The rise-from-the-ashes Seahawks are almost to their goal
A GRIP ON SPORTS
Did you watch the Seahawks end the 49ers' postseason hopes yesterday? Methodical might be an understatement. Read on.
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• If it were possible, I would like to borrow Stewie's time machine. The "Family Guy" baby is always zipping back in time to correct his stupid mistakes. Alas, such things aren't possible in real life. When you say – or in my case, write – something stupid, it's out there for everyone to see. Forever. No going back. No fixing it. It wasn't all that long ago – about a month, actually – when I declared the Seahawks dead, their postseason hopes gone, their Super Bowl defense kaput. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Facing the toughest six-game finishing stretch in the NFL, the Hawks have won four of them. With yesterday's 17-7 win over the 49ers, and Green Bay's loss at Buffalo, they put themselves in a position to have home-field advantage for at least the first-round of the playoffs. All it takes is two more wins – on the road at Arizona, which will be using its third- or fourth-string quarterback, and home against recent nemesis St. Louis. Two more wins and the door opens wider for another Super Bowl appearance. Now everything isn't completely rosy for the Hawks. Dallas defeated the Eagles in Philadelphia last night, meaning the Cowboys have the edge on Seattle thanks to the early season win here. But, with Dallas' track record, if the NFC title came down to a game against the Cowboys on the road, undoubtedly the Hawks will feel more comfortable there than in Green Bay. Remember, all of this has occurred since Seattle lost at Kansas City and its record fell to 6-4. With injuries decimating the defense, it looked as if the Hawks were finished. Hah. Though San Francisco carved them up a bit early yesterday afternoon, the defense adjusted and shut out the 49ers over the final 43 minutes. The offense, while never to be confused with Denver's, was efficient enough to score two second-half touchdowns – a big penalty helped with the second one – and earn the 10-point win. (As an aside, how good are the guys in Vegas? They had the Seahawks as a, wait for it, 10-point favorite. Eerie. Maybe they are the ones that have commandeered Stewie's time machine?) A win next week at Arizona won’t clinch the NFC West but it would, of course, put them back atop the division and just a win over the Rams from the title. After that, who knows what can happen? Though maybe some idiot will declare them the Super Bowl favorites and put the kibosh on the whole thing.
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• WSU: It's pretty quiet on the Cougar front these days. About the only thing I can pass along is Jacob Thorpe's morning post, which contains some Pac-12 links.
• Gonzaga: Jim Meehan jetted back from Los Angeles, but still took some time to look back at the win over UCLA. He also has advance of tonight's game against overmatched Texas Southern, who has already made one trip to the Inland Northwest, a losing one at Eastern.
• EWU: Speaking of the Eagles, they had a chance to post a signature upset yesterday, leading 17th-ranked Washington by 13 at the half and still ahead as time wound down. But the Huskies rallied back to take an 81-77 victory. It was Eastern's chance to post the type of win that makes a statement – an NCAA statement – and they came up just short. Jacob was at Hec Ed and has this game story. There were also stories in more than one media outlet on the West Side. ... Vernon Adams Jr. will find out his Walter Payton Award fate this evening in Philadelphia. Jim Allen has a story on Adams' journey. ... Jake Rodgers' father John remained hospitalized after suffering a heart problem Saturday at Eastern's game.
• Chiefs: The Chiefs were off but Portland defeated the Tri-City Americans 4-3 yesterday.
• Seahawks: Where to begin? Well, the end of an era in San Francisco is as good a place as any. The 17-7 Seahawk win seems inevitably to be the final Jim Harbaugh/Pete Carroll matchup between these two franchises. Though the rivalry should remain, it probably won't have the same flavor if Harbaugh is no longer involved. John Blanchette was at the game yesterday and that aspect of it is just part of what he wrote about in his column. ... The loss eliminated San Francisco from the playoffs. ... With Brandon Mebane out, the Hawks needed someone to step up on the defensive line. Kevin Williams decided to be the man. ... Hey, Paul Richardson caught his first career touchdown pass yesterday. ... The Hawks had a lot to say after the game. The 49ers did too.
• Mariners: You can x-out Melky Cabrera's name from the M's lineup next season. Though the Mariners seemed like the front-runner to sign the free-agent outfielder just a few days ago, they didn't. He is signing with the White Sox instead.
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• I hope you had a good weekend. I had a great one, if you just count Saturday and Sunday. Though I got nothing done at all around the house. Maybe that's the true definition of a great weekend. Until later ...
