NFL Playoffs - Round One

Blue awesome effort ! I think you can understand I appreciate the effort and time put into developing something like this. Just remember I am all about looking at both sides of an arguement.

One thing off the bat that strikes my as suprising is the love Washington has recieved. Regardless of its from casual NFL fans , Seattle fans concerned or gamblers seemingly running to push the spread down. I would have expected people to feel that WASH is a fraud and SEATTLE is unbeatable at home. So I am with you in that respect and agree.

Here's where I disagree with you and JoePublic though. Where is this tear where they won games they never would have won before? There schedule is beyond easy. When at home the teams they played this season in Seattle had combined records of 19-45 on the road. Sea was 3-5 on the road this year. They beat SF and what else? Seriously can anyone deny that both STL and Philly handed them victories and worse it was both of there backup QBs !! Not to mention Philly one could argue was clearly in falt spot after the battle @ NE. Look at what other playoff teams like GB and Pitt did @ STL late in the year vs Bulger and Co. Simply nothing impressive about those wins and if you cant beat a backup QB..Granted there road games and that means you have to do more then just show up but how much more did SEA actually do. How can anyone argue that SEA could have lost any of there late home games? CHI was the toughest opponent and funny thing is CHI played them okay. Oh and maybe Zona would have challenged them had they not lost OL, Leinart , had banged up WR's , lost Pope later on , starting CBs and a safety , DE's and etc...

Psychological factors are HUGE. - Absolutely agree. Still though what does playing bad teams have to do with this? They needed to be confident vs there schedule? Any confidence devired from there football accomplishments should be classified as false confidence.

There 4 WR's do not get any press and I agree they are way under the radar ) love DJ Hackett another of my fantasy sleepers) . Injuries did screw them up . Also many have made this point about Wash playing man defense in its secondary and they will need to adjust that when SEA goes 4 wide. It definetly presents a mismatch or phiosophy problem that WASH DEF COOR Williams must overcome but that is something he is known for. Regardless this is something WASH has not had to deal with.


Home field edge- Again I disagree here. Is there really any gambler who doesnt know about the supposed HFA that Seattle enjoys? First why any team struggles on the road is more about unfamiliar surroundings then anything else. Was has played there in the playoffs and experienced it. That NYG OL was terrible anyway.....

Not sure there are many coordinators I would rather have then Greg Williams but thats opinion.

I dont see Wash as the hottest team in the NFL by any means. Dallas was resting who besides Owens in the 1st Half ?? Dallas was trying to win that game just like Seattle was in Atlanta. Look how long Hasselbacl played. read the quotes about how the defense was embarrssed by its play cause ther starters were IN. Now yes SEA played a basic vanilla strategy to give nothing away but they played liek shit and said it. Holmgren had Hasselback start the 3rd quarter. We knew SEA effort would be less then 100% it really didnt suprise anyone. I was more suprised how long the starters played. Not saying that SEA played 100% but they werent exactly Charlie Frye and Co either...

I agree on an indivual basis this defense has crazy talent. However it didnt play many good offenses and definetly didnt play any good ones at home. As underrated as you feel SEA D is you could probably say the same about WASH D unit. They shut down every run unit late and who scored on them besides NE? GB needed a fumble return to beat them @ Lambeau.

Is Wash overrated? In some ways yes and some ways no. They gave away a hand full of games most notably Buffalo and TB but GB should be lumped in there as well. They choked away 4th Q leads vs Philly and NYG. Winning @ Minnesota was better then any road win SEA had and they won @ Philly with McNabb.

If you watched Wash play @ NYG late in the year weather and wind would be of no concern.


Really at the end its the same story your talking about improvement this team has shown and you dont seem to understand the talent they faced was terrible. Any avg NFL team could have done what SEA did both statisically and W/L.

Bottomline is SEA is loaded with talent . What they have accomplished to date is nothing cause there schedule is so terrible its worst then what Hawaii played against this year.

