Seahawk Addicts
I disagree that arizona has an easy start to the season. they have 5 road games in the first 8, they are aweful on the road and could easily lose to teams like the jets and redskins.
I am so excited for Thanksgiving Day! For all the years of being a Seahawks fan, I dreamed of the day of eating until I can't eat anymore and watching the Hawks play. This will be a great game.
Mike,
Can you please send me the location for the countdown you use? I want to have a countdown until the first day of training camp on my desktop.
I think the top three are pretty fluid. We have a lot to prove ourselves, but I think we are better than the Giants.
The cowboys have very high expectations and no real reason to think they are any better than last year. Some real reasons to think they are worse. They could be the most disappointing team this year.
The Cowboys should be the best team in the NFC, but with Wade and Jerry in control I'm actually not too worried about them.
If Holmgren were the Cowboys coach and Phillips was ours, this would be a no-brainer that the Cowboys would waste us in the play-offs (and on Thanksgiving).
I think you might be putting too much stock in the coaching switch in Washington because that was a solid team last year even with the injury problems at QB and I don't see them falling that far off this season.
With all of us in here being so biased towards the Seahawks, I wondered what others were thinking when it came to ranking the NFC so I went out and searched on power rankings and reviewed the major sites.
I didn't take any real notes except to look at who were the top ranked NFC teams.
I found that the Cowboys, Giants, and Seahawks were the top three NFC teams in every power ranking. Either the Giants or Cowboys were the top NFC team in every one with the other being number two (not including SA of course). The Seahawks were the number three NFC team in every power ranking I looked at outside of SA. Michael, you're a homer. 
No duh!
Over at ESPN, although the over all rankings with all eight of their analysts voting was Dallas 1st, the Giants 2nd, and the Seahawks 3rd, Clayton had Dallas 1st, The Seahawks 2nd, and The Giants 3rd while Sando had the Giants 1st, Dallas 2nd, and The Seahawks 3rd (traitor) .
It's pretty obvious that the only analysts that put the Seahawks ahead of the Giants or Cowboys are homers like us and as Sando showed, not all the homers give the Seahawks better than 3rd either.
I guess at this point, to be completely honest, I go with the Cowboys 1st, The Giants 2nd and The Seahawks 3rd because Dallas arguably has the best talent all around in the NFC, The Giants are the current champs, and we haven't proved squat yet.
Until we see our new and improved running game in action and our new TE out there making Holmgren's WCO fire on all cylinders and these young WR's of ours making plays against real opposition while our pass rush is sustained throughout the rotation and the middle of the DL is a virtual wall that the opposition can't run through, and lastly, we can pickup a third and one or make a first down in the last two minutes of play on the ground, I'm saying we're only the 3rd best team in the NFC at best.
The Seahawks need to be a talented team more than on paper which is the only place you can put them at this point. We need to suit up and prove on the field of play that we're more than a paper tiger which I fully believe we'll do. Until then though, I can't rank them above the team who tore up the NFC last season and the one that won the Super Bowl against the team that was being touted as the best team in decades to grace the NFL.
Putting them second at this point is the homer thing to do though and dangit Michael, you're the number one homer in this blog.
I think your assessment is good. I would put the Skins in the top 10 ahead of the Panthers. I'm really high on the Vikes, I love how they have put that team together, both lines are outstanding. They can run and stop the run, added an elite pass rusher and a playmaker at WR. It may be a passing league, but a power running team won the SB last year. If Jackson can be average lookout, they will be a powerhouse. I hope they have to go to Booty. Last year I didn't want to see the Vikes in the 1st round and I think they've improved enough to be an elite team. Eagles and Saints could be strong this year also. Top to bottom I think the NFC is making headway on the AFC. Home field advantage will be essential in making a SB run this year for the Hawks.
I believe the subtraction of Favre to retirement is plenty of cause to drop Green Bay below at least both the Saints and Eagles. Without Favre in the NFC, both the Eagles and Saints have top-5 QBs. Both have improved defensively, while Green Bay lost a key defensive tackle. Also, the Packers' defense stands to be on the field a lot more this year with out Favre to sustain drives.
Good analysis Michael... I agree with billt, the only reason the hawks are not on top is because their running game is unproven. Where I differ, is on the #6 ranking. I believe with the additions of Jonathan Stewart and Jeff Otah the Panthers should be raked above the Saints, Bucs, and Eagles. Keep up the great work.
BillT....
I like where you are going, but you left out one key thing. Anybody who is coming from a national media perspective is almost always biased towards NY and Dal because of the ratings/history/etc.
So essentially, their ratings are homered towards NFC East teams. Just evening the score baby
Oh yeah, and getting right along the way
That, and if you look at my rankings, they are heavily tied to QB play. So my reasoning on the Hawks is that a good QB goes a long way, and until ELI does it in any month other than January, I won't believe in the Giants.
MISFIT-- I orginally had the Saints above GB and maybe the Eagles too. Because of the QB thing. In the end I just felt like GB didn't deserve to be so low. However, it would not surprise me at all if they have a tough go of it this year.
michael, i think you're being too nice and not seahawks elitest enough.
The cowgirls will fall apart again--this time during the regular season. Hawks #1 all the way.
Hmmm... Cowpokes, Gints, and then the Seahawks, that's how the national press is picking it.? Michael, we all all know they are under-rating our Hawks, but that's ok. Let's "fly under the radar" and win this thing.
The Giants have holes in their D and they got away without having them exposed, much as the Stealers did a couple of years ago. Manning will never repeat his playoff performance of last year.
