And of course that doesn't even speak to the fact that over half of their current win streak happened with a healthy RG III. I dig Griffin and because of him I like this edition of the Redskins more than any other, but he doesn't look like he's in any physical shape to deal with this Seahawk defense.

I do fear Alfred Morris, he might very well gash us, but a big running game alone only goes so far against this team.

Case in point from the most extreme example obviously:

AP tore us to shreds. This was still a pretty comfortable win.

Have we played a lot of teams with a really good defense? I think those numbers are just a result of an easy schedule and not so much that we can't beat teams with a good defense.

Well of course you CAN, but I think an objective analysis of this game (which admittedly I'm not really offering) certainly projects an expectation of a Seattle win more often than not here.

Seattle's a completely different team on the road than they are at home. Also I can't say I'm not worried about RG3's health. But likewise, you have to be worried that we were able to beat Dallas with RG3 only throwing 100 yards. That shows that we're a lot more of a complete team than people give us credit for.

By the way IRM, as much as you want to see SF-Seattle in the NFC Title game (and it's obviously possible), I'm certainly rooting for the opportunity to see it in the second round. I want Minnesota to pull another upset on Saturday night. If they can win in GB, they can win in Atlanta. I have to hold out some faint hope of an NFC Title game actually being held in Seattle.

"Able to beat Dallas" isn't a brag. There's a reason I was rooting like hell for Dallas to luckbox their way into a win last night so they could be our opponent, and it was far more about disrespect for them than it was about fear of Washington. The Cowboys were a pretty subpar team this year, and eking out a stressful win against them isn't the greatest proving point. It's a fine win, sure, any win in that environment is a good one, but it's not the type to strike fear into the hearts of fans elsewhere.

Seattle is different on the road than at home, sure. Point is that AP shredded us that hard even in our house and it still wasn't really close to being enough. While I expect Morris to have himself a pretty nice day, it's not like I think he's gonna run up 250 yards or something by himself. He just got done being ridden into the ground last night to get you guys in to begin with. Marshawn Lynch will be the much fresher RB.

I think Seattle is very much fools gold. They got hot at the right time, and have had a lot of things fall there way. They'll come back down to earth this week, Russell Petters won't be able to get it done.

You "think" that (or at least claim to think that) because you need to. I get it. Hell, in 2010 when that joke of a 7-9 division champion Seahawks team played out of their minds and upset New Orleans, I spent the next week convincing myself of why we might go beat Chicago and advance to the NFC Title game. It was all ridiculous mental gymnastics, but I did it, because dammit my team was still alive in the playoffs and I needed to find a reason to believe. Obviously in hindsight it looks silly, but <cue the "hope is the best of things" letter from Andy to Red in Shawshank>.

With that said, you won't actually find much basis to support the notion that the Seahawks have run especially good. Got lucky at the end of the week three game against the Packers, sure. But a statistical analysis of the team doesn't lend much support to the notion that this is a fraudulent 11-win team. Even lifting out the Packers win, you find wins against the Patriots and 49ers, as well as the Vikings and Bears if you want to throw in a couple of other 10-win teams. Rest your hopes on our losing road record - it's what I'd hang my hat on if I were you - but there's a reason that the objective market has us as the favorites in this game.

I'm just glad you're not giving me the bs about not respecting the Seahawks because they aren't a "brand name" and don't have good fantasy players. In reality I do respect the Seahawks and do think they are a good team. I just think they are a much much better team at home than on the road. If this game was in Seattle I would think the Seahawks would win, but because we're at home I honestly think we have the edge. Though a lot of this does depend on how healthy RG3 can get this week.

I mean the brand name bias always does run pretty strong amongst a lot of people, so that's why you've seen me level that attack elsewhere. I loved when Marshall Faulk got asked a few weeks ago if the Bengals were underrated, and he said, "Underrated? How they could be underrated? They've won their division what, once in 29 years?" Facepalm. That type of thinking really is pervasive, so I stand by the fact that I mock some with it.

But you personally haven't shown any indication of thinking that way, so I'm not just going to lazily apply that stereotype to everyone who casts aspersions, especially when there's a pretty obvious alternative explanation. As far as I can tell, you're a knowledgeable fan who is just convincing yourself that the less likely result is more likely than it is because it's what you want to be the case.

There can be no doubt that the road Seahawks of today are a different animal than the losers who lost in Arizona back in week one, in St. Louis in week four, who had an ugly eke-it-out win in Carolina in week five, and who got dominated (despite never being down more than one score at any point) at SF. It's not just a function of natural improvement of a young team, but of play-calling.

Carroll and Bevell were using Russell Wilson as a "please don't **** this game up" game manager until pretty much the week 12 game at Miami. They clearly flipped a switch in that game and let him have a lot more freedom to play, and that's when he really revved up a run toward being a legit ROY candidate in a tough year. We lost that game - it was our last loss - because the defense failed and somehow let Tannehill light them up at the end, but that more resembled the type of "whoops" road loss you see from other good teams that is more aberration than reality.

If you look at Russell Wilson's QB rating in road games, the overall trend is obvious...
62.5
45.8
82.3
38.7
96.8
125.9
104.9
104.4

With this young of a team, and a team that has evolved this much and outright overhauled their offensive style to not really resembling the early part of the season, it makes it so that the early road losses are truly limited in their predictive value vs. what they might be if a veteran team posted the same losses.

It's only a game

Burdz, I'm not even kidding: an employee at Subway gave me the "see you next year! HAR HAR HAR" after completing our transaction today.

Another number resulting from an easy schedule:

God you know it's bad when Rex Ryan is your brother, and he's considered the good looking one.

By the way, the Seahawks gave up fewer red zone TDs than any other team in the league this season.

Kai Forbath may want to consider stopping his missed field goal streak at one, because he's going to be called upon for multiple should-be chip shots on Sunday.

It's a sign you should be going to Quiznos. Luckily for me, all the franchised Subways here are owned by Middle-Eastern families that are all business when it comes to chit-chat.

LOL @ calling seattle fools gold, Redskins are the definition of fools gold. theyve beaten nobody, the D sucks, seattle has the speed on D to contain RgGimp. This will be a seattle rout.

LKJ gimmick?

Do you really envision LKJ A) having a gimmick and B) typing that poorly?

No. It was more a joke because his avatar is a picture LKJ always uses, and he also supports Seattle.

I mean if I was going to have a gimmick, I'd probably mix up the typing style too.

But yeah it is pretty weird that my one fellow Seahawks fan here has TommyLeeJonesImpliedFacepalm.jpg as an avatar.

LKJ I've narrowed it down to two avatars for you. I think after the Skins win tomorrow I'm going to be in such a good mood, that I'll probably let you pick which one you want.

I have yours picked out as well. The nice thing is that I think outside the box.