The Seattle Seahawks will travel on the road to FedEx Stadium on Sunday afternoon for a late-season battle versus the Washington Football Team.

Seattle enters Week 15 with a 9-4 overall record and can clinch a playoff berth this week with some help from the rest of the league. While the chances of Seattle earning a first-round bye are slim, the Seahawks remain in the conversation for one of the NFC’s top seeds thanks to Philadelphia’s win over New Orleans last week. The Seahawks will need to win out to earn a top seed and will need either the Saints or Green Bay Packers to slip up over the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Washington sits atop the NFC East standings with a 6-7 overall record after winning four straight games.

Can the Seahawks take care of business on the road against a red-hot Washington Football Team on Sunday afternoon?

Metcalf approaching franchise record for receiving yards

The Seahawks rebounded from their disappointing loss against the New York Giants by dismantling the Jets 40-3 last week. Russell Wilson completed 21-of-27 passes for 206 yards with four touchdowns and one interception on the day while Chris Carson added 76 rushing yards and a score in the win.

At age 32, the Seahawks’ signal-caller is in the midst of arguably the best season of his career. Wilson has now thrown for a career-high 36 touchdowns in 2020 and his current 70.4 percent completion percentage also marks a career-best mark. However, he’s been a little less judicious with the football this season, throwing 12 interceptions, his highest total in nine NFL seasons.

All eyes will be on Seahawks’ wide receiver over the final three weeks of the season. In just his second NFL campaign, Metcalf has a chance to eclipse Seahawks’ legend Steve Largent’s record for receiving yards in a single season. With 1,180 yards and 10 touchdowns already this year, the 23-year-old is just 107 yards shy of Largent’s historic 1,287-yard campaign in 1985. Metcalf currently ranks second in the league in receiving yards and is on pace for 1,452 yards this season.

On defense, the Seahawks have surrendered only 24.9 points per game and they’ve been flashing improvement on that side of the ball after a slow start to the season. Over their last four games, the Seahawks have given up just 14.5 points per contest. The Seahawks have also been stingy against the run, giving up just 95.5 yards per game on the ground, which ranks fourth in the NFL.

Washington nabs sole possession of NFC East lead

Washington continued its impressive turnaround last week, taking down the San Francisco 49ers 23-15 to improve to 6-7 on the season. Alex Smith completed just 8-of-19 passes for 57 yards and an interception against his former team but rookies Chase Young and Kamren Curl scored defensive touchdowns to help to Football Team escape with a gritty win. Smith suffered a calf injury and was replaced by second-year quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Smith is out this week, so that means the WFT goes back to the former Ohio State quarterback this week.

With the victory, Washington grabbed sole possession of first place in the NFC East race. As a division winner, Washington would be positioned in the fourth overall seed in the NFC Playoff picture, ahead of the Seahawks, who come in with a 9-4 overall mark.

Things haven’t always been pretty for the Football Team this season but Washington has ridden its defense to victories in each of the past four weeks. During that span, Washington has surrendered just 14.25 points per game. For the season, Washington’s defense has surrendered 21.2 points and 334.5 total yards per contest, which ranks fourth in the league. It also ranks fourth in the NFL in sacks per game and third against the pass, giving up just 206.3 yards per game through the air.