The Cowboys are a team full of head cases. Can T.O. keep his big head in the game after 13 seasons? Can Romo keep himself from staring in the mirror instead of practicing? And how about PacMan Gangbanger Jones? What kind of team player will he be? Can Wade Phillips keep all those idiots in check? My money says "no". You can also bet that Ruskell would put this locker room full of idiots around. I say they fold down the stretch and start pointing fingers and placing blame.
The Seahawks will be a unified team this year. We may have a few holes, but even at those questionable positions (TE, OG, RB) we will have good competition among high-character players. I think the Seahawks are going to sneak up on people and strong team play, character, and Hass are going to surprise some people when the Seahawks take the NFC Championship home to Seattle.
I feel better about the Hawks this year than I did last. I think the personnel changes were good. We resigned key guys, signed free agents that can really make a difference and drafted a couple guys who may not be all-pros, but should be able to contribute. The talent in Dallas is scary, but they have enough knuckle-heads on the roster that I could see distractions hindering their success. I like our chances this year and wouldn't trade this team for any other team in the conference.
TJ
Michael,
I only call you a homer in the most affectionate way. I can dig that you're evening up the scales with those East Coast biased idiots. You haven't heard my East Coast biased writers rant yet but I'm sure I'll pull it out of my a.... hat again this year before it's all over.
I'm all for flying under the radar again this year at least to start with and giving the Cowboys and Giants their due for what they acheived last season which was further than we got seems only fair (and devious since it will cause them to primp and lose sight of the carrot while we stay humble and steadfastly locked on the true prize).
The East Coast sports writers will help the Cowboys and Giants feel good about themselves and keep reinforcing the mantra that they are the chosen ones. Indeed they are the chosen ones however only the fans that those East Coast writers have ignored, overlooked, despised, and ridiculed, yes those fans tucked up in the Northwest corner of our land know what the Cowboys and Giants have been chosen for....... TO BECOME THE (female dogs)OF THE MIGHTY SEAHAWKS WHEN PLAYOFF TIME COMES TO THE LAND!!!!!
I'm gettin' in one of those East Coast writers snits again after reading too many power rankings.
I don't respect the Packers even though they beat us because I feel they needed divine intrevention to accomplish it. We were well on our way towards a good old fashioned butt kicking when the heavens opened up and deposited some serious anti-speed material on the playing field to keep our fast speedy defense from finishing what they had started and allowing the evil Packers to prevail. 
The only other thing I have to disagree on with you Michael is ranking the Minesota Vikings 4th. They are another team at the very least who haven't proved squat so far and only have improved on paper. Until they can prove they have a QB worth a few wins on the field of combat, they don't deserve to be considered at so lofty a position. You said that you look at QB play and rank the Seahawks so highly because of our talent at the position. Where's the beef as far as the Vikings QB situation goes and what leads you to suspect that the Vikings will be able to prevail without a serious upgrade at the position?
You also have to remember that I cursed Hutchinson when he left Seattle with a curse that has already kept them from the playoffs for two years now and is still in full force. I said that he would never see the playoffs for the rest of his career for the dirty deed he pulled on the Seahawks and so far he hasn't. If he doesn't, neither do the Vikings and therefore they shouldn't be ranked at number 4. How's that for a logical argument?
I agree completely about Tavaris Jackson. He needs to prove it more than almost anybody. Still though, you could legitimately argue the Vikings to have the best defense and the best running game in the conference. Plus, the division they play in is very very shaky. Also, they were on the verge of the playoffs last year which often bodes well for the next year.
Notable too, is that in the informal poll recently run, readers were most concerned with the Cowboys and Vikings in the NFC, so I think they are deserving of some respect right now.
If TJACK throws 3 picks in week 1, they could slide big time. Much like if Julius Jones rushes for 120 and 2 tds the Hawks may be on top.
As we all know, a lot will change when they start to play the games. In the meantime, this kind of stuff creates good discussion. I have a hard time disagreeing with any of the comments, because all of them have logic behind the beliefs.
One thing everyone can agree on is that the offseason is way to freakin' long for a Seahawk Addict!
Romo is a choke artist and until he figures that out the Cowboys will continue to fold in big games, including the playoffs.
NYs defense is, like ours, predicated on QB pressure. I have always wondered if they had to pay in the snow instead of us, would the outcome have been the same?
Regardless, we all know that this team has to get it done in the regular season and not lose games that we should win (ie Arizona away last year). If we have home field for the playoffs its over.
>You also have to remember that I cursed Hutchinson when he left Seattle with a curse that has already kept them from the playoffs for two years now and is still in full force.<
BillT, you rawk.
I'll meet you at the new practice facility in August. You bring the powerful mojo, I'll bring some holy water, and we will BREAK the stranglehold of 24 years without a road playoff win.
This is our year. Plus, we have BillT's mojo, which every other team in the NFL probably wants...
-S
By the way,
I gave Josh Brown the same curse this year so don't expect the Rams to be going anywhere soon.
Matt's red beetle and other photos
check out the blender pic, good thing he decided to finally shave his head
SteveO: It is virtually impossible to win as many divisional titles as we have and then "sneak up" on people, if we were 5-11 last year, MAYBE. The real football folks do not believe this hype (at least not if they like their jobs)
The coaches speech will go something like, we have Seattle at home today, now this is a perenial contender, who is a tough tough team. The only break we get is we are playing them at our house, but make no mistake, you guys slack off, and this team will kick our a** right up around our scalpline..
And if we get some decent line play on the road that is exactly what will happen!
Well, Morgan retired, which isnt going to make life easier for New Orleans..
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