Woe to the rest of the NFC if the Seahawks earn home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
If that happens, as Seattle showed with its 29-3 demolition of the 49ers on Sunday night in the din at CenturyLink Field, it’s over.
And here’s the kicker: The best record in the conference has a great chance of ending up with Pete Carroll’s team because the Seahawks are in position to get even better as the season goes on.
How? Well, consider Seattle absolutely strangled the NFC’s most recent Super Bowl participant on a night when Russell Wilson completed just eight passes and with three key pieces sidelined by injury: wide receiver Percy Harvin, defensive Chris Clemons and cornerback Brandon Browner.
All three are expected to rejoin the Seahawks by the second half of the season, at the latest. Harvin promises to add an explosive element that the offense lacks, Clemons and Browner were already starters on arguably the NFL’s saltiest defense.
A lot can happen in 17 weeks, of course, but the Seahawks have the look of a team that can start checking into New York travel arrangements in early February.
Rough day for the NFC Least
It wasn’t long ago Redskins GM Bruce Allen labeled the NFC East the “SEC of the NFL.” Well, if that’s the case, apparently we’re watching Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Florida.
The Giants, Eagles and Cowboys all lost to AFC West foes. RGKnee, rusty from sitting out the entire preseason and fearful of operating the read option and leaving the pocket, is a shell of his dynamic rookie self for the Redskins. Jim
Haslett has watched his defense surrender 1,023 yards, including 580 in Sunday’s 38-20 loss to the Packers.
Neither the 10 a.m. PDT start nor Chip Kelly’s defense fazed Philip Rivers and the Chargers in Philadelphia.
Eli Manning has thrown seven interceptions and David Wilson is a basket case. Tony Romo and Peyton Manning have attempted a combined 92 passes against Big Blue, which has recorded only two sacks.
Romo, bruised ribs or no bruised ribs, came up small in another fourth quarter in a 17-16 Cowboys loss on the road at Arrowhead, while Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith ran eight times for a club-best 57 yards.
You can win this division with a 9-7 record. The NFC West is the SEC of the NFL.
1, 2, 3 (lightning) strikes, yer out
Mother Nature seems to be the only thing the NFL juggernaut can’t steamroll these days.
Weather stoppages for regular-season games and the postseason always have been an extreme rarity in the league (the NFL once ordered the Eagles and Bears to continue a playoff game in dense fog), so the three lengthy delays in the first two weeks of this season have been more than just a little startling.
Lightning delays for Broncos-Ravens in Week 1 and Buccaneers-Saints and 49ers-Seahawks in the span of just a few hours Sunday no doubt has the league office on edge, especially coming on the heels of the embarrassing power outage at the Superdome during the Super Bowl in February.
The NFL obviously has no choice but to account for player and fan safety, but the sudden frequency of the delays has to be unnerving for Roger Goodell and his fellow Park Avenue suits.
That’s because network TV (with its billions of dollars in rights payments) is king of the NFL world, so much so that the league has practically made a science out of honing its game to fit tight broadcast windows.
More hour-plus long delays have the potential to really create havoc for the league, which has to be crossing its fingers this run of lightning delays is just a streak of bad luck that ends very soon.
If not, and the problem only gets worse, don’t be surprised if Goodell starts talking about domes for everyone. The commissioner has certainly floated crazier ideas, and that’s how important TV is to the sport.
Black Unicorn’s mythical start in Chicago
Every team wishes it had a tight end like Jimmy Graham, who was targeted 16 times by Drew Brees and finishing with 10 catches for 179 yards and one touchdown in the Saints’ 16-14 victory over the Bucs. Look around the league now and you will discover a thirst for the new tight end prototype: 6-foot-5 athletes who are nightmare red-zone matchups.
Peyton Manning has a new toy in Julius Thomas, Brandon Weeden has one in Jordan Cameron and Sam Bradford has one in Jared Cook. And now Jay Cutler has one in Chicago, a fellow by the name of Martellus Bennett, who was one-and-done with Eli Manning and the Giants. Bennett’s game-winning TD catch with 10 seconds left against the Vikings gives him three TDs for the season.
“I’m sweet. I move like a butterfly and I sting like a bee. I’m a little bit of both,” Bennett said. “I like to be a butterfly because sometimes you have to spread your wings and – have you ever tried to catch a butterfly with your hands? You can’t do it. You need a net. They’ve got butterfly nets just for catching butterflies. Hopefully they don’t make a unicorn net just for catching unicorns, especially black ones.”
The self-proclaimed Black Unicorn already has 10 catches, 125 yards and those three TDs with Cutler. He caught 55 passes for 626 yards and 5 TDs with Manning. His Giants replacement, Brandon Myers, is at 13-140-1 TD. Bennett’s presence, alongside Alshon Jeffery and RB Matt Forte, takes the heat off Brandon Marshall, and suddenly Cutler feels like a kid in the proverbial candy store. Cutler, who is still like the little girl with the curl, is being hailed as Mr. Fourth
Quarter after a second straight comeback victory and is having a ball under new head coach Marc Trestman, in no small part because he has been sacked only once in 72 dropbacks. From 2009-12, Cutler was sacked 148 times in 1,735 dropbacks or once every 11.7.
Rob Ryan’s Saints D not such wrecks
Rex Ryan isn’t the only Ryan brother facing a make-or-break season.
After flaming out with the Cowboys, Rob Ryan’s bid to salvage his reputation (and stay employed) as a defensive play-caller is off to a promising start with the Saints.
New Orleans’ offense is as potent as ever, but the Saints wouldn’t be 2-0 after Sunday’s 16-14 win over the Buccaneers without the dramatically improved play of a defense that set the all-time NFL record by allowing 7,042 yards last season.
