Laloosh":1m45w09w said:
kearly":1m45w09w said:
Seattle is now 2-5 in one score games this season.
Didn't see that one coming back in August. Ouch.
Take nothing away from the beautiful win the Cardinals had over the Packers. Loved it. But, each week fickle "experts" seem to have a new favorite team. Doesn't mean a whole lot come playoff time. It's where dreams go to die.
The Seahawks record is what it is and the Cardinals are contending for the #1 seed going into week 17. Still, the "what if" scenario is noteworthy because of just how close those losses were. Week 1 @ Rams plus the home losses to Panthers and Bengals (+ unbelievably poor officiating in the Arizona game.) Those games could have gone either way... and perhaps should have. It would have made the narrative going into week 17 a completely different story. It's truly a game of inches.
With the play calling in the week 16 game, I sort of felt like Bevell and Cable went into it fully intending to give the young runners as much experience as they could against one of the best D-lines in the league. Run, Run, Pass isn't exactly the recipe for Hawks success as of late. Especially in the first half, felt like the Hawks were more interested in preserving their WR's and just trying to keep it close into the 4th quarter.
That cheap shot to TE Willson's head was unbelievable. Seems like the Rams were interested to do more than contribute to making the Hawks the 6th seed (which might be better anyway - Lol.) Someone posted about "how many cheap shots" would there be prior to the game. I didn't take that thread as serious as I do now. The flippin' punter even got into it.
I don't think any team should be overly confident going into these playoffs. Obviously, it's like the 1 and 2 seeds are already 1-0. But, when the divisional round weekend arrives, every team is 1-0. Game on. Regular season is behind. Anything can happen and the Panthers + Cardinals will feel the added pressure to not lose when it more ultimately matters. Will be very interesting as long as the Hawks get some key players back on the field. It will be sort of cool to be the villain without the pressure of being the favorite to win at home.
Don't look now, but the Redskins are peaking at the right time as well. Not into predictions (and certainly not looking past the NFC North teams), but I could totally see the divisional round matchups as:
Seattle @ Carolina
Washington @ Arizona
Both road teams would have the potential to ruin dream seasons.