Tuesday Morning Overreactions
Before the season some teams are touted as Super Bowl Contenders. Sometimes these team live up to expectations. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes they crash and burn so hard, it's like watching a car accident, and you just can't turn away.
The Seattle Seahawks were one of these teams that were being touted before any games were played this year. Some talking bobbleheads were sure that this was the year that Mike Holmgren got this team to the pinnacle of it's talent, and into the Super Bowl. To their excitement the Seahawks started out strong. They started out by winning 2 straight road games, after going 1-7 on the road the previous season. After a week 4 bye they were 3-0 and had the leagues #1 rated defense. As they prepared for a divisional showdown with the defending NFC West Champion St. Louis Rams, everything seemed falling into place for the Seahawks.
It looked like more of the same as the Seahawks were leading by 17 points with 8:00 to go. What followed next has come to define the Seahawks ever since. The Rams battled back scoring 17 unanswered points to tie the game and send it to overtime. In OT Rams QB Marc Bulger connected with Shaun McDonald on a 52 yard game winning TD. Their 17 point collapse would define their season.
Over the next two weeks the Seahawks would lose to the Patriots, and the Cardinals. They finally broke back into the win column against the Panthers and the 49ers. Up next was a rematch with the St. Louis Rams. The Seahawk players were ready to show the Rams and the league that they had put week 5 behind them. Instead the Rams came out firing. The Rams jumped out to 14-0 first quarter lead and never looked back as they beat the Seahawks 23-12.
Since then the Seahawks have never seemed to recover. They eeked by a 1 win Miami team thanks to a last minute INT. Just to be stomped by a 3 win Buffalo team 38-9 the next week. But what happened Monday Night could be the icing on top of the cake.
The Seahawks were trailing the Dallas Cowboys by 29-17 at the end of the 3rd quarter. For the first time in the Mike Holmgren era, the Seahawks put up 22 4th Quarter points to storm back and take a 39-29 lead with 2:46 seconds left in the game. Seattle looked to finally be putting the Rams game in week 5 behind them. However, QB Vinny Testeverde led the Cowboys down the field and scored a TD, making it 39-36 with 1:45 left in the game. After recovering the onside kick, the Cowboys would then continue to drive the field. Rookie RB Julius Jones would score his third TD of the night, and the Cowboys would go on to win 43-39.
Seattle was expected to contend with the top teams in the league. They were 8:00 from taking over the torch in their own division. However the heat of the torch would prove too hot to handle, and now they sit at 6-6, they would lose the tiebreaker for the division, and are barely clinging onto the final playoff spot. Good teams don't let a single game ruin their entire season, and though they currently are in position for the playoffs, it'll be interesting to see how this latest speed bump affects the team. For this reason the Seahawks are one of the most disappointing teams of the year.
But at least it's just this year
It could be worse though. Minnesota is still trying to recover from a loss in the 1998 NFC Championship game. After going 15-1 that season and losing in the NFC Champiosnip Game, the Vikings have never lived up to potential. They've since had a couple losing seasons, switched coaches, and have stilled continued to struggle. Last year after starting out 6-0 the Vikings collapses the rest of the way, and missed the playoffs due to a last second TD Catch by the Arizona Cardinals in the last game of the year.
This year they came out strong again, and have since struggled. They have lost 4 of their last 6 games, and many people in and around Minnesota are sensing deja vu. Can they possibly collapse again?
The good news though...
There is good news for both the Seahawks and the Vikings. They both play in the Parity ridden NFC. Currently there are 10 teams within 2 games of each other. Right now the last playoff spot is held by a team with a 6-6 record (the Seahawks). 6 Teams are logjammed at 5-7 trying to make a push for the final playoff spot. The NFC playoff picture is wide open and much can still happen over the next 4 weeks.
Where is my Soap Opera!
Early in Deion Sander's comeback, the media went crazy talking about how he is doing so great, and how he is proving he still has it. However in the past few weeks I've noticed that the coverage of the Deion Sanders comeback had lessened quite a bit. Now knowing that the media never really cares about whether we want to hear about stuff, I knew that they hadn't just wisened up to the fact that people didn't care much about about Deion. I wondered why they media just inexplicably stopped reporting on Deion.
The truth was revealed that he simply hasn't played the last 4 weeks. Funny how the media, who spent the first 3 weeks of Deion's comeback hyping him, and following every move, hadn't mentioned the fact that he hasn't been able to play the past couple weeks. Do they simply not want to admit that Deion's comeback is a bust? I'm sure the Ravens were expecting more than 3 games out of Deion. I'm sure they didn't want to pay him 333,000 dollars per game.
Peyton Manning Record Watch.
After a pedestrian game in which he only threw for 3 TD's, Peyton Manning is currently sitting at 44 TD's on the year, 4 short of Dan Marino's single season record. Up next Manning plays Houston, who he torched a few weeks ago for 5 TD's. So this could very well be the week it happens. Stay tuned for more info next week.
The Race to watch.
Over in the AFC there are currently two teams sitting at 11-1, Pittsburgh and New England. Being that Pittsburgh beat New England earlier in the year, they currently have the edge for Home Field Advantage. However can a Rookie QB who's won 21 consecutive games as a QB, continue his hot streak. Methinks a loss for the Steelers in the regular season would be good. Because if Big Ben Roethlisberger hasn't lost going into the playoffs, doom will soon be in store.
Sideshow's Top 14
|
Rank (LW) |
Team |
Record |
Last Week's Results |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 (1) |
Pittsburgh |
11-1 |
Won 17-16 vs Jax |
Though he's not depended on to carry team, it's nice to know Big Ben can win it if he has to. |
|
2 (2) |
New England |
11-1 |
Won 42-15 vs. Cle |
Corey Dillon plays his old team next week. Methinks he wants to have a huge game. |
|
3 (4) |
Philadelphia |
11-1 |
Won 47-17 vs. G.B. |
Philly trying to prove they aren't going to relax just because they've clinched division. |
|
4 (3) |
Indianapolis |
9-3 |
Won 51-24 vs. Ten |
Despite Jeff Fisher's best attempt to keep him off field (3 1st quarter onside kicks) Manning still closes in on history. |
|
5 (5) |
San Diego |
9-3 |
Won 20-17 vs. Den |
San Diego has clinched a winning season and is now 2 games up in division. Will simply making playoffs be enough for team? |
|
6 (9) |
N.Y. Jets |
9-3 |
Won 29-7 vs. Hou |
Pennington's return was a big boost to Jets. |
|
7 (6) |
Atlanta |
9-3 |
Lost 27-0 vs. T.B. |
Bucs continue to confound Mike Vick. |
|
8 (7) |
Green Bay |
7-5 |
Lost 47-17 vs. Phi |
Philadelphia showed Packers they aren't as good as some would have hoped. |
|
9 (13) |
Buffalo |
6-6 |
Won 42-32 vs. Mia |
Buffalo playing great football. Too bad they 1) started playing well so late and 2) are in the AFC. |
|
10 (8) |
Minnesota |
7-5 |
Lost 24-14 vs. Chi |
Randy Moss still doesn't look right. Wondering if he's still suffering from that hamstring. |
|
11 (11) |
Baltimore |
7-5 |
Lost 27-26 vs. Cin |
Latest victims of the Carson Palmer led Bengal offensive Juggernaut. |
|
12 (14) |
St. Louis |
6-6 |
Won 16-6 vs. S.F. |
Rams won, but injury to Bulger could be very very damaging |
|
13 (10) |
Denver |
7-5 |
Lost 20-17 vs. S.D. |
Denver implosion continues as Plummer throws 4 int's |
|
14 (12) |
Jacksonville |
6-6 |
Lost 17-16 vs. Pit |
Another tough loss this year, but next year these tough losses will be close wins. |
The Cellar Watch
|
Rank (LW) |
Team |
Record |
Last Week's Results |
Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
30 (NR) |
Cleveland |
3-9 |
Lost 42-15 vs. N.E. |
Post Butch Davis era begins with a whimper, so not much has changed. |
|
31 (31) |
Miami |
2-10 |
Lost 42-32 vs. Buf |
At least Dolphins aren't just mailing it in yet this season |
|
32 (32) |
San Francisco |
1-11 |
Lost 16-6 vs. StL |
Big question in S.F. is who to take with #1 overall pick. |