NFL Sticking It to Seattle?

The Seahawks have an unusual situation that deserves to be addressed. Some may say this is conspiracy theory talk, but in reality it is pure fact: the NFL manipulates the schedule to give certain teams an advantage, period. For a few examples look no further than the New Orleans Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles. The Saints and Eagles are two teams the NFL wanted to rebound this season after Hurricane Katrina and Terrell Owens. The schedule is fixed, but the dates are flexible. Each team received a front-loaded schedule of easy games to allow the squads to come together and put up some early wins.

Some people were claiming the schedule-makers had it in for Philadelphia with three straight road games against the rest of the NFC East in Weeks 14 thru 16. However, that means each NFC East team had to travel to Philadelphia earlier in the season. The best thing a team can do is get wins in the beginning of the season. The difficulty of later games is harder to predict with injuries, but building a lead keeps a team relevant and makes it easier to stay focused. A tough start can cause a team to spiral downward. The Eagles played three of their first four games against Houston, San Francisco, and Green Bay - those teams picked 1st, 5th and 6th in the draft last season. The Eagles also got an extra day of rest after travelling out west to San Francisco by following it with a Monday Night game against Green Bay and then another home game after the short week.

What does this have to do with Seattle? The Seahawks are in a precarious position this week thanks to the NFL and those pesky schedule-makers. The Denver Broncos are coming off a week with three extra days of rest, while the Seahawks get one less day than normal. The Seahawks also must travel to Denver adding a travel day. True, the Broncos were on the road last week, but they played in Kansas City - the closest NFL city to Denver. The Seahawks preparation disadvantage is at least four-and-a-half days for an important matchup between two teams that both made it to their respective conference championship games last year. Crazy conspiracy theory? Maybe, but the circumstances certainly put the Seahawks at a big disadvantage.

And if you are looking for more evidence, take a good look at NFL sweetheart Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts. What games are the biggest for the Colts? Jacksonville for the division and New England for the conference. The Colts were lucky enough to get Jacksonville at home after the Jaguars played the Steelers on Monday Night. A few weeks later, they got New England after the Patriots' Monday Night road game in Minnesota.

My point is not that the NFL tries to rig its schedule with every game, but anyone who thinks the schedule-makers do not take these things into account is a fool. The Seahawks-Broncos situation could just be a coincidence, and that is probably the case, but the league was aware of it and chose not to correct it. The NFL takes care of its darling teams when it can and the Seahawks are not among that group, at least not yet.

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NFC Power Rankings - Week Eleven

After a few weeks off, the power rankings are back following Week 11.

1. Chicago (9-2)
- With a two-game lead on the NFC, the top spot is safe for now. It will take a total collapse to lose the #1 seed, but it is possible with Grossman at the helm.
2. Seattle (7-4)
- With Hasselbeck and Alexander back, the Seahawks might be peaking at the right time. The defense will try to feast on Jay Cutler in his first NFL action. The rematch with San Francisco on Thursday Night and the Christmas Eve battle with San Diego will determine if this team gets a first-round bye in the playoffs. 11-5 will probably do it, but it would be nice to finish with 6 straight wins.
3. New Orleans (7-4)
- The Saints are flying high, but they close with San Francisco, at Dallas, Washington, at New York Giants, and Carolina. It looks like the Saints might be headed for a 10 win season.
4. Dallas (7-4)
- Tony Romo is on top of the world, but for how long? The Cowboys must win in New York this week with New Orleans and Atlanta up next. Fortunately they close with Philadelphia and Detroit.
5. Carolina (6-5)
- The Panthers are not great, but they will be in every game they play. The Week 17 game against New Orleans should decide the division.
6. New York Giants (6-5)
- A win this Sunday over the Cowboys and all is forgotten, a loss and the season might be forgotten. The poor coaching and bad play on this team is only trumped by the ridiculous hypocrisy.
7. Minnesota (5-6)
- The Vikings have lost four of five, but the schedule gets easier the rest of the way. An 8-8 record could mean a wildcard spot.
8. St. Louis (5-6)
- No Orlando Pace means a struggling offense, but the Rams are right there in the wildcard hunt. It could come down to a Week 17 game with the Vikings.
9. Atlanta (5-6)
- Classic Michael Vick collapsing down the stretch after a few good games. The Falcons look like an 8-8 team at best.
10. San Francisco (5-6)
- The 49ers looked good after beating the Seahawks, but followed it with a loss. The remaining schedule includes road games at New Orleans, Seattle, and Denver.
11. Washington (4-7)
- No Portis and Jason Campbell at quarterback, but the defense is getting healthy. The Redskins will spoil the party for at least a few playoff contenders down the stretch.
12. Green Bay (4-7)
- The Packers should be proud of their 4 wins, but 6-10 looks like the ceiling for the Pack. At least the team is playing with a lot of heart.
13. Philadelphia (5-6)
- The Eagles were only 5-5 with McNabb and an easy schedule. The McNabb-less Eagles with a tough schedule down the stretch might not win another game. Two more wins is less likely than zero.
14. Tampa Bay (3-8)
- A struggling team, but they always play hard.
15. Arizona (2-9)
- That signature win over the Lions was critical.
16. Detroit (2-9)
- Losses to Miami and Arizona make this choice easy.

