RENTON — It’s not as if the Seahawks have been toiling in NFL obscurity the last few years.
They have had just one losing season since 2011, have the second-best record in the NFL since 2012 and continue to be cheered on by one of the most devoted fan bases in the league, with a streak of 188 consecutive sellouts at Lumen Field.
Yet, it still feels as if it has been a while since the NFL spotlight has shone as brightly on Seattle as it regularly did during the Legion of Boom era.
Maybe that’s because the Seahawks have played in just one playoff game since 2020, have only won one since the 2016 season and have tended to make their biggest news in the offseason for things such as the trades of Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf and Geno Smith or firing Pete Carroll.
That can change Thursday night when the Seahawks host the Rams at Lumen Field in a game set to kick off at 5:15 p.m.
The Seahawks and Rams are not only tied for the lead in the NFC West at 11-3 but are tied for the best record in the NFC.
The Rams and Seahawks have the two best point differentials in the NFL — Seattle No. 1 at plus-163 and L.A. second at plus-159 — and are among the top five in points scored (L.A. second at 30.0 per game, Seattle fifth at 28.9), and among the top three in fewest points allowed (Seahawks second at 17.3, the Rams tied for third at 18.6).
While Denver has the best record in the NFL at 12-2, the Seahawks and Rams are listed at the top of almost every NFL power poll, most notably the influential For The Numbers DVOA ratings which not only have the Seahawks and Rams 1-2 in the NFL this week — in that order, they have ratings among the Top 10 teams in league history through 14 games dating to 1978.
The Seahawks are fifth, just behind the famous 1985 Bears, who went on one of the most dominant runs to a Super Bowl title in league history, and the Rams sixth.
Maybe because the Rams won the first meeting — 21-19 on Nov. 16 at SoFi Stadium — and are in first place in the NFC West, there may be a hesitancy among some Seahawks fans to embrace this team as wholly as they did the 2012-15 squads.
Or maybe it’s because much of the Seattle sports spotlight focused on the Mariners’ playoff run the first two months of the season, a rare time when the Seahawks played second fiddle in this town.
And right when everyone turned their attention to the Seahawks, they lost to the Rams.
That’s the Seahawks’ only defeat since Oct. 5, a run that has put them in position to play a game as big as any in years.
A game that could stand as their biggest win this decade.
The last game that may have had such clear stakes for the Seahawks came in 2019 when they hosted the 49ers in the season finale with the NFC West title and No. 1 seed in the conference on the line.
In the final time Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright all stepped on Lumen Field at the same time, the 49ers escaped with a 26-21 win.
This game isn’t quite as all-or-nothing since even if the Seahawks emerge victorious (which would clinch a playoff spot) they probably have to win out — including beating the 49ers on the road on Jan. 3-4 — to get the top seed.
A loss means the Seahawks can just about kiss any chance of winning the division goodbye, meaning they would have to start the playoffs on the road and Thursday would be their last home game of the season.
That makes the stakes about as big as it gets for the 16th week of an NFL season.
You wouldn’t know that from listening to Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald.