That's approximately Seattle's margin for error in the second half of the season.

Going 4-4 through eight games isn't bad, but it's a long way from great. And sure the Seahawks play only three road games over the second half of the season, but two of those games are against teams that currently hold winning records (Miami and Chicago). Seattle is 1-4 on the road thus far, and only one of those opponents currently holds a winning record.

Yes, the schedule gets more favorable. The Seahawks faced the quarterback equivalent of murderer's row in the first half with games against Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford. In the second half they'll face Christian Ponder followed by either Mark Sanchez or Tim Tebow followed by Ryan Tannehill.

And let's not forget that as one of the youngest teams in the league, Seattle can reasonably expect to improve over the final eight games, especially when you consider that Russell Wilson is a rookie whose trajectory appears to be headed upward.

But at this point, Seattle is pretty much out of mulligans. Coming close isn't going to cut it in a conference where it's very likely going to take 10 victories to earn a wild-card berth in the playoffs.

And that second-half schedule? It might not be as easy as some have projected: