Wildcard Weekend Recap

Let's start with the thing I hate most about the "real" media writers out there.

On the "Seahawks Insider" website that I go to for most of my info on the Seahawks (it's essentially a blog maintained by 2 or 3 Seahawks beat writers), they often post links to articles written by the other team's writers. So I read some of them sometimes. This past week, I read almost all of them. I find it amazing that so-called "professionals" can be so amazingly biased.

Exhibit A:

Washington Post writer Thomas Boswell.

Here are some quotes from the article:

"The Redskins, adjusted for their brutal schedule, probably have the second-best defense in the NFC. The Seahawks, factoring in their lame schedule, have almost the worst defense in the entire NFL. That gap is too wide to hide and will ultimately tell the tale. "

"So, remember "strength of schedule" when you're watching Washington vs. Washington. You'll seldom see a greater contrast. The Seahawks' road to January was a marshmallow roast. The battle-tested Redskins arrive on the West Coast battered but still inspired by the memory of Sean Taylor."

"Second-best defense in the conference vs. third worst in the NFL: that's the "normalized" reality of these teams. "

"Somebody will end this remarkable Redskins run. But it's not going to be the Seahawks. "

I think I said in my previous post you could bend and stretch and manipulate numbers any way you want if you try hard enough, and it doesn't end up meaning a whole lot. This guy took it to the extreme, basically saying the Seahawks defense sucks because they played a weak schedule. I wonder how many Seahawk games he watched during the season. I suspet somewhere between one and none.

Of course, his follow-up article on Sunday mentioned nothing about his mistaken analysis of the situation. Nor did it give very much credit to the Seahawks. It basically just said the "magical" ride of the Redskins was over, and it was fun while it lasted.

God, I fucking hate 90% of the writers out there. (Keep in mind that we here at SBS are not professionals, and therefore do not get paid to write this stuff. So we can be as biased as we want, and we sure as hell will be. If anybody wants to offer us a full-time job as a sports writer, I think the very least we could do is be impartial in our work, something most "professionals" seem unable to do.)

Anyways, on to the game itself...

St. Ides put up a perfect record last week, going 4-0 against the spread. (Though called the winners of the Bucs/Giants and Steelers/Jags game wrong, the points are what count, right?) Samichlaus went 2-2 agaisnt the spread, though 3-1 picking actual winners.

Anyways, I think Seattle demonstrated to Mr. Boswell and the rest of America that their defense is pretty fucking good. I've been saying all season they have the best linebacker trio in the NFL, and I'm sticking to that claim. Leroy Hill is the least appreciated of the 3, but arguably had the best game - led the team in tackles, had an impressive sack where he bull-rushed through the blocking back and pulled Collins down by the jersey as he was being pushed to the ground, and deflected away several passes. Kerney was an absolute beast. Even when they double and triple teamed him, he was getting through to the QB. (Oh, and that definitely should have been a fumble when he hit the QBs arm and the ball came loose. How the hell did the refs good that one up? Call it a fumble and let replay decide! Not the other way around!)

I think Samichlaus had it right that Hasselbeck's wrist is hurt more than they're letting on. He missed several wide open receivers. But just as it seemed good ol' Hasselstiff had returned (as Anonymous was kind enough to point out in a post-game phonecall), he made the big passes in the final drive and did enough for the team to win. The pump fake look-off on the TD pass to Hackett was a thing of beauty. I don't know why more QBs don't use the pump fake. It works pretty often. (More on that in a second.)

Not a good game for Hasselbeck or the Seattle offense really. But that's what is different about this team - the defense is good enough to win games. And Hasselbeck rarely (if ever) plays two bad games in a row. So, as long as his wrist can recover by Saturday, I think he'll be playing well in Green Bay.

As for the "We want the ball and we're gonna score" thing we'll hear about a million times this week. I'm sure Samichlaus knows this, but I'll rehash it for our other reader. Hasselbeck was goofing around with his old teammates in the coin toss huddle when he said that, and didn't expect it to be taken so seriously. There was one quote he made at the time saying he didn't realize the ref's mic was on and that it would be broadcast to the whole stadium. So it wasn't a cocky thing really. It was a goofball, fun, let me joke around with my former teammate friends, love of the game type thing. That's his personality, and his team loves him for it. (And his fans too usually, except when he's throwing up rainbows into double coverage...)

The play that went the other way for the winning Packers score in OT that game... AL Harris did a nice job of jumping the route. The receiver at the time? 5th string special teams ace Alex Bannister. (Who I believe is now out of football.) Apparently, he ran the wrong route. The Seahawks receivers are much better this time around, and don't often run the wrong routes. And, Al Harris better be ready for the pump fake on a similar play. Because if he tries jumping that route again, D.J. Hackett might just be taking one to the house behind him.

Last part: a revisit of my random predictions section!
* Josh Brown will hit at least one 50+ yard field goal. The Reskins kicker will miss a chip shot. - Check! And the missed 30-yarder by the Skins after the muffed kickoff was a crucial momentum shifter!

* Nate Burleson will have an important long punt return. - Sorta. He had several decent returns into Redskins territory, but hard to say any really had a huge impact on the game. He had a long return of 20, and I think one that took it to inside the Redskins 40, so he was something of a factor.

* Lofa Tatupu will have an interception where he fakes a blitz, then drops back into the path of a slant pattern. He did this 3 frickin times against the Eagles. I think Collins falls for it at least once. - Didn't happen. It seemed like they were bringing Tatupu on more blitzes than usual and dropping him into deep coverage. Leroy Hill was given the "jump the slant" responsibility this time, and while he didn't get a pick, he knocked down a couple balls intended for Cooley.

* The announcers will mention the sloppy field conditions no less than 10 times. - I'll need an assist on this one. I was watching the game, but not as closely as I would have liked, and often with the volume turned down a bit.

* Steve Samichlaus will giggle everytime Najeh "Dookie" Davenport touches the ball. - Only Samichlaus himself can confirm the accuracy of this one.

* Hines Ward will catch a deep touchdown pass. - Nope. :(

* Ronde Barber will have an interception. (Proving he always was the more talented Barber brother.) - Wrong again.

* Eli Manning will get hit from behind and fumble. (Then display the "Manning Face.") - Eli was surprisingly good. And had zero turnovers. Shocking.

* Brandon Jacobs will be held to under 60 yard rushing. - Check! 13 rushes, 34 yards. Though Ahmad Bradshaw had 66 yards on 17 carries for New York.

* Phillip Rivers has at least 2 turnovers, causing the game to actually be closer on the scoreboard than it is on the field for much of the second half. - True! One int, and one lost fumble. And although the Chargers covered, the game was pretty close until the 4th quarter.

* Nobody mentions the fact that Shawne Merriman has been a lot less effective (not to mention looking a lot skinnier) since he was busted for roids last year. - Check! In fact, the announcers were talking about how huge he is when he caused that fumble.

* It's warm and sunny in San Diego. (Sorry, but this game just bores me to tears.) _ ouch, I got the easiest one wrong! It was actually windy and raining at the game. Who knew it rains in California?!

So let's see.... 4-0 on game picks, and 4.5 out of 10 (possible 6.5 out of 12) on my random predictions.

Look for the Seahawks-Packers breakdown to appear early and often this week!