At 4-5, the Seattle Seahawks didn't look like a championship contender. They barely looked like a viable playoff contender. There should have been questions too after they gave up nearly 500 passing yards against the Steelers at home three weeks ago. The defense hasn't been what it was the past couple years. But here we are, with three regular-season games to go, and the Seahawks might be making a run. it took a while, and who knows, after two straight Super Bowl appearances maybe it was just tough to get the juices completely flowing for early-season games. Especially after losing a truly heartbreaking Super Bowl to the Patriots last February. And there were personnel issues. Kam Chancellor's holdout hurt the defense early on, and the offensive line struggled. Marshawn Lynch never really looked like himself. Russell Wilson, with a big new contract and more responsibility in the offense, didn't play well in the first half of the season. There was no reason after nine weeks to believe they'd have a shot at another Super Bowl appearance. Then everything flipped. PODCAST: Who can stop the Panthers and Patriots?: Grandstanding: A Yahoo Sports podcast Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed Wilson has played out of his mind, with 16 touchdown passes and no interceptions the last four weeks. The defense, after the Steelers performance, has been magnificent. And, of course, the Steelers are hard for anyone to slow down. Everything is clicking the past couple weeks, although rookie running back Thomas Rawls' season-ending ankle injury could be a big problem. They're probably depending on a Lynch return from sports hernia surgery a little more than they'd like. Nobody knows when or if Lynch will be back or how effective he'll be if he does return. But they'll see if they can patch it together without him. The Seahawks have home games against the Browns and Rams the next two weeks, so pencil them into the playoffs. There's a good chance they'll be the fifth seed too, which means they'll be significant favorites at the NFC East champ in the first round. They didn't look like they could beat the Cardinals a few weeks ago, when the teams met in Seattle. But this seems like a different team now. A rematch would be much more interesting, as would a rematch against the Panthers, who pulled off a last-minute win at Seattle early this season. Would you feel that comfortable picking the Panthers or Cardinals if they played the Seahawks? It's not easy for any team to win three straight road playoff games, but we've seen teams get hot late and make a run. Most of those teams didn't have the star power the Seahawks have, either. It seems like Seattle is back. The road will be tougher this time, but you can't count them out of a third straight Super Bowl appearance quite yet. Here are Shutdown Corner's power rankings after Week 14: 32. Baltimore Ravens (4-9, LW: 31) You know it's getting bad when you're thinking, "I really hope Matt Schaub comes back soon." 31. San Francisco 49ers (4-9, LW: 30) That whole "Maybe Blaine Gabbert can be the 2016 starter" movement hit a bit of a snag on Sunday, didn't it? 30. Cleveland Browns (3-10, Last week: 32)
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