The key to this drama is has everyone started sipping the Washington Redskins KoolAid?? I have to agree it seems that way and I thought 4.5 pt spread for sure. Talking about what Sea did is no different then saying Hawaii played good and had a grat offense.

While Wash has to fly cross country didnt Seattle have to do it 4 times the past 3 weeks? to Carolina and back , to ATL and back?

In SEA on there home field SEA is the better team no doubt. However that doesnt matter to me. What matters is WASH a team of destiny and momentum? take away the recent hot streak and they didnt play poorly in TB and GB but lost and I definetly rate GB as better and the better pass attack as well......

I hope this game lives up to its billing . If anyone wants to understand my point its simple SEA has talent but has done nothing IMO to show its a good team. The most talented team doesnt always win. I do agree SEA defense will play better after the shit show in ATL.

For me I dont think SEA is a good team and since I am not sold this is a fair line below 4 pts I cant take WASH either. Todd Collins has limits but he knows how to play the game . I just hope everyone enjoys the game...to tough. I understand the SEA is cheap at home arguements problem is I feels its cause they are overrated based on there play. Skins just caught 6 @ Minny and NYG teams at the same lelvel as SEA so thats why I thought 4/4.5 was fair....

:cheers:I spent to much time on a game I dont see any value in....:36_11_6:At least I have a feel for both Wash and Sea come round 2...
 
Well got some more time I guess.

What has Seattle done worth a darn? Seriously show me something Imissed? First three home games where was that huge home field advantage? They struggled with TB in the OPENER despite the score as the key was Garcia and Cadillac missing some plays...and the tide turned..., barely beating Cincy and then losing to the Saints?

these are two entirly different teams. we were short WRs, Oline was getting injured almost daily it seemed, we did not have the passing attack we have now. I cannot overstate how impressive the late season road wins were for a long time Seattle fan. you may say weak, but I say hey we won them, something we have struggled with in the past. Yes we played easy competition, there is no denying it. But, I look at any road wins as a plus in this league, esspecially for this team.

I dont think anyone is weighing the ATL game as anything more then a typical week 17 game.

not what I have heard first hand, well initially not atleast. after these fans realize we did not have all our starters playing it is an ohhh yeah it was a garbage game. imo this atlanta game was not just a garbage loss to fans here, many still thought easy win, hell 90% of people were picking them in ESPN contest.

I could be mistaken but I think SEA home field edge is hype at this point. It exists but not to the extent some believe.

unless you believe Seattle is number 1 or 2 in the league in terms of this then I think you are actually undervaluing this. bad weather (which we love), noisiest stadium (most fall start penalties), and not to mention travel to this remote city.


now gotta go for a while

Nut sayz.....


I will give you any road win is a plus in the league but beating backup Qbs thanks to late turnovers inside the red zone is lucky. They were 3-5 away and had a win @ SF. Thats basically 3 crap road wins and other playoff teams namely GB and Pitt fcaed Bulger and threw STL beatdowns. True the hawks were a different team later in the year but regardless who was going to challenge them? Maybe they were different cause the schedule went from easy to laughable. They didnt have any tests and that is lost in your arguement. If your a 6 point favorite your supposed to win IMO. While SEA was a different team it still doesnt make Cincy any better of a team and that was one of its toughest tests. The passing attack looks great cause again your playing bad teams and worse beaten up secondaries like Balt and ARI at home. Who wont compile good stats in that situation? Miami?

SEA didnt sit anyone really. They gave 3 banged up players Bernard, Branch and Jones the day off. He played nearly his entire starting defense to the final few minutes. Some guys sat out but the dropoff wasnt huge with the replacements. Like we said SEA can pull WRs out thre ass...

I cant speak for the fans but I got Joe Public to play ATLANTA on Sunday.

