By Brandon Simmons
Seeded in Seattle
The Seattle Seahawks grabbed the number one seed in the NFC today after beating the Carolina Panthers and having the San Francisco 49ers lose to the Atlanta Falcons. For most of the season, the Seahawks have been trailing behind the 49ers in the NFC West, who started the season 8-0 before losing to Seattle. Despite the loss, they remained a game ahead of the Seahawks, but losses to the Baltimore Ravens and the Falcons, placed San Francisco in the 5th seed while Seattle shot to the top of the conference and obviously the NFC West lead.
The Seahawks have played like a first-round bye team all season; their only issue is they have been sitting behind the Niners, who have burst onto the scene this year. Despite the surge of San Francisco, the Seahawks have maintained a strong hold on the NFC. Seattle QB Russell Wilson is playing some of the best football in his career (3,708 yards, 28 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. When you follow that up with a sound running game and defense, the Seahawks are certainly put in that convo as a top NFC team a well as a strong contender to win the title. They even beat San Francisco in their stadium on Monday Night Football, which throws them the tiebreaker to sit at the 1 spot right now.
The road to the NFC title might go through Seattle right now but that does not mean they won’t have any unruly out-of-towners. The New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers both own those 2 and 3 seeds, respectively, in the conference, and are having tremendous seasons as well. Both of their offenses are explosive enough to give the Seahawks defense some real fits. The Saints defense is an underrated unit that can probably get after Wilson way better than people can imagine. It’s also hard to count the 49ers out, who beat both New Orleans and Green Bay, and still have a game left against Seattle in Week 17. But for right now, Seattle is the landing spot, for anyone in the NFC trying to book a trip to the Super Bowl.
Cowboys and Eagles Racing to the Bottom
The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles are tied for first place in the NFC East and it’s only because someone must win the division. Both teams are 7-7 heading into their Week 16 matchup but it’s a wonder either one of them got that high. The Cowboys are coming into this weekend 1-3 in their last 4 games, including a huge loss to the Chicago Bears. The Eagles have been 2-2 in that same stretch but the disappointment around their play should discount them down to 1-3 or no wins at all These include games where they lost to the Miami Dolphins, then struggled to beat the New York Giants and Washington Redskins.
If either of these teams win this weekend, it will not be an enjoyable playoff experience. The winner will be the only NFC playoff contender with single digit wins but still hold the opportunity to host a playoff game. In any other year, this would probably not be as big a deal to worry about; but this year, the 11-3 49ers, who was just a couple of plays away from being the NFC’s number one seed, are sitting at the 5th seed with one of the more complete teams this season. The Cowboys and Eagles have had rough seasons, so a victory this weekend for either side will probably be the highlight of that franchise’s year.
Josh Gordon has to Help Himself
One of the bigger news items post-Sunday was Seahawks wide receiver Josh Gordon failing drug tests for PED’s and substance abuse and receiving an indefinite suspension because of it. Ironically, he received this news a few days before the anniversary in which he caught the same punishment for the same offense. Gordon has had multiple chances to get back in the league to get it right, but always reverted back to his troubled ways. Since being taken in the 2nd round of the 2012 NFL Supplemental Draft, Gordon has been suspended in some form of or fashion each year, including a 1 year suspension in 2016. You would think that he would learn his lesson by now, but it appears nothing has really deterred him from his demons.
Unfortunately, the only person to really help Josh Gordon is Josh Gordon. It probably sounds cheesy to give a “look yourself in the mirror” but is it no useless than a “seek some professional help” talk. This man has been given chance after chance since college, where he had had issues then. People try to be sensitive with drug addiction these days because of the new information we discover about it, but the reality is, it still falls on the accountability of the person. Gordon has to want to stop smoking weed or doing whatever drug that is getting him in trouble with the league. Even if he does not continue with his career in the NFL, he might have to go to a job that requires drug testing and what will he do then? That’s when you realize the issue is bigger than football; it’s all about survival and can you dig deep down inside to do that. Hopefully, Gordon can get the encouragement from himself, to get the help that he needs.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees for becoming the all-time leader in touchdown passes with 540, passing Peyton Manning. Brees set the record Monday night with a touchdown pass to tight end Josh Hill. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is slowly creeping up behind him with 538.
Shutout to Tennessee Titans rookie D’andre Walker, who got one of the classic rookie pranks placed on him. Walker went out to dinner with teammates at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse in Nashville and got stuck with $10,000. Some of the charges were outrageous on their own. According to SB Nation, there was an order for 40 ounces of Takamori wagyu steak, which is considered one of the more expensive cuts meet worldwide. Tough break for Walker, but there’s always a rookie next year he can pull this on.
It’s the weekend before Christmas so feel free to get all of your shopping and gift wrapping scheduled around some of these games. The Eagles and Cowboys will finally have anticipated matchup this Sunday. Philly will be hosting Dallas for a shot to win the NFC East. However, if Dallas wins, they will be crowned division champs and leave Philadelphia’s wings broken for the playoffs. Monday, the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings will face each other to fight for the NFC North crown. Even if Green Bay loses, they will still own the tiebreaker over Minnesota for the division, but they would also have to win the following week. The Vikes are sitting comfortably in the 6th seed right now and a win, coupled with a Rams loss, should get them into the postseason this weekend. But until then…I’ll holla.