[Kapanda]

Well, we no longer adore Bradford... No but what I meant is your (fan base's) belief that Wilson is an elite QB a la Rodgers and Brees.

Sherman and the Crabtree thing, hey people get passionate. But then the Skip Bayless interview and then dissing Kap's passing game the way he did... showed he is just full of himself, not just passionate. I'd love to have him on my team though.

The 12th Man thing is your idea that the 12th Man is a decider in games, greatest fan base in the NFL, blah blah... pipe down. You're not that awesome a fan base. We only heard about you about 2 years ago when you started to win games. That makes you a regular fan base.

[The Immortal Goon]

Oh, I agree about Wilson. He's good, but he's not one of the league elites by a longshot. I think he has the potential, pretty much because he's so young, but he has a long way to go before he's a great. I agree with you there.

Sherman, I can imagine that-it does get hard to seperate him from your team, you know?

As for the 12th man thing, we Seahawk fans have always been here. The 12th man thing maybe new to you, but we've been through the shit with that team (as everyone in the NFL has with theirs). But we were in the Super Bowl in 2006...which doesn't make us THAT out of the blue, does it?

To me it's strange that everyone is acting like we just showed up. Everyone in the Northwest has always been here, and we've been a serious contender now for almost ten years, if you consider a Super Bowl showing getting on the map. To have people online act like we're just making it up all of a sudden, and this isn't just you, is so weird to me.

[Demosthenes]

Philly does not adore Foles, though half of them are in love with dirty Sanchez right now. I swear Philly fans are the worst thing about the team. Ugh. Some great ones out there though, but a whole lot of dickheads, and there is just no other way to say it. Dickheads to their team, dickheads to each other, and dickheads to themselves. Its pathetic.

At any rate big showdown this weekend following the Dallas beatdown. Seattle comes to town where Philly is currently 6-0 though the record is possibly inflated by having only played a half dozen under .500 teams, it turns out to be an all important game for both teams.

For Philly, a win knocks Seattle back down a peg and put them back in the first-round bye discussion, and a solid case for the number two team in the NFC. With a home game against Dallas following and two away games against the Giants and Redskins, it's possible the Eagles could win out and finish 13-3. A loss to Seattle and they are knocked back to pretender status below the NFC's heavy hitters in Green Bay and what would turn out to Seattle. One of the knocks on the Eagles and Chip Kelly has been that they were not able to beat teams with winning records. They are now 2-3 this season against them following the Dallas win. Going 3-3 against a surging Seattle team would change that debate.

For Seattle, a win takes them to 9-4 and puts them in the driver's seat not just for a first-round bye but for home field advantage should Green Bay stumble. Seattle owns the head-to-head tiebreaker on Green Bay, and with a win against Philly, and a possible split against Arizona on the horizon, what once looked like incredibly long odds would suddenly change drastically. With the Cardinals in apparent free fall (IMO more due to losing Fitzgerald than Carson Palmer) all bets are off with the top four teams jostling.

I should add that Dallas is clearly still in the mix. If Philly has already peaked and they take a loss to Seattle and loss to Dallas, that would catapult the Cowboys further up. As a division rival, I can't say I'm unbiased, but in trying to analyze them as unbiasedly as I possibly can I don't believe this is a likely scenario.

There is also the possibility that Philly loses to Seattle to drop to 9-4, but then wins out. This however, would likely not result in even the first-round bye as they would have losses to all the teams above them in the conference standings and it would requite those team to finish with worse records outright which is highly unlikely at this point. Even moreso than Dallas regaining the NFC east division lead.

GO EAGLES!!! BOO SEACHICKENS!!!

[Varax]

Well played Seahawks. The Eagles put up a decent effort but it was apparent who was the better team. It appears the Eagles are still stuck in that area of being a playoff team but are just not good enough to beat the best of the NFC and win a championship.

I swear Philly fans are the worst thing about the team. Ugh. Some great ones out there though, but a whole lot of dickheads, and there is just no other way to say it. Dickheads to their team, dickheads to each other, and dickheads to themselves. Its pathetic.

Oh, I concur. I have to live around them, so I would know.