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So Long Stevens

It was nice to hear the resounding chorus of boos for Jerramy Stevens. Stevens came back with a nice touchdown catch, but he hurts the Seahawks as much as he helps them. Stevens seemed pretty happy after making that touchdown catch, but every starting tight end in the league should make that catch. Stevens is a unique physical threat, but he will always be an underachiever and a bit of a head case.

Jerramy Stevens will be a free agent at the end of the season, and the Seahawks should look elsewhere to fill his spot on the roster. Jerramy Stevens is a jerk, a loser, and an inconsistent performer. Mike Holmgren drafted Stevens and fellow low-character extraordinaire Koren Robinson with first round picks, but those guys are not the type of players Tim Ruskell likes. We're stuck with Stevens for the rest of this year, but let's hope we get someone better in 2007.

Daniel Graham (New England) and Eric Johnson (San Francisco) are both unrestricted free agents at the end of the year as well. Let's hope the Seahawks go for one or both of those high character players. Both of them made touchdown catches at least as nice as Stevens' in the past two weeks without dropping other catchable passes. Both guys are more consistent than Stevens, and they play hard and intelligently - not to mention that both excel at blocking as well as receiving.

Graham and Johnson have produced as well as Stevens so far in their careers in catches and yards as well. Stevens has amassed 116 catches for 1,297 yards and 14 touchdowns over his first 5 seasons in 66 games. Daniel Graham, also drafted in 2002, has 110 catches for 1,296 yards and 17 touchdowns in 58 games. He also has done a great job blocking and has two Super Bowl rings with the Patriots. Eric Johnson has been in the league one more season, but has missed two full seasons with injuries. In 55 career games over the four season he has played, the Yale alumnus has 190 grabs for 1,790 yards with 7 touchdowns for bad 49ers teams.

Stevens career highs were last year with 45 catches and 5 touchdowns. Graham had a 7-touchdown season in 2004, and Eric Johnson had an 82-catch season in 2004. After five years in the league, it is time to stop talking about Stevens potential and start looking at his actual production. The Seahawks need a quality tight end that can block and not drop catchable passes. It would also be nice to have a tight end that doesn't cost the team points with stupid penalties and dropped balls in the endzone. Stevens is a net negative.

If you do not understand why I think Stevens is such a piece of crap, then read the following rundown of Jerramy Stevens' escapades. Jerramy Stevens was charged with hitting a man with a baseball bat and breaking his jaw in June 1998, and then tested positive for marijuana while awaiting a court date. He spent three weeks in jail. So, maybe you want to give the 19 year-old a pass for some bad decisions, but fast-forward two years to June 2000, when Jerramy Stevens was accussed of drugging and raping a 19-year-old girl. The charges did not stick, but that type of behavior fits with Stevens subsequent actions.