I think your home field advantage also has to represent the quality of team you have to play. Is it one of the noisest places in the league? Absolutely. Would I rather play @ Sea then @ Indy , @ NE , @GB definetly not this year. You stated the false starts where 3 on avg compared to 2 for the rest of the league if I recall. So basically they get 1 more 5 yd penalty per game....not a big deal....Also a team like WASH having to play in the NorthEast is not concerned about weather. The game @ the Meadowlands a few Sundays ago was about as bad it gets and it was more about the wind. Your points are valid but they are not just as significant as you make them out to be. Wash already played a playoff game in Seattle, shouldnt they know what to expect?? The travel as I stated isnt so bad considering SEA did it 4 times in 3 weeks..to Car and back then to Atl and back....2300 mile trips if I recall....


If SEA wins its because simply WASH is a worse team not SEA a good team. At least not yet....:cheers:
 
I cant speak for the fans but I got Joe Public to play ATLANTA on Sunday.

That man speaks the truth, I hadn't even looked at the game until SN brought it up.

That said, Seattle on the road is a very different team than they are at home, it's one of the things that makes them only a marginally good team.
 
always good insight from Joe P

question though.

dont you think the inclement weather in washington should give the skins a better shot at winning?

maurice morris does not worry me much, the skins have shut down superior backs in peterson and marion barber, holding both to season lows i believe.

i think the way the skins o line has been playing (a bit above their talent level imo, and im sure a lot is contributed to the extra fight and heart this team has played with since the ST disaster)... they can win the war upfront. if its raining as much as its supposed to, and winds getting close to 20 mph, i think this is the type of game gibbs can win and I like washington to control the game by running the football better. skins giving up 75 ypg on the ground these last 3 weeks.

gl tomorrow :cheers:
 
This weekend, I am staying away from Jacksonville (can we come up with a term for a team or player that everyone calls a sleeper or underrated, but everyone calls them that) and Tampa Bay/NY (98% whatever QB you bet in an Eli-Garcia matchup is the one that loses). That leaves WASH/SEA and TENN/SD

Seattle is a top five home team and they have the best QB of the weekend at home against a QB that really has come out of no where to win four straight. I have ZERO confidence in Todd Collins playing on the road, in bad weather, from behind, in the playoffs. The only outdoor road game this year for him, he was 8-25 in New York. I don't think he will be that bad, but it will be tough for him. Plus, he is a true statue in the pocket and Seattle has Peterson and Kerney to bring enough pressure to make him dance in the pocket.
SEATTLE 27 WASHINGTON 13

Tennessee is maybe the most fortunate team to be in the playoffs because I still cannot believe Indy basically gave them a game. I swear, all these years of not trying to win games when other teams need you to at least pretend like you give a crap will come back and bite them squarely on the ass. Anyway, Tennessee is banged up, and if they fall behind early, they do not have the mental make-up to come back and compete. They just stayed on the mat when they played Denver and Cincy and fell behind early. Their biggest road comeback was four points in JAX and KC, and their biggest comebacks were seven points to the Falcons and Texans at home. And none of their wins, did they have to come back in the fourth.

SAN DIEGO 34 TENNESSEE 10
 
weather is pretty calm, not raining. and news says whatever weather there is should for the most part die out by noon, game starts over an hour later.

just about off to the game.
 
Not sure it's been mentioned anywhere else, but since I know you're on the Seahawks .. Holmgren said Deion Branch is doubtful, but Hasselbeck thinks he'll lobby to play and will end up playing.
 
hawks in GB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am shocked they scored 14 pts, even if it took a def play and a HUGE special teams play to score......3+ quarters of no score football against any playoff team is fine with me.


although even with 9 points or whatever it is, I still wonder if that is not set very well.

my initial oppinion is blowout GB or hawks win. We'll see....be around tomorrow.
 
