Plight Of The Seahawks

Yeah! We're the most mediocre champions ever!!

WOO-HOO!!! YEAH SEATTLE!! You are the first ever NFL Divisional Champion to ever have a losing record and make the playoffs!

You’re remarkable run has only been matched by the likes of the 2005 Boston Celtics who made the playoffs even with a mark of 36-46 and various NCAA Conference Champs who made it into the field of 64 with records like 11-18, 14-16 and 16-18.

You should be proud of making it into the playoffs ahead of more deserving teams with 10-6 records like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Giants who were in the race for divisional titles in the month of December before they were undone by inexperience (the Bucs) and… well… let’s not discuss how the Giants didn’t make it, the writer is still kind of salty.

You should be happy that you made it into the race for Arlington with a cast of faces you wouldn’t be able to make out at the nearest Kroger supermarket.

Charlie Whitehurst as your possible starting QB, not even the Clemson faithful saw him playing in the AFL.

Mike Williams? Wasn’t he on the couch last year weighing in like a defensive end? Yeah, well he’s your leading receiver.

Marshawn Lynch as a bruising runner with barely over 700 rushing yards. Not exactly the Joe McKnight or Reggie Bush type backs that Pete Carroll is used to but hey whatever works.

That defense sure helped through. When it wasn’t getting pounded by the leagues best offenses and losing each games by more than fifteen points it was stopping Sam Bradford and that Rams assault holding them 184 yards. Man just imagine if you can hold the rookie of the year in check with those great wideouts like Danarrio Alexander then guys like Drew Brees and Marques Colston should be no problem next week.

Yep that’s right Seattle you’re prize for winning a tough NFC West is a date with the 11-5 New Orleans Saints at one of the league’s loudest stadiums (I know what you’re thinking, a 7-9 team hosting an 11-5 Super Bowl champ, wow Christmas came late for us).

The only reason why the Seahawks have a chance... the crowd.

(side note: a finally have something to like David Stern for. It doesn’t matter in the NBA if you win you’re division, if you have a worse record than your opponent then you start on the road. It makes sense. You get your home court based on record not just because you won your division. This should be the case in every sport too. If that were the case then the Yankees would’ve had the Rangers at home in the ALCS and two years ago the Colts would’ve had the Chargers at home in the first round of the playoffs and two years ago the Canucks would’ve started out at the four seed against a tougher opponent than the one they received for automatically getting a first round advantage by winning their division even though they had the worst record of the three divisional champs. It makes perfect sense, win your division but win more than the guys behind you or your on the road. Wow I actually gave David Stern props, I feel dirty now. Quick say something bad about him… um, um… oh yeah, how about some competitive balance in the league instead of a five team race for the title. Whew… much better.)

You deserve it Seattle. Instead of grabbing a top 15 draft pick for being the mediocre mess that you are you won your division just for a meaningless banner and a first-round beat down courtesy of the boys from nawlins.

Trust me, you need players. This team ain’t a contender, it ain’t a champion in the making, it was a lucky beneficiary of happenstance.

You need a quarterback, running back, wide receiver (two actually), offensive linemen, defensive linemen and a corner or three. This team lacks depth at every position. That’s why they got stomped in games they lost because when Matt Hasselback went down, Marshawn Lynch couldn’t run the ball, and the defensive line couldn’t get any push up front they got murdered (I know this because I saw the Giants and Bucs put a whipping on this team). This team might be the worst playoff team in sports history when it comes to play on the field. I don’t think this team could beat TCU to be quite honest.

Do they have a chance to win though? Yep. Why? Because they’re at home at the loudest stadium in the league that cause two opponents false starts a game and gives you fits. Ask the Rams last night. Bradford hadn’t been in that environment like that since college and it wasn’t that bad at Stillwater and Columbia.

If the Saints go into Seattle and lose due to penalties and losing their composure not only should they be mad for losing the fame and to that opponent, they should file a junction to have the game stricken from the records because it would have been an embarrassment.

Hopefully all of this will be a moot point and the Saints get an unintentional bye week in Seattle. Hopefully.

No matter what though the Seahawks and their fans should be happy and celebrate their success. A divisional title and a playoff home game at 7-9. Something to smile about and be happy for. Good job Seattle, you deserve it for your hard work. Now give em hell next week and show em what you’re made of, which probably means a 42-17 beat down. Ladies and gentlemen your 2010 NFC West Champs!

The NFC Is Just As Good As The AFC

Matt Ryan and the Falcons might be the team to beat... in the NFL.

Maybe we should start rethinking this whole AFC is better than the NFC thing.

