This game reminds me of 2006...

Fellas,

I was thinking about the matchup with the Saints this week and the fact that we drubbed them a little over a month ago in Primetime. Rematches are always tricky, especially if the first matchup was lopsided. This scenario reminded me of our own Seattle Seahawks in 2006, who played a role similar to the one the Saints will play this week.

In week 4 of the 2006 season Seattle (3-0) traveled to Chicago (3-0) to play the Bears in a hyped Primetime game. They would be dismantled 37-6. Here's a link to the postgame recap.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=261001003

Seattle would win the division and beat Dallas in the Wildcard Round (the Romo botched snap game). The Divisional Round they would return to Chicago, who was the #1 seed in the NFC. Most Bears' fans pointed to the fact that Seattle had been blown out in the first matchup and were dismissive of the Seahawks in general. Long story short, we took the game to OT and Robbie Gould broke our hearts on a 49 yard FG to send the Bears to the NFC Championship.

Link to the postgame recap:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=270114003

In the end, the Bears won the rematch but it was nothing like what Bears fans might have expected. Saints fans, I'm sure, feel similar to how we felt before that game in 2006. I'm hopeful Seattle can win this rematch but as a lifelolng Seahawks fan I'm conditioned to expect the worst. Granted, Seattle and Chicago met much earlier in the year and I remember the Seattle running game drastically improving over the last few weeks of that season. I just thought there were some interesting parallels and wanted to get my thoughts out there / see if anyone else remembers the feeling going into that game.

Here's one difference in those scenarios...

Rex Grossman was (and I suppose still IS) a remarkably inconsistent QB. One game, he would look sharp, throw for multiple TDs, and protect the ball. The next game, he'd turn it over multiple times and seriously hamper his team's chances for victory. If you look at the recaps, that played out in both of those games to some degree.

Wilson has a lot more consistency to his performances. In his last 29 games (playoffs included), he's thrown multiple INTs ONCE. If the Seahawks avoid turning the ball over in this game, I don't see how New Orleans wins it. In fact, if the Seahawks just win the TO battle, they've got an incredible shot to win. They are 10-1 when winning the TO battle this season, with the only loss to an insanely good Arizona D. New Orleans doesn't have that type of D. And when New Orleans loses the TO battle, they are 2-5 this year (with both wins coming in New Orleans).

My favorite part of this comparison would be that the Bears beat Drew Brees and the Saints 39-14 in the Championship game.

I like the comparison of Saints getting destroyed as the #1 seed in an outdoor game vs. the best defense in the league better than the other part of the theory.

Volsung, I agree that Wilson is a much more consistent QB than Grossman, and am hopeful that you are correct about the upcoming game.

JonRud, I like your comparison better as well. Here's to the #1 seed taking it to the Saints this weekend.

Obviously, there are different variables involved in the 2 games but there are some interesting similarities.