At 6-3, the Seattle Seahawks control their own destiny over the final seven weeks of the season, and the health of Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor will be a huge factor in their fate.
The team's star safeties have dealt with injuries the last few weeks. Thomas hurt his hamstring late against the Houston Texans, forcing him to miss Seattle's last two games against the Washington Redskins and Arizona Cardinals. In that Cardinals game, Chancellor left early with stinger issues in his neck. He was eventually carted back to the locker room.
The Legion of Boom took another hit last Thursday, as All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman was lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles. Byron Maxwell was brought back to replace him.
Heading into another huge game with major playoff implications this weekend against the 5-4 Atlanta Falcons, head coach Pete Carroll provided injury updates on both players. There was good, and bad, news for the Seahawks, per the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport:
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll tells reporters he expects Earl Thomas back, Eddie Lacy is practicing… but Kam Chancellor is still having tests.
The fact that Chancellor is still having tests a week after the injury is not a good sign. Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times echoed that sentiment:
Seahawks players pretty open they don't seem to expect Kam Chancellor this week.
When Carroll was asked if Chancellor is week-to-week or if the stingers are a long-term concern, he had this to say:
“Don't know that yet. Don't know that yet. I only communicated with him. We'll see him later. I don't know anything yet,” he repeated.
It's only Week 11, so it makes sense for the Seahawks to be especially cautious with Chancellor. Given that Sherman is already out for the year, Seattle will need both Thomas and Chancellor a couple months from now if they expect to make another deep playoff run.
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