I Push My Fingers Into My Eyes

NFL Week 13 Live Blog

Eagles.  Seahawks.  Thursday Night Football.  Mediocrity at its finest.  Join us, why don't you?

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Why The Seattle Seahawks Will Beat The Philadelphia Eagles....And Why The Philadelphia Eagles Will Beat The Seattle Seahawks

As incredible as it may seem, tomorrow night will be the first time since I started blogging* that my Philadelphia Eagles will play my internet friend Mookie's Seattle Seahawks.  Earlier this week, Mookie reached out to me via email to ask if I wanted to join him in doing a series of posts, with me saying some words on why the Seahawks will beat the Eagles, and him writing a few words on why the Eagles will beat the Seahawks.  The results of that are as follows.

*I started blogging after what is still the latest tie in the NFL.  The Eagles last played the Seahawks a few weeks prior to that infamous game.  I have no visual recollection of that Eagles win at Seattle in 2008.  No amount of hard alcohol has been able to wash away the memories of the two Seahawks-Eagles games prior to that one.


Why the Seahawks will beat the Eagles, by Justin F.

The Eagles Defensive Coordinator is their old offensive line coach:  The Eagles Defensive coordinator is their offensive line coach.  It as worked out about as well as most imagined.  It's imbarrassing.  As much as I (and the Eagles players themselves) did not like Sean McDermott, the Eagles defense put up a respectable -11.0% DVOA last season.  This season, the Eagles defensive DVOA (DVOA explained) is a sub-par 2.8% (in case you do not know or have not yet figured out, in terms of defense, a negative DVOA is better than a positive DVOA).  That's right.  The Eagles defense has actually regressed from last season.

NFL Week 13 Schedule

Mookie and I have a surprise for you that should be up Wednesday night or Thursday morning, but until then, have fun and enjoy the Week 13 schedule.

Thursday Night Football

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Seattle Seahawks  8:20 (NFL Network - Brad Nessler  and Mike Mayock, SR: Alex Flanagan)

Map of who gets what Sunday afternoon games

CBS games

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers  1:00 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Phil Simms)
Oakland Raiders vs. Miami Dolphins  1:00 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf)
New York Jets vs. Washington Redskins  1:00 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts)
Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots  1:00 (CBS - Marv Albert and Rich Gannon)
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Chicago Bears  1:00 (CBS - Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots)
Tennessee Titans vs. Buffalo Bills  1:00 (CBS - Spero Dedes and Steve Beuerlein)

Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns  4:05 (CBS - Bill Macatee and Steve Tasker)

Fox early games

Atlanta Falcons vs. Houston Texans  1:00 (Fox - Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston, SA: Tony Siragusa)
Denver Broncos vs. Minnesota Vikings  1:00 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick, SR: Laura Okmin)
Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers  1:00 (Fox - Ron Pitts  and Jim Mora, Jr.)

America's Game Of The Week and Fox late games

Green Bay Packers vs. New York Giants  4:15 (Fox - Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, SR: Pam Oliver)
Dallas Cowboys vs. Arizona Cardinals  4:15 (Fox - Dick Stockton and John Lynch)
St. Louis Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers  4:15 (Fox - Chris Myers and Tim Ryan)

Sunday Night Football

Detroit Lions vs. New Orleans Saints  8:20 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, SR: Michele Tafoya)

Monday Night Football

San Diego Chargers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars  8:30 (ESPN - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden, SR: Suzy Kolber)

The Return Of Football Live Blog

Ravens vs. Eagles. Seahawks vs. Chargers. Other games.

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2011 NFL Playoffs Divisional Sunday Live Blog

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2011 NFL Playoffs Wild Card Saturday Live Blog

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NFC West: As Awful As Advertised

Here are some random facts and figures delineating how bad the NFC West is.

Of the 28 NFL teams outside the NFC West, 20 of them would be in 1st place if they played in the NFC West.

Net point differential (i.e. points scored - points against)
Rams: -18.
Seahawks: -66
49ers: -38
Cardinals: -125

The Arizona Cardinals are -125 in net points, and yet they are only 2 games out of 1st! The Carolina Panthers are -136 in net points, a league-wide laughing stock, and are all intents and purposes, are dead and buried for the year. Not to mention disgraced. Yet the Cardinals are 2 games out of 1st place.

No team has a winning record on the road. Hell, the best team in this department is the Rams and their road record is 2-4. That's only 33%. The Rams are alone in 1st in this department in the NFC West.

The Rams and Seahawks are tied for 1st place in the NFC West. They are each 5-6.

The teams each team in the NFC West has defeated and lost to this season.

