Beat the Bias

Seahawk fans like to make a big deal about the East Coast Bias, which is kind of silly and really boils down to population and tradition. However, the Seahawks have a golden opportunity to buck some of that bias today against New York and next week in Chicago. If anyone is wondering why everyone was slobbering over the Carolina Panthers this past offseason, look no further than New York and Chicago. The Panthers opened the 2005 playoffs with an impressive win over the Giants (23-0) in New York followed by a victory against the Bears in Chicago.

The Bears and Giants are certainly good teams, but the real issue here is population. New York and Chicago are home to the first and third largest metro areas in the United States (the second largest is Los Angeles, which is currently without an NFL franchise). Those areas represent about 30 million people, which means tons of media and far reaching press coverage.

The Seahawks will be front and center this week against the Giants. The presence of the NFL on Fox in Seattle is evidence of how much coverage this game is getting. If the Seahawks can beat the Giants, then they will be primed for a showdown in Chicago next week. The Seahawks face the Bears on Sunday Night Football in Prime Time. It should be a match-up of two 3-0 teams.

There are 11 2-0 teams in the league right now. Three of them will fall this week with the Bears facing the Vikings, the Jaguars going up against the Colts, and the Falcons meeting the Saints on Monday Night. Of the remaining undefeated teams, Cincinnati and New England face each other in Week Four, and both teams also have tough match-ups this week against Pittsburgh and Denver, respectively. Baltimore and San Diego are also undefeated and play each other in Week Four.

Assuming Chicago and Seattle win this week, there will be a maximum of one other undefeated team in the NFC when the Bears and Seahawks face off next Sunday night, and a maximum of only 3 in the AFC. My guess is that Atlanta, San Diego, and maybe Indianapolis will be the only other undefeated teams at kickoff of the Seahawks-Bears game. If San Diego is not undefeated that almost certainly means Baltimore will be (as long as they get by Cleveland). Jacksonville will have a tough time against Indianapolis this week (especially if Matt Jones can't play), and even if they pull off a win this week, they head to Washington next week. So the short story is that the Seahawks and Bears should be two of four or five undefeated teams left when they face each other.

If the Seahawks can pull off wins in the next two weeks, the media world will take notice in a huge way.