Seahawks' loss (Percy Harvin), may be Eagles' gain

So Percy Harvin thought he was Biff Tannen and every other wide receiver on the Seattle Seahawks' roster was George McFly. On Friday, the Seahawks traded Harvin to the New York Jets, getting a conditional draft pick for a Pro Bowl-caliber player with a volcanic personality.

It was the news of the week in the NFL, and at first glance there would seem to be no doubt about who made out best in this deal.

The Eagles.

There's still plenty of skepticism about whether the Eagles, even after their 5-1 start, are equipped to win the Super Bowl this season, or even reach it. There are two reasons for that skepticism.

The first is the manner in which the Eagles, until their 27-0 domination of the Giants last week, had gone about winning those games. In none of them had they put together a full, clean performance worthy of praise from beginning to end. They were either falling behind early (against Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Washington) or failing to protect an early lead with enough vigor and care (in a loss to San Francisco, in a win over St. Louis). If the two major injuries along their offensive line, to guard Evan Mathis and center Jason Kelce, were mitigating factors, they don't completely account for why quarterback Nick Foles has been so twitchy and turnover-prone and how his inconsistent play led to other issues.

With 10 games remaining on the schedule, of course, the Eagles still have more than enough time to get healthy, starch and iron away many of the wrinkles and imperfections in their performance, and play more like the way they did against the Giants. But based on conventional wisdom entering this season, their improvement would lead to the second reason for skepticism: The Seahawks - the defending Super Bowl champions - loomed atop the NFC. They had the greatest home-field advantage in the league, a coach in Pete Carroll who knows Chip Kelly and Kelly's history and tendencies well, and a bumper-car style of play on offense and defense that felt fit for an earlier, lower-tech era of football.

And they had Harvin, who appeared in just one regular-season game last year but had 132 all-purpose yards - including an 87-yard kickoff-return touchdown - in Seattle's 43-8 romp over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. He was the Seahawks' leading receiver this season at the time of the trade with 22 catches, and though he was averaging a meager 6.0 yards per reception, he was a presence and playmaker for whom opposing defenses had to account. Come the playoffs - or even Dec. 7, when the Eagles host the Seahawks at Lincoln Financial Field - it wasn't a stretch to imagine Carroll and his coaching staff figuring out how to make Harvin a more productive, dangerous player.

That scenario will never play out, in part because Harvin, 26, apparently already was the Seahawks' most dangerous player. The Seattle Times reported that Harvin had gotten into fights with two other wideouts, Doug Baldwin and Golden Tate, and it confirmed a report by 790 Sports in Houston that Harvin had given Tate a black eye during a scrap before the Super Bowl. Nevertheless, a succession of Seattle players took to Twitter to express their surprise and disappointment that the team had traded Harvin, who didn't live up to expectations after Seattle gave up three draft picks, including a first-rounder, to acquire him from the Minnesota Vikings in March 2013. The entire situation, from the outside, sure looks messy.

What happened Sunday in St. Louis only reaffirmed that double-barreled perception: that Harvin wasn't helping the Seahawks much, and that they still have problems beyond his disruptions. Against the Rams, Seattle's wide receivers combined for 15 receptions, 210 yards, and a touchdown. Quarterback Russell Wilson threw for 313 yards and rushed for 106 more. The Seahawks didn't commit a turnover. And they still lost, 28-26. They are 3-3. That all-powerful pose they can strike at CenturyLink Field in the playoffs seems a pipe dream now, assuming they even make the playoffs. (If anything, the Dallas Cowboys - with all the requisite reservations about Tony Romo and December - appear to be the more formidable and relevant opponent, vis a vis both the NFL East title and the postseason.)

So, yes, these Seahawks - with Percy Harvin, without Percy Harvin - don't appear to be the same Seahawks they were a year ago. This is nothing but a good thing for the Eagles and their championship aspirations, but it doesn't solve everything. Only they themselves can do that.

@MikeSielski