Think about it. A few weeks ago the top 5 on the NFL all hailed from the AFC. The Ravens, Steelers, Jets, Pats and Colts were all in our top 5 in some order with the Titans and Dolphins in the mix as well.

The Falcons, Packers and Bears were all after thoughts and the Giants, Eagles and Saints we we were iffy about. Now? Who wouldn’t take the Falcons and Bears over the Jets or Ravens?

After Sunday it’s become clear that the power in the NFL is just as big in the NFC as it is in the NFC. The Falcons sit atop the league at 9-2 in a loaded division with the Saints at 8-3 and the surprising, yet well playing, Buccaneers at 7-4 and they each play again in the last five weeks. With the Saints hard charging and the Bucs getting tougher with each week, the Falcons have no room to breathe easy.

However neither does the rest of the conference. With Matt Ryan behind center the Falcons have lost only one game at home in his two plus years in Atlanta… once. If the road to the Super Bowl does run through Atlanta then we should just pencil the Falcons in right now.

Problem is that they haven’t played the Bears and that rejuvenated defense that is playing like it’s 1986. Julius Peppers and company have a overshadowed a terrible offensive line that hasn’t gotten better. Yet it doesn’t matter. What they did to Mike Vick and the Eagles attack was mind bending. Four sacks, a pick that was Vick’s first all year and shutting down LeSean McCoy in a dominant performance that may finally have skeptics believing that the Bears are really good.

The Bears defense has turned them into a contender

Also, Jay Cutler is playing efficient, smart football… yeah, I just wrote that. He’s finally realizing that he doesn’t always have to go for home runs on every play. He threw for four touchdowns yesterday with no picks and no bad passes. His steady play gave Chicago’s defense room to be as aggressive as it was without having to worry about his mistake-prone ways.

They have a date at the end of the season with the Green Bay Packers who seem to have righted the ship after an early rough start due to a rash of injuries.

Aaron Rodgers is playing like the best QB in the league and that 3-4 defense les by Clay Matthews is looking like one of the league’s best heading into the home stretch.

The Packers hold pressing wins over Philadelphia and New York and go on the road to Boston to take on the Patriots in late November. Despite the loss on Sunday to Atlanta the Packers are still in great position to get a nber two seed in the NFC and a central division title.

The normally strong NFC East will come down to two enigmatic yet dangerous teams in The Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants.

The Eagles have looked in good in spurts, dominating Indianapolis, Atlanta and the Giants while looking terrible versus Tennessee, Chicago and Washington.

The offense has become the strong point of the team with the big play capabilities of Jeremy Maclin an DeSean Jackson and Mike Vick is an MVP front runner. The problem lies with their game to game consistency.

After destroying Washington on Monday night they almost let the Giants win a game that the Eagles should’ve won by 14 and then came the Chicago game where the Bears physically dominated them for four quarters and left the Eagles scratching their heads.

As good as they’ve been the Eagles need to put together consecutive good efforts if they want to go further than just a NFC East title.

Then there’s the 7-4 Giants who at one point were considered the best team in the NFC before injuries and the annual second half swoon kicked in. As good as they’ve looked the main issue for the Giants is turnovers… and lots if them.

They lead the league with 30 on he season which has overshadowed top 5 offensive and defensive units which have played outstanding throughout the season putting up points and getting to the quarterback (occasionally injuring them. They also lead the league with 5 injured QB’s at their hands.)

Unfortunaely that’s 7 well qualified teams for only 5 open spots (thank you pitiful NFC West). The race for the last two spots in the conference should be exciting as every team plays against each other in some fashion with Giants facing the Packers and Eagles, the Packers against the Bears and the Saints, Bucs and Falcons all with a game left against each other. It makes for some very exciting football down the stretch as the beat are goin against the best in the last 5 weeks.

Don’t sleep on the AFC however. This weekend the two main attractions in he league are on Sunday and Monday night as the Steelers go to Baltimore to face the Ravens and the Jets head to Gillette Stadium to play the Pats. Those two games should begin to decide the seeding in the AFC which seems to have its top 2 set with along the wildcard with the South and West a mess and seemingly non important.

However the rest of the season belongs to the NFC. The most intriguing and exciting teams and games will feature the conference that we all saw as an afterthought but might be the ultimate power in the league.

After ten weeks we thought we has the league all figured out. The AFC was the king and should’ve rolled to another Super Bowl victory. Then Tennessee fell off Baltimore, Jacksonville and the Jets fell to the best in the NFC in their stadiums and here we are wrong as ever. Hey it happens, I mean I did pick the Bengals to win the Super Bowl.