A Grip on Sports: There is no ‘good’ way to lose an NFL playoff game, only ones that save time

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s an easy question, really. With a tough answer. Two wild-card games Saturday. Two losses for the visiting teams. All things being equal, would you rather have a loss like the Seahawks suffered, or have to deal with what happened with the Chargers?

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• At least with San Di … er, Los Angeles, Charger fans had a second half worth watching, even if the fourth quarter was best viewed from under a blanket. Those of us watching the Pacific Northwest’s team didn’t even have to watch the final 20 minutes or so. No reason to. The 49ers 41-23 victory was etched in stone by then.

Nothing was written in ink in Jacksonville, not even with seconds left. After all, it wasn’t all that long ago when Minnesota drove down the field in a wild-card game against Seattle, only to have Blair Walsh miss a gimme 27-yard field goal. History has a way of repeating itself. At least, we figure the Charger faithful was hoping for that sort of repetition, and not the usual one their team gives them

You know, blowing a big lead. It is the way of the franchise, no matter where it is located.

The Hawks? They played over their heads Saturday, leading at halftime on a last-second field goal keyed by a silly San Francisco play. There is no reason to hit a sliding quarterback. Or to pull the leg of an oft-injured receiver/running back after a tackle.

Which is precisely what Johnathan Abram did in the second half. And the newest Seahawk safety’s dumb play helped ignite a 49er rally. Coincidence? More than likely, but why get the better team riled up? Let it sleep. The push-and-shove that followed Jacobs’ antic turned out to be a foreshadowing. The 49ers pushed – or shoved, if you prefer – the Hawks right out of the postseason.

Now it’s “wait until April.” The draft. Will John Schneider use the fifth overall pick? Will he trade it, building on a haul that rivals anything Bekins does? Can the Seahawks shore up its defense – wanted: pass rushers and linebackers – or will they look for a quarterback?

It seemed afterward Geno Smith was making a play for Seattle to re-sign him. Either that or he’s afraid he’ll get the Russell Wilson treatment from Hawk fans if he leaves as a free agent, so he was preemptively building a “I wanted to be in Seattle” narrative.

We’ve bought in. With a caveat. This is a team that could be really good next year. If Schneider can fill the defensive holes and add to a decently potent offense. That not only takes draft capital but real capital as well. Money must be spent on a few key veterans inside and outside the franchise. The cap can be manipulated but only so much. If Smith needs too much of it to be back, a decision has to be made.

We expect Schneider has decided on a tipping point already. Maybe he came to his conclusion about the time Jacobs decided to tug on Superman’s cape. After all, one tipping point can lead to another.

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WSU: We watched quite a bit of the Cougars’ hard-fought 60-59 home victory over Stanford. Read Colton Clark’s story about it this morning. And we still don’t know how it was as close as it was. The Cougars were the better team. Their decision-making on the offensive end, however, leaves something to be desired. See, we answered our own question. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, it took overtime but host Washington finally got past lowly California. … Arizona State is on a roll. It fell behind at Oregon State by double digits but rallied for a 74-69 victory in Corvallis. … Oregon is hard to figure out. So is Arizona. Maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise then when the Ducks upset the Wildcats 87-68 in Eugene. Again. … We watched the close part of UCLA’s 68-54 win over Colorado. But missed the part where the Bruins ran away. … USC made it a lost weekend for Utah with a 71-56 win at the Galen Center. The Utes have stumbled a lot recently. … In football news, it was big week in the conference, something Jon Wilner touches upon in the Mercury News. … Does Utah have a quarterback problem?

Gonzaga: We also took in some the Zags’ 115-75 victory over outmatched Portland. Talk about a game lacking in defensive intensity from the visitors, this was it. At times the Pilots looked as if they had no clue what their teammates were going to do on that end. Except to anticipate they were going to take the ball out of the net after another GU bucket. Jim Meehan had the duty of covering the wipeout with the game story while Theo Lawson had the difference makers and a story on a Malachi Smith’s hot night. … Tyler Tjomsland put together the photo gallery. … The folks in the office did the same with a recap feature highlights. … The women’s game in Portland was much tighter until the Bulldogs pulled away down the stretch. Jim Allen has the story of GU’s 73-66 victory, lifting the Zags alone into first place. … Elsewhere in the WCC, read the conference’s scores from last night. Which one is the outlier? Yep, Saint Mary’s 78-61 win at USF. The Gaels play a different game than the rest of the conference. … Loyola Marymount just missed triple digits in a home win over San Diego. … Santa Clara and BYU also got into the 90s in wins over Pacific and Pepperdine, respectively.  

EWU and Idaho: The two local Big Sky schools played a doubleheader in Cheney, with the Eagles winning both games. The men’s victory kept Eastern alone in first place while the women’s ended a losing streak to their Palouse rivals. Dan Thompson has both stories. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana blasted Idaho State. … Montana State kept pace with a win over visiting Weber State.  … Northern Colorado rallied to edge host Portland State. … Sacramento State held off Northern Arizona.

Whitworth: The host Pirates held off George Fox 78-74 in a Northwest League contest.

Preps: Dave Nichols has a roundup of Saturday’s action. … The Chicago Cubs surprised North Central High grad Ryne Sandberg with the news they will erect a statue of the Hall of Famer outside Wrigley Field.

Chiefs: Spokane’s winning “streak” was snapped at one, as Kamloops handled the visiting Chiefs 5-2 last night.

Seahawks: Dave Boling’s column focuses pretty much on the same subject ours did. As dad used to say (often): Great minds think alike – and so do we. The offseason should be interesting. … There are always grades. … Bruce Irvin isn’t done yet, even after a tough loss. … DK Metcalf had a solid game. … The 49ers enjoyed crushing their division rivals. Now let’s see how far they go.

Kraken: No one in the history of the NHL had won all seven games on a road trip of that length. Until Seattle accomplished the feat, culminating in a win at Chicago. The Kraken have won eight consecutive games. … The veteran of the squad celebrated as well.

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• Three more NFL games today. None of which really hold a lot of interest. We’ll watch some but once the team that is our main focus is out, we lose a lot of interest. We blame the fact we don’t gamble. Until later …