Were The Seahawks Screwed By The NFL's Playoff Schedule?

Fox Sports

It's tough for west coast teams to travel to the east coast and play in the early time slot when players' bodies still feel like it is morning. And the curious decision by the NFL to schedule the Seattle-Atlanta game in Sunday's early time slot may have impacted the play of the Seahawks.

Clearly it was a tale of two games for the Seahawks. Russell Wilson was just 2-6 for 31 yards in the first quarter as the Falcons jumped out to a 20-0 lead at halftime. After the first quarter, Wilson woke up and went 22-30 for 337 yards and two touchdowns.

But if we look even closer, the numbers get even more amazing. Here's a breakdown of the total offense for both teams for drives that started before and after noon pacific time (about mid-way through the third quarter)...

It seems like it is only a matter of time before the NFL moves their Sunday playoff games to 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm eastern time. But until then, we will continue to see west coast teams struggle early on in their east games.