Some Philly fans are alright though.

Regarding Foles and Sanchez, neither has really proved to be "the guy" this year. Foles had such high expectations coming into the season but hasn't lived up to it and Sanchez isn't the answer. Both have been inconsistent and struggled with turnovers. Neither has shown to have what it takes to take them all the way, really. Foles has a year left on his rookie deal to prove himself but the Eagles might have to consider that their long term QB isn't on the roster at the moment if he can't do it in that time. So we'll just have to see how that works out.

I really like Chip Kelly and I think he's getting a lot out of what he has to work with. Probably one of the top coaches right now. Ultimately though the Eagles are a few pieces short being a championship team. They really need to upgrade the secondary particularly at outside CB but really the only decent starter they have there is Malcolm Jenkins. The front 7 has been decent but they could still use more LB depth. Riley Cooper is trash and a waste at the #2 WR spot. QB questions I already mentioned. The defense can't get off the field on 3rd and long. The offense goes 3 and out too often and has a poor red zone efficiency.

Those issues are the difference between being a pretty good team and a great legit SB team. Those are issues that can be fixed over the next couple of years though and the Eagles are well positioned long term with a lot of young talent and Kelly as their coach.

Right now I'd have to say the Packers are the best team in the NFC and if they get the top seed that will be tough for the rest of the conference. I could see the Seahawks beating them though just because their defense is good enough to contain Rodgers and Co. as they showed week 1 and they're back in championship form now after dealing with some injury issues. The Eagles I think will finish up 12-4 or 11-5 and get in but I think the divisional round or conference championship is as far as they'll go.

[Demosthenes]

Well played Seahawks.

God dang Seachickens. Meh, they were gifted 2 touchdowns on absolutely lame-as-hell pass interference calls, but whatever. I hate complaining about calls like the rest of the fanbase does, but in a game like this when Seattle managed a whalloping 3 points of offense without the benefit of a gift turnover and two absolute gift pass interference calls (both coming on long passes on third down I might add) when we clearly did not get the same benefit of the doubt its frustrating.

Still, over all its clear that Seattle shut the offense down. I think Foles is better than what you think, but I am having my doubts at this point as well. He clearly regressed this year. I'm not as convinced that he can't win big games just yet, but it wouldn't hurt my feelings as much if we picked up someone else to challenge him next year as it would have this year.

The secondary is atrocious and I hate it. I've been ranting on Philly.com about how awful and disgraceful it is for a Philly team, who has gone generations with great (or at least good) corner play to have to watch what we have now. They are disgraceful. Nate Allen should play college ball. He's terrible as well.

I fully agree with the rest of your assessments and was thinking you cut Cooper in the off season, move Jordan Matthews outside, possibly put Huff in the slot and that's looking good there. Maybe even pick up another wide out after the 3rd round too, just in case. The offensive line needs some tinkering as well. They need to draft depth now so continuity isn't lost when Peters, Heremans, and Mathis age out. I'd say replacing Heremans is becoming a priority.

I've said all season they would win the division and probably one play-off game. 2 if they pull off some kind of magic in the second game or luck into a mismatch via some other upset, but that they won't unseat any of the big dogs.

At this point they are good pick at 3rd in the conference and a safe pick at 4th depending on how you value Detriot. I believe they can handle any wild card team at this point with the NFC west imploding (minus Seattle).

[The Immortal Goon]

Well, from my point of view Seattle gifted Philly a touchdown by fumbling that punt so bad. There were a few holding and other calls, as always, that were missed or brought up at other times-but I think it was overall fair.

Speaking of my bias, Chip is a great coach (he previously was Oregon's head coach). And I did think there was a lot of respect, for whatever reason, both teams had for each other. Some Eagles had played for Carroll before, and there was clearly still a lot of love between them. And it was common to see team members help opposing team members up, and there was a part where an Eagle rather affectionately patted Wilson on the helmet after a play. I do like seeing that.

The Eagles are going to be huge. They have the machine right now, they just need to tinker with it to get the mechanics just right. Their defence was really good, and their offense needs some work-but it was going against Seattle's notoriously good defence from a particular strong division. Next year might well be their year.

