7-9 Seattle's playoff victory is a good thing

The Counselor is IN:

The reigning Super Bowl Champ New Orleans Saints fell to the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks in today's playoff match.  All week I continued to hear about the disgrace of the Seahawks making the playoffs.  This so called disgraceful team just took down the defending champs.  I believe this is actually a good thing.

Before you question my sanity, let me give you the reason I believe this is a positive for the NFL.

One of the great strengths of the NFL is the equality in the league.  There really is not that much difference between a 7-9 team and a 10-6. This allows teams to make the playoffs that missed out last year.  It is the reason for the Mantra of Any Given Sunday (or Saturday). Unlike in other professional sports, any team making the playoffs can win the Super Bowl.  Most of the fans grow tired of the same teams playing deep in the playoffs (like the Patriots and Steelers). This victory does give hope to all the fans.

The Counselor is OUT:

Things I Have Learned... from 2008 playoffs week 2.

Things I Have Learned... from 2008 playoffs week 2.

Here are my thoughts from all 4 playoff games.

The Counselor is IN:

1) Green Bay has great composure. They did not fall apart when they fell behind 14 to nothing. Favre historically has pressed in situations like this. You expect a young team to panic when you are down early.

2) Seattle could not put away the Packers when they got the early lead. The Seahawks are still a really good team. The snow and cold appeared to be affecting them much more than it was the Packers.

3) The Packers have a very effective running game. This is a change from earlier in the season. Ryan Grant ran for 201 yards with an average 7.4 yards per carry and 3 touchdowns. A two dimensional Packer team is very scary.

4) 2nd Year WR Greg Jennings is becoming a stud. He appears to have taken over as the go to guy for Favre.

5) QB David Garrard reminds me of Brett Favre and Tony Romo. He knows how to move away from defenders and senses their presence. He makes moves to buy time for his receivers to get open.

6) The Patriots Offensive linemen are studs. After giving up an early sac they did not give up another one all game. They did this against a really good Defensive line that continued to sac and harass Big Ben the week before. The line also opened some huge holes for Maroney.

7) QB Tom Brady proved to me why he was the MVP of the NFL. He was 26 catches for 28 passes with 262 yards and 3 touchdowns.

8) New England has a running game. Most of the year they have not ran the ball. Saturday night they were able to develop their run game spectacularly with 22 carries for 122 yards and a rushing touchdown.

9) QB Philip Rivers is coming into his own. He is finding his WRs since Gates is slowed down with injury. Chambers and Jackson are good WRs that stepped up their play for this game. He had three touchdowns in this game.

10) QB Peyton Manning is amazing at adjusting the play at the line. He can read the defense and change the play for protection and routes.

11) Good backups win the game. With L.T. and Rivers out, Volek and Turner were able to fill in and lead this team to a victory.

12) Charger's defense is very opportunistic. They took away 14 points from with goal line interceptions.

13) WR Anthony Gonzalez has developed into a nice Wide Receiver for the Colts during the season. He received more playing time during the season than expected when Harrison was out with injury. They have a great receiving corps with Harrison, Wayne, and Gonzalez.

14) RB Marion Barber III is coming into his own. He started for the first time and he ran people over.

15) QB Eli Manning is starting to come out of his brother's shadow. The drive with 48 seconds left in the half was executed beautifully.

16) LB DeMarcus Ware is a monster. I already knew this but it is just reinforced with every Cowboy game I watch.

17) RB Bradshaw is a lighting fast player for the Giants. He is not a replacement for Tiki but he does make it easier for the Giants to deal for the loss of Tiki and his explosiveness.

18) The Cowboys forgot to run the ball at the second half. The run was working greatly in the first half but then forsaken it in the second half.

19) The Giants defense stepped up with injuries and pressured Romo. He was hardly touched in the first half but spent much of the second half on his back.

Congratulations to the Giants, Packers, Patriots, and Chargers. I will be spending the rest of the month in mourning for my Cowboys.

Those are a few things I learned from 2008 playoffs week 2.

The Counselor is OUT: