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... well, okay, "Talking Points," not GameDay, probably. I been reading too many traffic-seducing Euro soccer headlines. Guess I shoulda went with "Is Walter Jones Preparing to Play This Sunday?!", followed by an article mentioning that he's not.
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=== Point ===
Dr. D will be watching the Vikings-Packers playoff game with more interest than almost any NFL game this year, that didn't involve the Seahawks.
Not only is this the most traditional rivalry left standing in 2012, but ... Minny has a decent chance of beating the Packers, with Adrian Peterson running the ball in cold weather, and if so, they have a good chance of beating the overrated Falcons.
And if that occurs, the NFC championship game, Minnesota-Seattle at CLink, would be a Seahawks bye into the Super Bowl. Having a bye during the NFC championship game would be ... valuable.
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=== CounterPoint ===
SSI fears for the officiating this Sunday. Not everybody realizes that the Redskins are one of the most valuable sports franchises on the globe, sometimes THE most valuable. Over the past decade the race has been between Manchester United, the Yankees, the Redskins, and a couple of other teams.
The furore over the Redskins' glamor (?) season has been preposterous. And when the New York Knicks are making a lunge for a championship, the refereeing they get in Madison Square Garden makes the games there unwatchable.
Complicating this, the NFL is going to be royally ticked off about Richard Sherman's In-Yo-Face to their drug testing. ... we read that the 2005 Super Bowl was fixed, which it was in my humble opinion, precisely because the NFL was annoyed at Mike Holmgren breaking code and mouthing off about things he shouldn't have. Dr. D nevvvvvverrrrr underestimates the seaminess of NFL back-stage dealing.
Still and all, we'll see. My own estimate (opinion) of the chances for a fix are, oh, 25%.
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=== Point ===
The 'Skins won 7 in a row. That's nothing to sneeze at.
But Dr. D doesn't notice that Shanahan and RGIII chewed up Tom Brady, chewed up the San Francisco 49'ers, that they beat the Chicago Bears on the road, or that they won three games in a row by 150 points.
Instead, the Redskins snacked on Philadelphia (4-12) twice, on Cleveland (5-11) ... and the other four games, against solid but not excellent teams, they pulled out all four at the end of the game. Such as their OT win against the Giants.
There's nothing wrong with winning the games that are put in front of you, but there has been a good amount of luck involved in the 'Skins' run. There has been no such luck involved in the Seahawk run. They have crushed their enemies like pop cans.
Play 16 games between these two teams, neutral field, and the Seahawks go about 11-5.
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=== Counterpoint ===
It was scary the way the 'Skins corners locked down the Cowboys' wideouts -- freeing Washington to rush 6, 7 men with impunity. Romo never had a chance.
Everybody in Seattle likes and admires Rice, Tate, and Baldwin. But the fact remains that they are lousy wide receivers.
Each one of those players would be welcome at New England -- as the 4th or 5th option in the pass pattern. Come on, 748 yards for Sidney Rice? In SIXTEEN games? And that leads the ballclub?
They've all got hands, they've all got guts, and they've all got serious problems creating separation. The Seahawks' wideouts do not match up well against the defense we saw last night.
The Seahawks are a feature receiver, and a little more Russell Wilson experience, away from being truly ready to go to war.
... that ain't much.
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=== Point ===
Dr. D's boyhood hero wa Larry Csonka, a "fullback" (look up the term) who was the one player in the NFL that Jack ("Assassin") Tatum admired without reservation. He said the Raiders could never stop Csonka, "and worse, I was never able to sting him. He uses his elbows to ward off tacklers and he never takes a painful hit."
Marshawn Lynch is a player who absolutely must be gang-tackled. If the defense does not read Lynch and fly, we say fly at Mach I, then Lynch is going to ramble.
You know the rest. In this offense, the defense cannot read Lynch and fly. Dr. D can see no defense, practical or theoretical, that could stop Wilson and Lynch.
In some individual game you might confuse them a little, slow them down a bit while they adapt to a strange situation. But even yesterday against the Rams, Lynch had 100 yards and Wilson threw for 250 - and the Seahawks won. That was the best you could imagine a defense doing against them.
New defense Sunday, maybe: man-to-man on the wideouts and seven men crashing the line every play. Problem occurs when Wilson escapes, and gets the extra three seconds, because when he gets those, he's got bad intentions downfield.
You go after Russell Wilson, fine, but when he spins away, he likes to get revenge. The Washington defense knew Romo like the back of its hand. We'll see how familiar they are with our guy.
Heh, heh, heh,
Dr D