St. Louis Rams
Wins: Redskins (5-6), Seahawks (5-6), Chargers (6-5), Panthers (1-10), Broncos (3-8)
Losses: Cardinals (3-8), Raiders (5-6), Lions (2-9), Buccaneers (7-4), 49ers (4-7), Falcons (9-2)
Teams beaten currently with a winning record: 1

Seattle Seahawks
Wins: 49ers (4-7), Chargers (6-5), Bears (8-3), Cardinals (3-8), Cardinals (3-8)
Losses: Broncos (3-8), Rams (5-6), Raiders (5-6), Giants (7-4), Saints (8-3), Chiefs (7-4)
Teams beaten currently with a winning record: 2

San Francisco 49ers
Wins: Raiders (5-6), Broncos (3-8), Rams (5-6), Cardinals (3-8)
Losses: Seahawks (5-6), Saints (8-3), Chiefs (7-4), Falcons (9-2), Eagles (7-4), Panthers (1-10), Buccaneers (7-4)
Teams beaten currently with a winning record: 0

Arizona Cardinals
Wins: Rams (5-6), Raiders (5-6), Saints (8-3)
Losses: Falcons (9-2), Chargers (6-5), Seahawks (5-6), Buccaneers (7-4), Vikings (4-7), Seahawks (5-6), Chiefs (7-4), 49ers (4-7).
Teams beaten currently with a winning record: 1

For comparison's sake, the Eagles have beaten 4 teams currently with a winning record (Jaguars, Falcons, Colts, Giants). In short, number of teams the Eagles have beaten with a winning record = the number of teams the entire NFC West has beaten with a winning record. Kind of pathetic on the part of the NFC West, eh? In order to make things fair, if the eventual NFC West "champion" loses by less than 30 in the wildcard round, it should really count as a win for said team.

I'd write more things about this terrible division, but alas, my stomach is really cramping. Excuse me while I go to the bathroom and drop an NFC West.

Bill Leavy returns to Seattle, no one slashes his tires

With all of the controversy swirling the last few months in pro sports because of poor officiating (NBA referees, Jim Joyce, Bob Davidson), controversies of the past tend to get swept under the rug, except, of course, in the cities that feel they were victimized by the stripes(Richie Garcia I’m looking at you). One of those controversies was revived Friday in Seattle, 1,644 days after Super Bowl 40, because NFL referee Bill Leavy made a (not so) triumphant return to Seahawks training camp!

And what did Leavy say about the game that night in Detroit?

"It was a tough thing for me. I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game, and as an official you never want to do that," said the veteran of 15 NFL seasons and two Super Bowls.

"It left me with a lot of sleepless nights, and I think about it constantly," Leavy said of the game in February 2006. "I'll go to my grave wishing that I'd been better."

Look, if you’ve followed my comments on this blog, you know that I’m no fan of the Steelers. But even John Madden had to concede that the holding call on Sean Locklear was terrible. "I didn't see holding," Madden said after seeing the replay. "There may have been holding, but it wasn't in that picture." And I’m still trying to figure out how a chop block can be called on a QB after he throws an interception. Just 2 of several mystery calls that helped the Steelers win their 5^th Super Bowl.

Still, this is a good reminder the officials are human, and that Leavy acutely felt the pain of having made bad calls for months after that night. I’m just not expecting diehard Seahawks fans to be sending him cookies and holiday cards anytime soon.

Mookie Will Be So Happy!!! (UPDATE: I Hope He Is A Pete Carroll Fan!)

Jay Glazer has tweeted the news that Mookie has long waited for.

While those things that Jay Glazer mentions are true and may have inhibited his abilities as a play-caller, on multiple occasions Jim Mora, Jr. failed to lead his team when they needed a leader and he constantly threw his players under the bus yet always absolved himself of any blame whatsoever, something this is completely opposite to what Philly fans have endured ever since Andy Reid was hired by the Eagles.

My thoughts on this is that it is a good move for Seattle to get rid of someone whose system was not bought into by the team, perhaps in large part to the fact that he always blamed his players and never himself. You are never going to win over a locker room that way and while I think that some team will give Mora, Jr. one more chance as a head because of the injuries and Front Office turmoil he had during his one and only year in Seattle, unless he changes his leadership qualities, I see that playing out the exact same way it did for him in Seattle, injuries or not.

Update: It appears as if Mora's replacement might be none other than Pete Carroll! From Mort's Twitter account, "Pete Carroll is the guy Seahawks are targeting. It is expected to happen, according to sources. Just reported to ESPN 10 minutes ago."

Mora fired. Carroll likely the replacement and if ever there was a college coach whose past unsuccessful gigs in the pro league were mired by circumstance, it was Carroll. In his first job as a Jets coach, he had the team poised for a playoff run, but then Dan Marino did his Dan Marino thing, the Jets went on to lose the rest of their games, and Carroll was fired after that first year. His second coaching gig was the Patriots head coach, only he came after Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, and while he did not do a completely awful job, he was no Parcells, and was thus fired after a few years and some playoff losses. Belichick's tenure has since made Carroll's stint in New England look like a Rich Kotite job, compared to Carroll's predecessor and his successor.

The main criticism of Mora was that he was not enough of a leader. If there is one thing about Carroll, he certainly brings a lot of RAH-RAH leadership to the team. We'll see if the report is right (and granted, how many teams had been reported to be close to a deal with Pete Carroll the past few years?), and if it is, well, there is certainly going to be a lot of change going on in Seattle. Will it be good change or will the team grow even worse? Only time will tell.