Eleven months later, Jerramy Stevens was back at it again. In May 2001, Jerramy Stevens was charged with a hit-and-run after crashing his truck into a retirement home knocking a dresser onto the bed of a sleeping 92-year-old woman. Stevens was positively identified by a witness living above the woman. His truck was also found with front end damage and a flat tire, but Stevens denied knowing who was driving his truck. According to the witness, he fell down a couple of times while trying to get his truck out of the shrubs and used some books under his tires for leverage before successfully fleeing the scene. Remember, all of this took place in Seattle or Olympia before Stevens was drafted by Mike Holmgren and the Seattle Seahawks.

May and June are not exactly the best months for Stevens who managed to avoid incident in 2002 after being drafted, but did not do so well in 2003 when Stevens was charged with drunken driving in May and sentenced to five days in jail and 40 hours of community service in June. Stevens had six moving violations since July the year before (in 10 months). That gives Stevens a nice rap sheet of at least accusations of assault, drug use, rape, hit-and-run, and drunk driving. He is also an underachiever and inconsistent performer on the field. Is that the type of person and player the Seahawks should give a big free agent contract?

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Is It Monday Yet?

I was busy with family over the last week, so I guess this post is for the diehard fans looking for a last minute take on the game tonight.

On paper, this should be an easy game for the Seahawks, but you never know with the 2006 Seahawks. Matt Hasselbeck is probably not 100% (he said so to ESPN's Ed Werder during his pregame workout). The Green Bay Packers are going to bring a lot of pressure to force Hasselbeck to slide around in the pocket laterally to test his knee. Mike Holmgren can combat that by putting three and four receivers on the field. Spreading out the defense will either dissuade the Packers from blitzing, or it will give Hasselbeck single coverage for Deion Branch or Darrell Jackson. Jackson could easily add to his current total of 5 touchdowns of 40+ yards.

Jerramy Stevens could also have a big game if the Seahawks spread things out. The Packers are prone to giving up plays in the middle of the field to tight ends and to backs in the flat. Holmgren must spell Shaun Alexander with Maurice Morris and get Morris the ball a few times through the air. Hasselbeck needs safety valves in case someone comes unblocked. Shaun Alexander should improve from last week, but he is not at 100% yet and Morris was running well before Alexander returned.

The Seahawks need to attack Brett Favre early to see if his arm is well. Favre will try to force things if he is pressured and he may or may not be able to get the job done. It might be a great chance for the secondary to get well and the corners to finally get some interceptions. The defense has been getting ripped up by running backs, but Ahman Green has only 83 yards on 37 carries over the past two games. That is only 2.2 yards per carry, but he averaged 5.6 yards per carry with three 100-yard games and 3 rushing touchdowns in the three games prior. Green is the type of running back the Seahawks defense can stop. Noah Herron and Vernand Morency could pose more problems for Seattle if they get in the game.

Greg Jennings has been slowed by an ankle injury, but he is capable of making the big play. He has not done much since being hobbled, but he should be closer to 100% now. The Seahawks might be forced to make Favre to Jennings beat them because Donald Driver is more of a threat. Driver had 6 catches for 191 yards against the Vikings two weeks ago, including an 82-yard touchdown. Ken Hamlin and Jordan Babineaux need to help out Marcus Trufant on Driver, especially on third down. The Seahawks have tried using safety blitzes on third downs this year leaving the corners on an island, which has often lead to big receptions for first downs by the oppossing team.

By the way, the Seahawks are about to close out this five game stretch at 3-2 and be 7-4, which is right where they need to be. Seneca Wallace looks like an adequate backup that could have been even more successful if Mike Holmgren remembered he wasn't Matt Hasselbeck. Wallace gained some valuable experience and would be wise to sign up to be the Seahawks backup for years to come. With his height and other limitations, he will never be an unquestioned starter in the NFL, but he has a great future in Seattle in a reserve role.

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Seahawks Face Tough Niners Defense?

Sorry to anyone that has been checking here regularly the last couple of weeks. I was caught up with a lot of other stuff and took a brief hiatus.