I know your Sea fan but the Skins offense did just as much as Seattles if not more. Granted Branch was out but Skins were shorthanded as well. They (SEA)clearly are the better team but that was a terrible performance and I have been saying that SEA was the play so its not as If was crazy enough to think Wash could win that game. I am on board with the loads of talent they have but what does it translate to? The Skins Ol was so poor in the 1st H not cause SEA DL was so good but cause theres was so bad. kearneys a beast and heyer is a midget. They made adjustments and suddenly they moved the ball. Gibbs 3 times had short yardage and failed to playaction finally the fourth time he did and they got it due to interference but 2 other times they TOD in opposing territory....not to mention SKins drops....

Hasselback should have been picked 4 times at least , both there offensive TDS were short fields that started on Wash 45 both times and got two give up TDS on INT returns cause Wash didnt seem to care at that point. Seattle better get there shit together before GB cause they arent facing an inferior team with 2 OL and 2 members of the secondary out.

I wonder what would have happened if Suisham makes it 17-13 with 10 to go. I'll be honest when they settled for a FG attempt it really never crossed my mind SEA would lose cause I figure they had one good drive in them. Wash gave them a run for there money I cant believe anyone would think SEA played well or looked good..take away there DL blowing away Skins OL what did they do ? We are seeing it again with Jax @ Pitt... it was like when NYG played Philly and Winston Justice got abused....

At this point I just think SEA is a bad team who should be much , much better. Have to admit I was hoping GB was like -4....freaking 8/9 ! Not picking on you Blue but by any means but everything that was supposed to happen today didnt.

The Hawks didnt spread Wash thin on offense , they crowd didnt make a difference , the Hawks slowed the offense down when they blew up the lineman and had terrible playcalling from Saunders / Gibbs , the weather was fine , and if Collins had time he bad plays ....Wash will beat you if you beat yourself but they ar thin on talent and had a lead with 12 minutes to play....kinda scary IMO....

Pitt is shorthanded and regardles of what happens Jax is beating a watered down team...

Alright I am outta here .....GL all ...see ya later...Nice work Joe Pub you need to get me some balls and just say fuck it !!
 
one can make all the excuses for the other sides all day, the point is, our defense came to play, and the other side did not. imo our defense played phenomenal. Our defense like I said above is the key to this team. Do I think we will win or even cover against GB? no and not really.

Hell every single redskin interviewed post game complained about the atmosphere here, and said it was extremely tough to play here, especially getting adjusted to it in 1st quarter. I counted 1 timeout and 2 false starts today due to confusion on the line. On top of that Gibbs straight up said the oline was a step slow in the first quarter due to the noise and being unsure coming off the line. So, I think that both the pressure and stadium did not let down this game.

Like I said in one of the first posts I wrote, we have a Bend but don't break Defense, the players preach it and the fans know it, I don't think we could see more proof then today. Our pressure makes us give up a couple passes or longer runs here and there, but the team is just fine with that because they can continue to bring it and eventually make some big plays. Granted Washington could have scored more, but had they not even gotten that first Int and swung the momentum they would have been hard pressed to score at all. The defense if I am not mistaken did not even let them accross our 40 until there was less then 4 minutes left in the 3rd. How did this defense not play well?

Granted like you I still think they have a long way to go before they are a good team, but Seattle's D and special teams played very well at least from my point of view and we have a lot of youth to build on. I think we have a ton of issues with this team, but I see a lot of talent and a new attitude. What will it mean, maybe nothing this year, but I'll be cheering them on next week as a big fan.

Oh by the way, the winner of this game goes to the Super bowl. The winner will have home field advantage if they don't play Dallas and I think either of these teams will beat Dallas if they play them in the NFC championship. That is my prediction anyways, although I think Joe said something pretty similar above.
 
I actually like the Seahawks plus the points in GB, but not to win the game, if Hasselbeck is healthy.

That said, when I last heard a score yesterday it was 14-13 Redskins and I didn't learn the Steelers score until this morning. Thus, a belated THANK YOU to the Gambling Gods.

Oh, thank you, thank you.
 
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