Monday Morning NFL Musings

Let me start with a disclaimer: the following column I am writing without having seen more than 5 minutes of live action over the weekend. These simply are my thoughts and feelings after having watched the highlights.

• First, congratulations to the Seahawks and all their fans for the improbable win Saturday. I have spent the past 24 hours trying to figure out how they got it done, and it finally hit me. This was a classic "Us vs the World" game. Outside of Seattle, no one wanted the Seahwaks to make the playoffs. Certainly, no one thought they should be in the playoffs, let alone hosting a playoff game. All of America assumed that the defending champs would come in and torch the Seahawks. No one believed in the Seahawks except for the Seahawks themselves. I was not a huge fan of the Pete Carroll hiring, but really, this is the perfect scenario for him. I'm not sure there is another coach in the league who you would want giving the pregame speech before Saturday's game. All week long he was not apologizing for the Hawks crashing the party. He played on the team's emotions and got them to respond. They played with a chip on their shoulders all night and walked away with an improbable win.
• Looking forward, the Bears-Seahawks tilt will be an interesting one. You have the Bears, a team that I, like the rest of America, doesn't believe in going against a team that no one wants in the playoffs. The difference here might simply be the environment as I'm not sure the Seahawks can get it done on the road. Playing at home with a chip on your shoulder is one thing - going to wintry Chicago will be an entirely different thing. With that being said, for the second straight week, I am going to go out on a limb and say the Hawks have a great shot at winning. Not because of their skill, but because of two things: Carroll pushing the right buttons and Jay Cutler being Jay Cutler.
• Ok, final thing about the Seahawks. I KNOW I am not supposed to talk ill of them. I am supposed to be in love with their overachievement...but I just can't get past what this run is doing to their draft status. Had they not made the playoffs, depending on tie breakers they would have had anywhere from the 7th to 13th pick in the draft. Now, the lowest they can go right now is 25 - I hate to be Debbie Downer again, but there is a a HUGE dropoff in talent from 13 to 25, so I hope this run is worth it in the long run.
• The AFC really has two delicious semi-final matchups. The Ravens and Jets got rid of the representation from the Central and the West and made it two inter-division match-ups. You have what might be the most physical games of the year, Ravens-Steelers III on Satruday night, and then what might be the most chippy game of the year, Jets-Pats III on Sunday night. I am really looking forward to both.
• I know I am not telling you anything you don't already know, but the X-factor in the AFC semi-finals might be the play of the two young QB's, Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez. In what is becoming a growing trend, inexperienced QB's are actually starting to win playoff games. Out are Manning, Brees, Favre, McNabb. In are Rodgers, Ryan, Flacco and Sanchez. I don't know what it is -maybe they are more prepared during their college days than past QB's, but it is a really promising trend moving forward.
• It's funny what fantasy football can do to a man. I had Michael Vick on my fantasy team this year and being that I wanted to win my league, I had to secretly root for the Eagles to do good. As a NY sports fan, that is a tough pill to swallow. I mean, I HATE the Eagles. Luckily, fantasy football does not carry over into the playoffs, which meant that Vick's late game interception was a thing of pure beauty.
• The most disappointing result for me this weekend was the Chiefs absolutely rolling over at home. This was an exciting team that I was hoping would make it far in the playoffs, but they turned out to be the pretender that many experts thought they were.
• Finally, this has nothing to do with the playoffs, but I saw the list of Pro Football Hall of Fame candidates and I have to say that it continues to be weird seeing players whose entire career I saw on the list. I'm not sure where you go with the current list, but this is going to be an amazing class. Jerome Bettis, Marshall Faulk and Deion Sanders are sure locks. But after that, you have Curtis Martin, Andre Reed, Cris Carter, Charles Haely, Willie Roaf, Tim Brown and 6 others to choose from. Whatever the decision, it is going to be a stacked group