When the Seattle Seahawks’ schedule came out last spring, fullback Mack Strong’s eyes went straight to Dec. 24.
The Christmas Eve date with the Indianapolis Colts had a lot of potential.
“I knew we were going to have a good team, and I knew they were going to have a good team,” Strong said last week. “But I didn’t have any idea that the stakes were going to be this high.”
How high?
The two teams with the best records in the NFL will be at Qwest Field this Saturday, meaning the game is being billed by many as a potential Super Bowl preview. The Colts (13-1) already have home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, while the Seahawks (12-2) are one win, or one Chicago loss, from clinching the same in the NFC.
That being said, a lot of the luster of this Saturday’s game was tarnished over the weekend, when Indianapolis lost its quest for a perfect season and the Seahawks wrapped up a first-round postseason bye.
Now that the Colts aren’t chasing perfection, they have no incentive to win other than personal pride and the relatively meaningless title of maintaining the best record in the NFL. So while Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy hasn’t said as much, he could rest some of his star players, the most notable of which are quarterback Peyton Manning, running back Edgerrin James and wide receiver Marvin Harrison.
Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren has a little more reason to play his star players this week. Seattle is still trying to secure home-field throughout the NFC playoffs. He has made no comment on whether he’ll rest his star players in Week 17 if the Seahawks win Saturday.
While these two teams have had just two regular-season meetings since Manning was drafted in 1998, the game could have a familiar feel in that Seattle and Indianapolis have met six times in the preseason during that eight-season span.
And like the preseason games, Saturday’s contest could devote a lot of time to the backups. Indianapolis may well go with quarterback Jim Sorgi to keep Manning from being put at risk.
But the Seahawks players vowed to give their best – regardless of who lines up against them.
“Our job as players is to go out and win every game that we get to play,” Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said after Sunday’s 28-24 win over Tennessee.
In a perfect world – and perhaps even on Feb. 5, when Super Bowl XL kicks off in Detroit – these two juggernauts would square off in a winner-take-all battle. They boast two of the three best offenses in the league, and both defenses have been much improved this season.
While the Colts looked unbeatable before Sunday’s 26-17 loss to San Diego, Indianapolis is still considered the best team in the league.
“Right now, with what they have going, they are one of the best teams I’ve seen since I’ve been coaching,” Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher said last week.
Fisher even said that the infamous 1985 Chicago Bears, with whom he served as an unofficial assistant coach, would have a hard time matching up with this year’s Colts.
“I would say it would probably be difficult for that Bears defense to manage the Colts offense, the way it’s playing now,” said Fisher, referring to the quick-pass offensive schemes that developed in the 1990s to combat Chicago’s 46 defense. “(But) we’re comparing apples and oranges because of the difference in schemes.”
Because Saturday’s game has lost some of its importance, the dream matchup might not have all its components.
But that doesn’t mean Strong has lost any of his enthusiasm.
“Not at all,” he said Sunday. “It’s still the two teams that have the best records in their respective conferences playing next weekend. That’s what people will be excited about.”
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