Do I dare bet against the Seattle Seahawks? Yes, yes I do. For the 7-9 Hawk’s to beat the defending champs was impressive, but let us not forget the 17 previous weeks of evidence we have that points to Seattle being one of the poorer teams in the league. Their win against the Saints was impressive, but look at some of the factors going against the Saints:
-New Orleans was down to Reggie Bush (a prototypical third down back’) and Julius Jones, who has rushed for 2,172 yards over the past five years, in the backfield.
-Malcolm Jenkins-New Orleans best defensive back-did not play. His replacement, Roman Harper was beyond awful.
-The Saints had to travel 5,000 miles across the country and play in the loudest stadium in football.
-Seattle had the “nobody believes in us” corollary fueling them, one of the most underrated motivational factors in sports.
I’m not taking anything away from the Seahawks—they totally deserved to win—but play that game ten times, and the Saints win seven.
Key Matchup: DE Raheem Brock vs. LT Frank Omiyale
Everyone knows Chicago’s Achilles heel: pass blocking. It’s improved since they were demolished by the Giants early in the season, but it is still the Bears weakest unit. Seattle’s Raheem Brock is coming off an impressive three game hot streak in which he’s notched four sacks and two forced fumbles. Chicago tackle Frank Omiyale has a tough assignment containing Brock…he will need to be successful if the Bears want to move the ball.
Possible Goat: Jay Cutler
We know three things about Jay Cutler: He’s got the emotional capacity of a coffee cup, he’s got a rocket arm, and he tends to have a couple “crap the toilet” quarterback performances per year. Cutler has had eight straight good games; he’s bound for a stinker at some point—right? If Chicago loses it’s because their offensive line fails to block and Jay Cutler implodes. Jay is the quarterback; therefore he’ll take the brunt of the blame…
Possible Hero not named Jay Cutler, Devin Hester, Matt Hasselbeck or other noticeable player: Leon Washington
Chicago is favored by nine. I’ve gone through the most critical matchup. If Seattle wins, it will also be because of a huge special teams play. Mark it, note it, carve it in stone, brand it on your forehead. Leon Washington is the guy who will likely make it happen.
Stat of the game: Jay Cutler was sacked six times, and the Bears went 0-12 on third down during these two teams last matchup in week six.
Interesting subplot that doesn’t really matter: Apparently, Jay Cutler is no Teddy Bear. Check it out: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6017986.
Prediction: Chicago-27 Seattle-17
New York Jets @ New England Patriots
That about covers it…
After a week of trash talking that has reached an intolerable level it’s finally game time. Is it telling that New York was a minute away from losing to the banged-up-beyond-belief Indianapolis Colts? New England has great matchups across the board offensively, and the Jets have struggled to pressure the quarterback all season.
The Patriots have been on an incredible no turnover streak, and as we saw from Atlanta, all good things come to an end. I’m waiting with bated breath for a multiple turnover game from my beloved Pats…all it takes is a couple bad breaks.
Key Matchup: Antonio Cromartie vs. whoever he covers
New York added Cromartie during the offseason specifically to matchup with Randy Moss, and other big, fast wideouts such as Miami’s Brandon Marshal or Houston’s Andre Johnson. Now that Moss is gone Cromartie doesn’t have an ideal matchup against any of New England’s undersized wideouts. He was burned repeatedly during the Monday Night Massacre, what does Rex Ryan do with him this time? He would seem to pair well with TE Rob Gronkowski but that would leave either Branch or Welker with an obvious mismatch. Brady is incredible at finding mismatches, it will be key for the Jets to minimize them.
Possible Goat: Rex Ryan
He’ll be a joke for a longggg time if he doesn’t win this game—especially if his Jets are blown out of Foxborough. This is a reckoning of sorts for Ryan, he’s thrown all his chips on the table—he needs to deliver. No one will take him seriously if he doesn’t either win or take the Patriots to the brink.
Possible Hero not named Tom Brady, Darrelle Revis, Danny Woodcock-I mean Woodhead, or other noticeable player: Eric Smith
Jets strong safety Eric Smith was obliterated during the 45-3 beat down. That was his first opportunity as starter, with several games now under his belt Smith has performed dramatically better. Brady picked on him repeatedly in their former matchup, can he come back strong? He’ll need to…
Stat of the game: Tom Brady has thrown 14 touchdowns to 12 interceptions over his last eight playoff games.
Interesting subplot that doesn’t really matter: Bart Scott had this to say to Newsday about Wes Welker, “I’ll tell you what. Be very careful what you say about our coach, His (Welker’s) days in a uniform will be numbered. Put it that way.”
Stay classy New York!
Prediction: New England-33 New York-20
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