The Seahawks take on the #2 team in the NFC West for the second straight week (the 49ers own the head-to-head tiebreaker over St. Louis for now). The 49ers have given up 41 points twice this year, but the defense is playing better as of late. I am not sure if they are really playing that well or the Vikings and Lions offenses just stalled out, but the 49ers only allowed a total of 18 points over the last two weeks (both wins for San Francisco). If Mike Holmgren continues his shoddy playcalling, then they might make it three good weeks in a row. Nate Burleson saved Holmgren last week.

Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck both might play, but it shouldn't be necessary and it would be nice to give those guys one more week to get healthy. To win this game, the Seahawks defense needs to avoid letting Frank Gore pull a Chester Taylor and break a long touchdown run. The defense has also been very prone to losing track of the running back in the flat on third down. Frank Gore is the 49ers leading receiver (with only 33 catches), so they need to keep tabs on him as a safety valve on third down. Frank Gore in space is not good for the Seahawks.

The offense needs to keep things simple. The 49ers defense is not anything special - they have just been playing hard lately. The Seahawks should have no trouble moving down the field just by running on first down and taking what the defense gives them. San Francisco will bite on the play-action if Seattle runs early and often, opening up things for Darrell Jackson and Deion Branch as the game progresses. If Holmgren insists on long, difficult pass plays on first down, followed by a short run up the middle on second down, the Seahawks will find themselves in third-and-long all day and end up punting or turning the ball over. Calling runs between the tackles (instead of the sweeps that go for negative yards) should be all it takes to win this game.

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NFC Power Rankings - Week Eight

Week Eight
1. Chicago (7-0)
- Should kill Miami this week before the their toughest stretch of the season. We already know the Bears are good, but we won't know how good until we see how they do over the subsequent three weeks.
2. Atlanta (5-2)
- Two weeks in a row for Vick and the passing game. He should beat up a pourous Detroit secondary this week to make it three. If he can keep it up against Baltimore and New Orleans in a few weeks Atlanta will be wearing the NFC South crown.
3. N.Y. Giants (5-2)
- The Seattle game should still be a concern for how bad this team can play (it happened against Carolina in the playoffs last year as well). Eli needs to avoid a second half slump like he had last year.
4. Dallas (4-3)
- Tony Romo might be the solution and the improved line play helps as well. Now if they could only figure out that the offense works best when T.O. gets the ball, especially near the endzone. The secondary is also playing much better without Pat Watkins in there.
5. New Orleans (5-2)
- One bad game against the Ravens or a frightening trend?
6. Seattle (4-3)
- Remaining opponnents are 26-38. Only Minnesota has an easier schedule (26-39), so maybe the defense can survive and get out of this slump.
7. Minnesota (4-3)
- Terrible, great, terrible. The easy schedule should help them to a wildcard spot.
8. St. Louis (4-3)
- Show-Me State Showdown this weekend. St. Louis needs a home win over the Cheifs if they want to challenge for the NFC West.
9. Carolina (4-4)
- Carolina is just average and now they are two games back of Atlanta and New Orleans in the loss column.
10. Green Bay (3-4)
- The Packers three wins come against the three one-win teams in the NFL with a combined record of 3-18.
11. Philadelphia (4-4)
- Beating T.O. was the Eagles Super Bowl. This mediocre team won't hold up against tougher competition after playing only .500 football during a schedule front-loaded with cupcake games.
12. Tampa Bay (2-5)
- The good news is that Tampa Bay played a tough schedule to start the season. The bad news is that it doesn't get any easier for the defending NFC South Champs.
13. Washington (2-5)
- Carlos Rogers and Shawn Springs are expected to play, which makes this team a lot better if they are both healthy.
14. San Francisco (2-5)
- It's never a good sign when your team has been down 41-0 in two of the first seven games.
15. Detroit (1-6)
- The Lions will likely drop Sunday's game to Atlanta, but then they get San Francisco, Arizona, and Miami - time to sort out who is really the worst team in the NFL.
16. Arizona (1-7)
- The bye week means they won't lose for the 8th straight time, at least not this week.

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