Seahawks are NFC's darkhorse
Posted: Thursday, December 27, 2007 9:20 PM
Earlier today I wrote about how you can’t count the Colts out of the Super Bowl picture. The Pats may be undefeated, but they’re not the only team that can play this game.
But the NFC is another picture. There are the Cowboys and then there’s … who?
Dallas has lost twice – once to New England and once to the Eagles. They’ve smacked the Giants around twice, beaten the Packers, and showed no signs that anybody else in the NFC can play with them. I don’t bet on anything other than myself in a friendly game of golf, but if I had to give odds on teams getting to the Super Bowl, I’d make Dallas a bigger favorite in the NFC than New England in the AFC.
But there’s no such thing as a mortal lock, so there’s got to be somebody in the NFC who can knock Dallas out of the playoffs. It’s not the Packers or Giants; neither team showed they could stay with the Cowboys when they had the chance to. So it’s got to be Tampa, Seattle or whoever the final playoff team is – most likely Minnesota.
The smart money is probably on the Bucs, and with good reason. They’re tied with the Patriots for the NFL’s best scoring defense and they trail only the Colts in pass defense. They’re 13th in rushing defense, but still allow just over 100 yards a game in that category.
Offensively, they’ve got an experienced quarterback in Jeff Garcia and a darned good receiver in Joey Galloway, but they’re not exactly a scoring machine. I give them a shot against Dallas if they get past the Giants, but that’s about it.
Forget Minnesota; they’re a year away at least. They have a great run defense, but against the Cowboys, you’ve got to stop Tony Romo, and I’m not sure they can should they get that far.
That leaves the Seahawks, who have feasted on the weak NFC West and lost to most good teams they’ve played. They did beat the Bucs, but that was in the season opener. They were also shut out by the Steelers and lost by 11 to the Saints.
But the Seahawks have one thing going for them that could make them dangerous if they get to Dallas – one of the league’s premier pass rushes. Their 43 sacks are tied with Dallas for third in the NFL behind the Giants and Patriots.
The Eagles showed when they beat the Cowboys that Romo, like every other quarterback, can have a bad day if you can put a lot of heat on him. That makes Seattle a threat, not just to Dallas, but to every team they play in the postseason.
Seattle doesn’t have the best postseason record ever, but they beat Dallas last year on that botched kick. Dallas is better this year, but Seattle has that memory of success against the Cowboys. They may be a bit of a long shot, but so is everybody else in the NFC against Dallas. But if I had to bet on any team, I’d bet on the one that can bring the heat and doesn’t have the erratic Eli Manning at quarterback.
You want to give anyone a shot against Dallas in the NFC? Why not give it to Seattle?