That hideous total, which smashed the Colts’ 31-year-old record of 6,793, got former Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo fired after just one season and turned the Saints into a laughingstock.
No one’s laughing through two games, though, as Rob Ryan’s tight, Rex-like relationship with his players and his switch to a 3-4 scheme is getting the most out of a talent-thin lineup that is also battling injuries.
Despite losing key pieces Victor Butler and Jonathan Vilma to knee injuries and with defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley out indefinitely, the Saints have allowed just 31 points combined in AFC South wins over the Falcons and Tampa Bay.
That’s almost half of the hideous 28.4 points per game New Orleans allowed last year while missing the playoffs despite a record-setting passing year from Drew Brees.
Rob Ryan’s over-the-top style has a track record of running out of steam with his players (it’s why he’s seemingly coached for every team in the league), but the Saints have to enjoy the results so far.
Super Mario back
Bills defensive coordinator Mike Pettine returns for the Student-Teacher Bowl Sunday against Rex Ryan and the Jets, and he’s bringing a rejuvenated Mario Williams with him. Williams recorded a dominating 4 1/2 sacks against the Panthers, but he will recall the 2012 opener, when Austin Howard, a novice, limited him to one measly tackle in the 48-28 Jets victory. Williams, the Bills’ prize $100 million free agent, laughably complained afterwards that the replacement refs refused to call Howard for repeated hands to the face violations.
Sky falling on Big Blue offense
Tom Coughlin needs to stop fiddling with running back David Wilson while his offense burns. Coughlin sent the right message to Wilson about ball security, and now it’s time to let bygones be bygones and get the kid back in the flow sooner rather than later. Manning (seven INTs) needs another dimension to his offense at a time when he is the anti-Alex Smith (zero turnovers). If the Giants offensive line continues to encounter point-of-attack difficulties, at least
Wilson offers the promise of exploding through the tiniest of creases.
Psst, the Bucs’ Doug Martin, the back drafted one spot ahead of Wilson, rushed for 144 yards against the Saints. Then again, next week’s opponent, the Panthers, just lost free safety Charles Godfrey and are so banged up in the secondary Manning and Kevin Gilbride may not be able to help themselves.
Extra points
Can’t blame Jaguars fans for holding a 3:16 rally today to champion the cause of Tim Tebow. Would you want to keep watching Chad Henne and Blaine Gabbert?… The Road Warrior Dolphins have more than a puncher’s chance to overtake the Patriots in the AFC East if Ryan Tannehill continues to blossom. Tannehill, after listening to Mike Wallace’s pleas for the ball, outdueled Andrew Luck in Indianapolis and is completing 65.3 percent of his passes. … The Jaguars are so bad, they should be allowed to Suck for Clowney AND Bridgewater. … I’m guessing Darrelle Revis would trade Greg Schiano for Rex Ryan right about now … and maybe Josh Freeman for Geno Smith. Until Revis becomes Revis again, he’ll have to accept the opinion here that Richard Sherman of the Seahawks is indeed the best cornerback in the game, followed by the Cardinals’ Patrick Peterson, who is excused for getting used by Megatron. Sherman held Anquan Boldin to a single garbage-time catch. “I asked Coach for the challenge,” Sherman said. “I wanted to follow him.” …
“Beast Mode” Marshawn Lynch and the Seahawks bullied the 49ers, who played with a lack of composure and discipline unknown to mankind. In their last three games against the Seahawks, 49ers quarterbacks are 20-for-44 for 224 yards and 3 INTs, with a 32.8.passer rating — and euphoric birthday boy Pete Carroll didn’t even have cornerback Brandon Browner Sunday night. In Colin Kaepernick’s past two games against the Seahawks, his passer ratings are 72 and 20.1. Now that Kaepernick has lost his bet with Wilson, here’s hoping he’ll forget about shaving off an eyebrow. …
EJ Manuel handled crunch time against the Panthers a lot better than Smith did against the Patriots. Geno gets to state his case Sunday against Manuel and the Bills that he should have been the first quarterback drafted. A shame Terry Bradway and the Jets didn’t have a chance in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft to land Russell Wilson, so savvy, such a natural-born leader. … Also a shame the Rams beat the Jets to Tavon Austin, who would have done wonders again for Smith, his teammate at West Virginia. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer might want to let Sam Bradford try more hurry-up. … A strong second-half from Vikings QB Christian Ponder should keep the jackals already calling for Matt Cassel at bay, at least for another week. … Devin Hester, no longer a wide receiver, is back to being a dangerous returner (249 yards on five kick returns). … CenturyLink, Seattle’s 12th Man, and Arrowhead in Kansas City provide louder and better home-field advantages than MetLife. … Drew Brees’ 67.5 passer rating against Revis & Co. was the fourth time he had won in the Sean Payton Era with one under 70. … The Jim Schwartz Lions (eight penalties, 101 yards) have not yet learned how to win. … Bill Callahan’s playcalling in Dallas? The Cowboys gained 37 rushing yards on 16 carries in Kansas City. “We didn’t run it enough, to be honest,” DeMarco Murray said. … Eagles safety Nate Allen is getting the Santa Claus treatment in Philadelphia. … Andre Johnson, who left the Texans’ thrilling overtime win over the Titans with a concussion, has told hero rookie WR DeAndre Hopkins he can be better than him. “He’s got, like, webbed hands,” defensive end Antonio Smith said of Hopkins. “The little part of his hands are probably longer than my fingers. The dude’s got some crazy-looking hands.” … How about a Peyton Manning-Aaron Rodgers Super Bowl? Even in a nor’easter, they’d both probably throw for 400 yards.