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NFL reportedly 'wary' of giving Seahawks primetime coverage at home

The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks open the season at home with primetime coverage vs. the Green Bay Packers, a regular season matchup that the two teams haven't had since Sept. 24, 2012. (Suzi Pratt/Getty Images)

The Seahawks open the season with primetime coverage vs. the Green Bay Packers, a regular season matchup that the two teams haven't had since Sept. 24, 2012. (Suzi Pratt/Getty Images)

The NFL released its 2014 schedule on Wednesday, and curiously the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks have just one nationally televised game at home: the league's season opener against the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 4.

Citing a league source, Curtis Crabtree of NBC Sports reported on Thursday that the reason the Seahawks are scheduled to play three of their four nationally televised games on the road next season is that the league is "wary," according to the report, of giving the Seahawks primetime coverage at CenturyLink Field because of their track record of blowouts in Seattle.

The Redskins host the Seahawks in Washington for Monday Night Football in Week 5; the 49ers host the Seahawks in a nationally televised game on NBC on Thanksgiving night in Week 13; and the Cardinals host the defending champs on Sunday Night Football in Week 16, a game also to be nationally televised on NBC.

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Recent history demonstrates that Seattle has indeed sustained tremendous primetime success at home. The Seahawks beat their division-rival 49ers 42-13 and 29-3 on Sunday night primetime coverage the last two seasons, and their game at home on Monday night last December against the Saints also wasn't even close, with Seattle earning a 34-7 victory.

Even as far back as 2011, in a nationally televised Thursday night game, Seattle defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 31-14. The last time there was a close primetime game in Seattle that was given was a 14-12 win for the Seahawks in 2012, and that game ended on a controversial hail-mary from Russell Wilson to Golden Tate for the Seahawks win.

As Crabtree points out, four teams -- the Packers, Eagles, Denver Broncos and Dallas Cowboys -- each host three nationally-televised games in 2014. Another 15 teams host two primetime games. The Seahawks get just one at home. 

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