My Eyes!!! They Burn!!!

(Disclaimer: JFein is not responsible for any damage the following image may do to your computer screen)

2009 NFL Preview: Seattle Seahawks

By JFein:

Ah, Seattle. Home to great coffee, great music, and great people such as this guy. Okay, maybe that guy not so much, but you get my point. Anyway, coming off of an injury plagued season where everything possible went wrong, the Seahawks made several big off-season acquisitions and are poised to make a run and re-claim the title of NFC West championsh.

"PLAYOFFS?!?", Jr. Jim Mora, Jr. is the new coach of the Seattle Seahawks and I would certainly consider that a good thing. The downfall of Atlanta under his watch came because the team relied so heavily on Mike Vick talent wise that when he went to prison, the team did not have a leg stand on. Vince Lombardi would not have been able to make the playoffs with that team. I thought that he did well with what he had to work with and now he has a lot to work with in Seattle so all should be right in the world with Mora, Jr. as the coach of that team.

Wide Receivers: A constant problem of the Seahawks is that they don't have the WRs. Well this year they did something about it by signing T.J. Houshmandzadeh. And even though he was 2nd fiddle to Chad Ochocinco in Cincinnati, do not estimate the effect that a good possession receiver can have on a team. Combine that with Nate Burleson and Deion Branch, and you have a pretty fearsome trio of wideouts that could give a lot of teams some fits, especially in the NFC West where defense in the secondary is nnot exactly a strong suit.

Running Backs: Over the off-season, the Seahawks made a surprising move by signing Edgerrin James. I think that this is actually a good move despite the fact that James' career all but seemingly died in Arizona because he did not have the offensive line to support him. I mean look at it. No Cardinal runnign back was able to get any consistent offense on that team, not just James. While he is getting older, I would not be surprised if James has one more strong year, especially considering he has a superior offensive line in Seattle and a superior starting running back in Julius Jones as compared to Arizona.

The Seahawks cut Brian Russell: And Mookie is giddy! "HOLY CRAP!!!!! I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!! I’d never thought he would leave. His performances on the field are so bad and Ruskell wouldn’t pull the trigger. Until today. I wish Russell the best by tackling his teammates and using his grit and sheer determination to almost make a play elsewhere. This team just improved tenfold. [...] Lawyer Milloy signed with the Seahawks earlier today. This day totally rocks. I can’t contain my excitement!!!" And now Russell is a Jaguar. At least my pick for the Jaguars to end up in last place in the AFC South won't be changing anytime soon....

Video: Best. Seahawks win. Ever



And now for a video of the play taken live at the stadium with someone looking like the Burger King coming onto the field at the end.



Prediction: 10-6, 1st place NFC West. While I have gone back and forth on this and I think it will come down to the last week, the Cardinals lost too many people both on the field and in the coaching staff to win the division, let alone be dominant in it. The Seahawks are the best team in the NFC West and they might just be a darkhorse to do some serious post-season damage.

Houshmandzadeh Signed With The Birds!

Yes, he did sign with the Birds. No, it those birds are not the Eagles, however, he signed with the Seattle Seahawks. Via a very giddy SSR.

Just a day after I was pretty much flying through the roof over the signing of Colin Cole, the Seattle Seahawks just made a signing that made me happy! Just hours ago TJ Houshmandzadeh agreed to a 5 year, $40 million deal ($15 million guaranteed) with the Seahawks, making him the biggest offensive signing of free agency so far.

And just because this blog has been deprived of happy fandom this football off-season, I present to you more from the same post of SSR that I linked to above!

YES!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!! I’ve been waiting for Ruskell to get off his chair and make a significant signing to improve their biggest need. Now with that said, this pretty much implies Bobby Engram is a goner and the chances of drafting Michael Crabtree took a nosedive, but this is a step in the right direction for rebuilding the offense.

For once, Seattle will finally have a receiver who isn’t 6 feet or shorter to throw to. Matt Hasselbeck and Seneca Wallace will have a fighting chance on fade passes into the end zone.

Next up is to rebuild the disastrous and aging offensive line.

Now if you’ll excuse me, YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting back to the Eagles, though, after all of the campaigning I have done for the Eagles to sign Houshamanilly, I'm not upset at all, especially if the rumor that I reported a few days ago (sorry, it's 11:34 at night and I don't feel like searching for the link). Anyway, in a nutshell, Housh's agent lied to the Eagles, saying that he would go to them for less $ but the Eagles did research and it turned out Housh (and/or his agent) was actually wanted more money from the Eagles than other teams. If that rumor is true, then I don't blame the Eagles for not signing him.

Now if we can only TRADE FOR ANQUAN BOLDIN! and DRAFT BEANIE WELLS! Hell, this off-season has been so depressing, I'd even take a trade for Torry Holt or a Marvin Harrison signing has a free agency win, but come on Eagles, everyone is projecting it, DRAFT BEANIE WELLS!