The Seattle Seahawks? America’s team?
The same Seattle Seahawks who haven’t sold out a game since the introduction of the forward pass? The team that hasn’t sniffed a playoff win since 1984?
It’s true. The Seahawks are America’s team. They represent everything that is the NFL. When fans across our great nation think of professional football these days, they can’t help but picture Matt Hasselbeck and Co.
Yes, this team is the embodiment of the NFL. It is, for lack of a better phrase, extremely mediocre.
And that’s the case with almost every team in the league this season. Sure, the St. Louis Rams are the class of the league, but earlier this week they lost to a Tampa Bay team that has been nothing short of average. And the Raiders are looking pretty good, too, but they fell victim to one of the league’s middle-of-the-road teams at Husky Stadium a few weeks ago.
There are a few dogs, like the winless Detroit Lions and the equally putrid Carolina Panthers, but for the most part this league has the consistency of inconsistency.
Half of the AFC’s 16 teams fall somewhere between 6-4 and 4-6. Eight of the 15 teams in the NFC are in a similar situation, including NFC East frontrunner Philadelphia (6-4).
This league is filled with so many so-so teams that 0-5 Washington needed just five games to pull into sole possession of second place – one game behind the Eagles.
So the Seahawks, for all their inconsistent play and questionable calls and quarterback controversies and cussing head coaches and steroid-induced cornerbacks, are right in the thick of the playoff chase. If this team was in baseball’s AL West, it could have kissed its postseason chances good-bye in April. But in the AFC, it’s a legitimate contender.
“We’re all in the same boat,” coach Mike Holmgren said earlier this week. “I think of all those teams at 5-5, 6-5, 5-6, all in there, they still have a chance and have playoff aspiration. … Any game could go any way.”
Holmgren might as well be the spokescoach for half of the teams in the league. In unison, they went into their Monday press conferences reciting the mantra: “Well, at least we’re still in the race.”
Remember a couple months ago when the league shelled out $7.5 million to the National Auto Dealers Association to move their convention back one week? That deal was struck so that two teams wouldn’t be eradicated from the postseason. As it stands right now, the payout would mean Atlanta and Cleveland get to take part in the playoffs.
Seven-point-five million for the Falcons and Browns. You can’t get any more mediocre than that.
It’s akin to the NCAA Tournament shelling out millions of dollars to protect the sanctity of its bracket by keeping Monmouth and Winthrop in the field of 64.
The league-wide parity might make for some added fan interest, or at least that’s the hope. After all, fans in Cincinnati can take solace in the fact that their Bengals are still in the thick of the playoff hunt despite one win in their past four games. And Chargers fans still have hope in a team that has lost four in a row.
But do you really think fans in Minnesota, Indianapolis and Tennessee are happy to hear that their teams are still alive? Do you honestly believe the Arizona Cardinals are a Super Bowl contender, as their two-games-out-of-first-place positioning would indicate?
There is a very real possibility that we could be watching Jim Miller and Kordell Stewart face off in Super Bowl XXXVI. That would be like Mike Morgan and Sterling Hitchcock making it all the way to the World Series. … Oh, wait.
Anyway, mediocrity isn’t anything new. The salary cap and expansion have watered down the talent to the point that dynasties are near impossible anymore. We would love to see the Rams offense against the Baltimore defense this February, but there are too many road blocks along the way. We’re just as likely to settle for Jay Fiedler vs. Tony Banks.
Sure, it’s good for local fan morale that the Seahawks are still alive. But who isn’t?
Bet those Houston Texans are licking their lips at the chance to move into this league. After all, it should only take a year or two before they attain the goal of extreme mediocrity.
Kickoff: 1 p.m. Sunday
Radio: KIRO (710 AM)
TV: Blacked out in Seattle area
Stars to watch: Chargers – QB Doug Flutie has been a thorn in the Seahawks’ side for each of the past two seasons, throwing for 660 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for 79 yards on 13 carries in two meetings. RB LaDanian Tomlinson is a leading candidate for offensive rookie of the year and needs 131 rushing yards to go over the 1,000-yard mark on the season. DE’s Marcellus Wiley and Raylee Johnson have combined for 18 1/2 sacks this season.
Seahawks – RB Shaun Alexander needs 106 yards to become the fourth Seahawks running back to go over the 1,000-yard barrier (Curt Warner, Chris Warren and Ricky Watters have all done it multiple times). LT Walter Jones will have his work cut out for him against the Chargers’ defensive ends this week. LB Chad Brown and DT John Randle have combined for 14 sacks, which is five more than the rest of the team combined. Rookie CB Ken Lucas is making his fourth career start while Shawn Springs serves the first of a four-game suspension.
Breaking down the game: Historically speaking, Doug Flutie has always been a problem for the Seahawks defense. And the Chargers’ defense has been a problem for Seattle’s offense.
Should history repeat itself, the Seahawks will be in trouble.
The key to the game for Seattle is to continue what they’ve done the past three games: hang onto the football. They have gone without a turnover in back-to-back-to-back games for the first time since 1997. Turnovers have been especially important in meetings between these two teams, which historically have been a battle of field goals.
Expect another grind-it-out game, with running backs Shaun Alexander and LaDanian Tomlinson providing most of the offense on either side of the football.
Pick: Seahawks, 16-13.
Injury report: Chargers – CB Alex Molden (ankle) is out; WR Tim Dwight (pneumothorax), WR Jeff Graham (knee), S Rodney Harrison (ankle), TE Freddie Jones (ankle) and S Jason Perry (knee) are questionable; S Rogers Beckett (concussion), RB Terrell Fletcher (ankle), LB Zeke Moreno (ankle) and DE Marcellus Wiley (groin) are probable. Seahawks – RB Ricky Watters (shoulder) is out; DE Lamar King (calf) is doubtful; T Chris McIntosh (neck) is questionable; S Marcus Robertson (groin) is probable.
Little-known fact: Neither team has scored more than 20 points in the past four meetings between the Seahawks and Chargers.
New England (6-5) at N.Y. Jets (7-3), Sunday, 10 a.m.: This story of a man named Brady has been pretty exciting. The once-forgotten Patriots could push themselves within a game of first place in the AFC East. Now if only the Brady family could re-adopt that forgotten cousin, Curtis Martin. Pick: Jets, 27-21.
Tampa Bay (5-5) at Cincinnati (4-6), Sunday, 10 a.m.: Seahawks fans haven’t been pining for Jon Kitna lately. After an initial burst, he’s within a few tenths of a point from the bottom of the AFC quarterback rankings. Kitna will start this week, but the bigger question is who will finish. Pick: Buccaneers, 20-10.
St. Louis (8-2) at Atlanta (6-4), Sunday, 1:15 p.m.: Are you thinking what we’re thinking? Images of the Dirty Bird re-emerging after a two-year hiatus? For the love of the game, let’s hope that dance follows in the footsteps of the dodo bird. Pick: Rams, 38-17.
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