(also published on Bleacher Report)
Talk about being overrated. All the experts on ESPN.com chose Green Bay to knock off the Seattle Seahawks in Saturday’s NFC divisional tilt at Lambeau Field.
Regardless of what happens Saturday, I just don’t understand why everyone is on the Packers’ bandwagon.
True, the Seahawks hadn’t looked great all year long and play in the weak NFC West. And yes, they had some lucky bounces go their way (the finish against St. Louis when the Rams botched their final scoring drive comes to mind). But the Hawks won when they had to, including a huge win against the Cardinals in Week 14 and the wild card round vs. the red-hot Redskins, when their defense came up big.
And have the Packers really played that great themselves during the year? Don’t forget that soft schedule; they got to play the Rams (3-13), Oakland (4-12), and Kansas City (4-12) - and had to get a late rally in the fourth quarter just to pull one out against the Chiefs. And they played the lowly Lions - who allowed a league-high 27.75 points per game (yes, worse than the 1-15 Dolphins) - twice. And don’t forget the Panthers (7-9) and Broncos (7-9) too.
And let’s not forget what happened in recent playoff past for Favre and the Packers. At Lambeau Field. And what Lambeau mystique and Favre magic is everyone talking about?
Favre couldn’t beat the Falcons five years ago when former stud Michael Vick led the Atlanta club into Lambeau and won impressively, holding the Favre-led offense to a lone touchdown. The score was already 24-zip by the time Favre found the end zone.
The Vikings, an 8-8 outfit who had already lost twice to the Pack in the regular season, knocked off Green Bay at Lambeau in 2005, despite the controversy surrounding then-receiver Randy Moss and his mooning incident. Oh yeah. Favre threw four picks in that one.
Even the Seahawks took the Pack to overtime four years ago before Matt Hasselbeck’s interception cost Seattle the game.
And Seattle has more playoff experience. This could be the Seahawks’ final hurrah, and they might come out hungry. And there’s talk of coach Mike Holmgren stepping aside if the Hawks don’t get it done this year. And how many more years does Shaun Alexander have to get his Super Bowl ring? Obviously Seattle has something to play for here. Outside of Favre, the Packers are a young, inexperienced team. I’d go with Seattle in a nail-biter, with the game being decided on a last-second field goal. Seattle's defense is going to force Favre into more of his classic playoff-INT's.
And Favre continues to get all the love from the media despite the Packers having no post-season success since his lone Super Bowl win in 1997 against the Patriots. Don’t all those subsequent playoff losses mean anything? Six INT’s in St. Louis in a 2002 embarrassment? Plus those home losses in 2003 (Falcons) and 2005 (Vikings). Yet that ’97 win is all everyone talks about. This guy just gets all the hype despite his failures.
And no, there will be no New England-Green Bay rematch this year.
Final Score: Seahawks 30, Packers 27, with Favre throwing 3 more picks.
The Hockey Farmer / Showing Their Scales
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1 comment:
Hahaha... it's 14-0 in the first Q after the Pack fumbled it TWICE in their own end!
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