the Saints, they’re 7-7 and have one of the league’s best defenses. The Falcons are somehow 7-8 but Kyle Pitts could be a superstar at tight end whether or not Matt Ryan is the quarterback next season. We know that playing the Panthers is always a pain no matter how good or bad they are.

Lastly, the last place schedule consists of the Detroit Lions, the New York Giants, and yes... the New York Jets. Presumably with one of their top-10 picks taken through the Seahawks’ trading their first to them for Jamal Adams.

As things stand, half of the Seahawks’ 14 opponents for the 2022 season are above .500 and that could improve to 8 if the Saints win on Monday night. Yeah, you better hope that some of these teams taper off next year.