Santa Clara lost against Oakland. Oh, and how we laughed and laughed...

Damned Cardinals won. Going to be rough...but the rest of our games are at home now. We can do this...

[Demosthenes]

You will play the Cardinals head-to-head. If your defense holds up as it is now you'll take it.

The only real issue will be Green Bay in Green Bay assuming Seattle ends up with the first round bye.

The best we'll do is third in the conference now and one home playoff game.

[The Immortal Goon]

Richard Sherman, the unsportsmanlike thug:

Philly is a really cool city though.... So much history and architecture .... Have to make a trip back

The Cardinals will be hard. We beat them once, but it's very important—of course—we do it now.

Green Bay is going to be crazy, I'm not sure how I'm going to stack up against them since we've both turned it on and hit a stride of late. Nether the Seahawks nor the Packers seem consistent enough this season to predict well, we've just anchored.

I know a lot of Green Bay fans. They still whine about the, "[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Packers–Seahawks_officiating_controversy]Fail Mary,[/url]" which nothing in the standings changed in any way whatsoever.

The Seahawks have long since stopped whining about the refs apologizing to them for bad officiating costing them a Superbowl.

So Packer fans are super sensitive snowflakes, is what I'm saying, and I'll need to be careful at work about saying something that might offend their precious sensibilities, even if it's a regular season game that has absolutely no barring on standings in anyway whatsoever.

[Kapanda]

He liked Philly... but he dismissed their whole receiving corps. I mean, that Sherman is tasteless in his nature is really irrelevant, but he is tasteless.

[Kapanda]

JJ Watt is the best football player in the league.

People have forgotten that he puts up ungodly numbers from the 3-4 D-end position... that's not really supposed to happen.

[Demosthenes]

So Packer fans are super sensitive snowflakes, is what I'm saying, and I'll need to be careful at work about saying something that might offend their precious sensibilities, even if it's a regular season game that has absolutely no barring on standings in anyway whatsoever.

OMG I didn't know it was that universal. My cousin is this big Fudge Packers fan (sorry, all teams must accept a derogatory nickname from me. It's part of the deal. I accept that Philly probably should have many among enemies as well.) and man, I seriously can't stand to watch a game with him. It's not fun whether we win or lose to them. Seriously. I watched the 4th and 26 game with him back when Philly was making all the NFC championship games and he drove me home 30 miles afterwards in complete silence.

I have some other friends who are Packer fans, but I'm like... Meh. You guys are ridiculous. Snowflakes is a great word for them, actually.

I'm not sure Seattle can win in Green Bay, and I'm not sure Green Bay can win in Seattle. In terms of how everyone is playing, that would be the premiere NFC matchup if the playoffs started right now.

[The Immortal Goon]

Looks good right now for Green Bay. This is a bummer as Seattle won't automatically get home field advantage if or when we go against Green Bay.

I've been a Falcons fan for, what, two weeks? They beat the Cardinals and I really want them to pull a game out of this, but it's almost absurd even saying that now

[The Immortal Goon]

Big game for the Seahawks. If we win, it's like winning a play off game as then it's only two more games, both at home, to the Super Bowl. We should win on paper, but the Rams play irrationally and crazy, throwing every trick play and whatnot possible when going against us. They beat us last time.

Thinking ahead and speculating of course, the team I fear most are the Cowboys. It's not enough that I loathe the Cowboys, but when we went against them we were simply outclassed. They stomped us and have been stomping people throughout the season. We've improved since then, but I don't know if it's enough.

[Demosthenes]

So, the Seachickens game completely destroyed my Eagles season, setting them up for a bad fall to the Cowchickens (I guess I have a thing with chickens and football), and later to Washington. 3 game losing streak to close the season, really? They won a sloppy game in NY to finish 10-6 and out of the playoffs, but they would have probably been out at 11-5 anyway. The day the lost to Dallas at home was the day the playoffs ended.

This leaves the following mess in the NFC (I can't be arsed to cover the "other" conference):

1) Seachickens. In the pole positions, and clearly as dangerous as last year. With the Percy Harvin fiasco in the rearview mirror, they don't look vulnerable anywhere.

