With the recent win over the San Francisco 49ers (and what a
win it was, embarrassing them on national TV), the Seattle Seahawks have
clinched themselves a playoff spot for 2012 season. This is great news for a
team that appears to be peaking at the absolute perfect time. They have won
their last three games by a combined score of 150-30. The offense, which
started the year as a liability, has turned into one of the best in the league.
A large part of this turnaround is because the coaching staffing took the restraints
off Russell Wilson and he has responded by playing at an elite level. His
passing has been accurate and timely and his ability to decide whether to run
or throw has been a major advantage for the Seahawks. He is definitely not
racking up stats on the back of an All-Pro receiver a la Matthew Stafford and
Calvin Johnson. All this adds up to me really liking the Seahawks chance in the
playoffs.
The teams guaranteed a playoff spot are the Falcons, Packers
and 49ers. The Cowboys, Redskins, Vikings, Bears and Giants all have a shot at
the final two spots. Looking at those teams on the Packers scare me and the
Seahawks have already beat them once this year (albeit on in one of the most controversial
games in recent history). Playing them in Lambeau will be a difficult no matter
what.
The Falcons are probably the least scary #1 seed in recent
memory. They have four wins against playoff caliber teams, the Broncos,
Redskins, Cowboys and Giants. Only the
Broncos are an actual power house. The Falcons have picked up their 13 wins by
beating bad teams. Now it isn’t their fault they have such and easy schedule
and they clearly are a good team because they aren’t losing to these jokers,
but they just don’t strike fear into opponents.
If recent history is anything to base a judgment on, the
Seahawks have little to fear from the 49ers. They just finished demolishing
them 42-13. Their previous meeting in October the 49ers won at hard fought game
13-6. In this game Russell Wilson hadn’t been allowed to flourish yet and
suffered from several critical dropped passes. Changed a couple of those drops
to catches and you have a very different game.
The Seahawks have already beat the Cowboys (for this game a
more appropriate verb would be stomped as it was 27-7 and never really close),
the Bears and the Vikings (another rout). Only the Redskins and Giants are
unknowns. The Redskins are a team that has basically thrived on the stellar
play of one guy, Robert Griffin III. The Giants are the defending Super Bowl
champs, but haven’t looked that impressive at all this year.
All this basically means I feel very confident going into
the playoffs. These Seahawks appear to have vanquished their past demon of
playing on the road. As the away team, they beat the Panthers, Bears and Bills
this season. The QB of the Seahawks is great (let’s not joke around and pretend
he is just good or having a string of luck) and appears to be improving every
week. The defense is still stoat, allowing the fewest PPG and fourth fewest
YPG. Finally they are peaking at the absolutely best time. They have found a rhythm
and are destroying teams in all three phases.
I refused to start drinking the kool-aid even after the hawks laid a historic beating on the Cards & Bills. I told myself the true test would come with the Superbowl favorite 49ers.
ReplyDeleteWell, folks, the 2012 Seahawks are even better than the 2005 Holmgren-era team. There, I just said it.
The majority of this team's wins have come against 6 teams who are either in the playoffs or still in the hunt. Those teams have a combined winning % of .625. What's more, they're doing it with a team that is the 2nd youngest in the NFL with a rookie QB. Pete Carroll and John Schneider have likely set this team up as championship contenders for many years to come.
Regardless of what happens in the playoffs -and we have absolutely no reason to believe this will happen given their current streak- this season is already a smashing success.
I don't think I agree with better then the 2005 team, but definitely up there for any other greatest team. They probably deserve number two. The 2005 team went 13-3 and to the Super Bowl. Until this team at least wins two road playoff games they aren't better.
ReplyDeleteThe 2005 team didn't win any road playoff games and had one of the easier regular season schedules in the league.
ReplyDeleteWhile the 2012 team was great, I dont think we can call them better then the 2005 team. The 2005 team won the NFC and lost in the super bowl. Their offense was one of the best in Seahawks history and the best in the league that year based on ppg. Their defense was solid coming in at seventh based on ppg. The defense also provided consistent pressure on the QB finishing with 47 sacks on the year. Finally their secondary had 16 INT compared to the 18 the 2012 team had.
ReplyDeleteNow one thing I think the 2012 team has that the 2005 team didnt is a very very bright future. The 2012 team was mostly veterans playing at the peak of their careers, while the 2012 team was filled with rookies and second year players who should continue to improve.
I would first like to say that the 2005 Seahawks did not lose the Super Bowl, they were just not the victors. Important difference.
ReplyDeleteSecond, The 2005 team is definitely better simply because of their accomplishments. Yes, I think that Wilson is already a better quarterback than Hasselbeck ever was (no knock on Hasselbeck though), and that our defense is clearly much better. I would argue the only place that the 2005 team was clearly better was the offensive line, which was historically amazing, and the receiving corps, which wasn't stunning, but had so clear talent above this year's team.
Both teams are excellent, and I think that the current incarnation of the Seahawks has a better chance of winning a Super Bowl in the next few years than the mid-2000s teams ever did. Even so, the 2005 team was better simply because they made the Super Bowl and won it, really.
This is pretty flimsy logic, but its hard to compare such disparate teams. You can't really say the 1995 Sonics are better than the 1979 ones for the same reason. Frankly, both teams are great and that is awesome.
I almost brought up the whole comparing teams from different era issue, but I didnt because it is debates like this that make sports talk fun. None of us can ever be right or wrong about which team ,2005 or 2012 , is greater. We can only have an opinion and try to convince others to our opinion. It is kinda like politics...
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