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Yes, the Seahawks could lose, too.  According to Vegas, they will lose, unless the Bengals spot them from -1 to -3 points.

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1.  The Legion of Boom.  There was a stat going for awhile ... somebody look it up fer poor addled Dr. D. ... where Russell Wilson was running 6-0 or 7-0 against the Bradies, Breesies, Rodgerses and Manningses of the NFL.  Granted, the Seahawks have had two reversals recently.  But in one of the reversals, every single member of the LOB was playing with ambulance-worthy injuries, and in the other, they had some excuse we forget.

The LOB has been progressing steadily and the timing should be just about back up to snuff.  Exit Light.  Enter Ni-iiig-hht.

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2.  Andy Dalton may or may not be a legitimate 123.0 rating quarterback.  SSI thinks he's good and all, like Matt Hasselbeck level, but guys go through hot streaks.  Hot streaks that go 15 yards per completion with 0 picks don't last long in the NFL, much less against the Legion.

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3.  One Word:  Inspiration.

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4.  Vontze Burfict is an anagram for well, it contains the letters for:  Active Front ... Action Verb ... Contributer ... Auto-Fire ... Bit Vector ... er, whatever.  Point is, he won't be playing. According to Cincy Jungle, he's their Kam Chancellor.  If we got our Kam and they don't got theirs, I don't see how you lose.

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5.  Toughness.  Dr. D does not know whether the principle applies in baseball, but it certainly applies in football:  there are teams that are just good enough to bully around lesser teams on lesser stages.  Then they get to the Bright Lights and cake out.  ... We're not talking about watching a Giants-Patriots slugfest that is decided by the width of one helmet, and then calling the loser a "choker" after the fact.  We're talking about a Peyton Manning type of team that is happy to rack up 5,000 yards and bow to the microphones until --- > somebody sticks a finger in their chests, and then they crumble.

Chuck Knox, when he got to Seattle all those years ago ... he remarked, "This is a team that has never won that One Big Game, to ... put 'em in the playoffs, for example.  We've got to find a way to get past that."

We ain't saying the Bengals are slop soup.  Just opinion that the Beatdown Factor is one to watch.  Thass my opinion I could be wrong.

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6.  Two Words:  Tyler Lockett.  Or Richard Sherman, maybe?  Earl Thomas?  One of our five "gunners" (slap me silly, what a kewl word!)?  Had you noticed that on that Sherman punt return, he had to run all the way back off the line to catch the ball and then all the way forward with it again?  And he'd said he was "gassed" before the ball had been snapped.  Dr. D had (formerly-)valued members of his family ask why he didn't have a burst to seal the deal.  ... Point is, to Pete Carroll, a special teams play "is a football play" and that's where he's only too glad to let NFL superstars play against practice-squad fodder.

No, but ... Knox (heh!) used to say he wanted his special teams to win two games a year and not lose any.  That is, to reverse two close losses per season.  If he'd had Lockett, how many wins would he have demanded of his STs?

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7.  Adjustments.  The NFL chess match goes for 16 games, one formation aligned softly (or harshly) against another.  Back-and-forth go the DL stunts against the Fred Jackson shims, tit-for-tat go the Jimmy Graham doubles against the Secret Weapon Tyler Lockett Bubble Screens.  But here's the thing:  Pete Carroll gains momentum as he goes along.  Been doing it since he got his Win Forever shtick figured out at USC.

Reason is, after you adjust and after he adjusts, he's the one who has got 8 All-Pro's on defense.  And a gin-rummy cheat sheet for how to use them to finish with more points than you did.

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8.  Three words:  Microbubbles.  No, not the Wes Welker screen plays. If you ain't happy with Russell Wilson at this point, man, just go hit Niners Nation and wallow in the QB discussions there.  They have given a name to their pain and it ain't the soft drink their QB sells.

20-for-26 and no picks while playing scramble drill, yowch.  Carroll will find a way to get RW3 his 2.5 seconds and then the Seahawks will scatter ever'body like monkey chip.

BABVA,

Dr D