2) Fudge Packers. Still one of the best offenses in football with an improved, but still inconsistent defense. Odds that they'll play the Seachicken in Seattle for the NFC title: 80%.

3) Cowchickens. As much as you have to hate these ratbags, they have to be considered a strong darkhorse. On almost as big a roll as the Seachickens, you have to think at 8-0 on the road they can play either of the two big dawgs competitively in their houses. I give them a 17% chance of reaching the NFC title game.

4) Carolina. They have no chance. Zero. Zilch. They suck.

5) Detroit. A scrappy bunch with a strong Defense and "Good Enough" offense. Still, they can't hang with any of the top three. By virtue of playoff seeding they are almost guaranteed to win one game then get stomped in Seattle. I give them a 2.5% chance of getting to the NFC title game.

6) Arizona. The Defense kept them from completely swooning, but without even Drew Stanton or Larry Fitzgerald (Whose loss is worse than even Carson Palmer's) they will be lucky not to get blown out by Dallas. However, they are resilient and Bruce Arians is not to be fucked with as a coach. They will pose a problem to a Dallas team that only went 4-4 at home. Still, if they somehow upset Dallas, they would be slaughtered (again) in Seattle. I give them a .5% chance of getting to the NFC title game (which would have to be in Green Bay).

Final Pick: As much as I really hate the pundits who just pick the number one seed, I have to go with Seattle at home throughout the playoffs. They're just too much, and that defense is the best one to play the game since Baltimore won it in the 90s. I'll put Seattle at an 80% chance to advance to the Super Bowl. I'd call Green Bay a 15% mainly because they'll probably have to go to Seattle to do it (Their chance increases dramatically if something crazy happens to Seattle in the divisional round). Finally I'll give Dallas a 5% chance of making it to the Super Bowl just because 8-0 on the road and a win against Seattle at home is not nothing. I still don't believe they are really that far along yet and will revel in their defeat when it comes (I'd love it if Arizona could pull it off early), but they will be dangerous no matter who they play.

[Eauz]

I posted this in the Football thread, mistaking it for the NFL. Anyway, Looking forward to seeing the Patriots win the championship this year.

I don't really follow the NFL, but during the playoffs, if the Pats are in it, I cheer for them. I know, I know, it's just as bad as cheering for the New York Yankees, but I cheer for Toronto teams that are normally a disappointment, so I need to cheer for at least one decent team with a chance to win each year.

[NYYS]

How is this thread only two pages after a full season? You guys are nothing without my brilliant insights to stir the pot.

My Packers are going to get hammered by Seattle in the NFC championship game, then Seattle wins the Super Bowl over whatever victim shows up from the AFC. I like New England to do it, but only if they get by the Ravens and Playoff Joe Flacco.

[The Immortal Goon]

I like your analysis. I can't say anything though, because saying that my team is going to beat a team that's legitimately quite good—like the Packers—is just asking to eat crow later on when I'm wrong.

All the teams that went to the playoffs are quite good. The Cowboys, Packers, and Seahawks all peaked at about the right time. Honestly, right now, we're all in better divisions. NFC West is a great division, and were it not for the self-destruction of Santa Clara, things may have been different.

[Demosthenes]

How is this thread only two pages after a full season? You guys are nothing without my brilliant insights to stir the pot.

My Packers are going to get hammered by Seattle in the NFC championship game, then Seattle wins the Super Bowl over whatever victim shows up from the AFC. I like New England to do it, but only if they get by the Ravens and Playoff Joe Flacco.

Fudge Packers.

were it not for the self-destruction of Santa Clara, things may have been different.

Do you mean the Cardinals?

[Red_Army]

I'm hoping for a Packers/Colts superbowl.

[The Immortal Goon]

Do you mean the Cardinals?

Arizona ran out of steam. Santa Clara self-destructed, I think. Not just by not playing as well, but as a team.

I'm hoping for a Packers/Colts superbowl.

You misspoke there. All sane people want the Seahawks to beat the Packers.

A lot of my friends are confident going in, but I'm wary of Green Bay. They're peaking at just the right time—though so is Seattle.