Intriguing duels kick off wild-card weekend
Seahawks aim to flip switch in postseason opener vs Lions Raiders pin hopes on QR Cook against Texans
Unlike most observers, Michael Bennett is not worried about the Seattle Seahawks’ inconsistencies entering the playoffs.
He’s not concerned the offense has struggled most of the season to run the ball, to sustain drives, to just plain score – yet outscored Tom Brady and New England in beating the Patriots 31-24 in Massachusetts in November.
The Pro Bowl defensive end is not concerned his defense looks dominant at times: allowing 10 points to playoff-bound Miami, becoming the first team to intercept Brady, then allowing 2-14 San Francisco to steamroll to touchdown drives of 75 and 79 yards Sunday.
To Bennett, it’s simply about who is lining up to block him for the Detroit Lions (9-7) when they come to Century Link Field on Saturday to play the NFC West-champion Seahawks (10-5-1) in the wild-card round of the NFC playoffs.
“I feel great. I always feel great,” Bennett said of Seattle’s prospects entering their fifth consecutive postseason.
“The fans and the media are more worried about who has home-field advantage, who has this, who has that. At the end of the day, it’s just about lining up and beating the guy who is in front of you.”
Then, Bennett added: “We’ve got a bigger picture.”
Bennett personifies the prevailing attitude of Seahawks veterans. They have advanced to two of the last three Super Bowls. They believe, inconsistencies of the regular season aside, they have the ability to flip their playoff-performance switch to “on,” beginning Saturday. Seattle has won six times in eight postseason games January 2013.
But these Seahawks are different than last season’s squad that lost in the divisional round, and especially the 2013 and ’14 teams that played in the Super Bowl and won it three seasons ago. These Seahawks are not as deep as those teams along the offensive and defensive lines.
But Seattle got the best scenario it could have hoped for.
The Lions are the conference’s second wild card. They have lost three consecutive games, including 31-24 at home to Green Bay on Sunday night for the NFC West title. The Lions are the fifth team to go 0-5 against playoff teams and still reach the postseason since the league went to its current, 12-team playoff format in 1990.
Detroit is a pass-first team. Often, it is a pass-only team. Quarterback Matthew Stafford throws it all over the yard despite dislocating the tip of the middle finger on his passing hand last month.
Stafford was sixth in the league in the regular season with 4,327 yards passing, with 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He’s turned the ball over six times in Detroit’s last 15 quarters, including an interception Sunday night at Green Bay.
The Lions ranked 30th in the league in rushing offense, averaging 81.9 yards per game. Zach Zenner, an undrafted 2015 free agent out of South Dakota State, led Detroit with 69 yards against Green Bay.
So neither the Seahawks nor Lions are running it that well right now. That difference is, Seattle wants to.
Detroit was eyeing the No. 2 seed in the NFC when it was 9-4 last month. Since then, the Lions have lost to the Giants, Cowboys and Packers – all playoff teams.
“They’ve had an unusual season,” said Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll.
Detroit has one playoff victory since 1957. The Seahawks have not lost a home playoff game since 2004.
“So, here we go,” Carroll said. “It’s time. And these guys are really pumped. They know it’s finally time to get ready for playoffs. We don’t care who we are playing... we’re looking forward to getting this thing started.” (News Tribune/TNS)
Oakland Raiders at Houston Texans
Everybody knows about the Triple Crown and the 31-length victory in the Belmont and Secretariat’s status as maybe the best racehorse of all time. But how many people remember that two weeks before Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby, he ran third in the Wood Memorial?
Which brings us, of course, to the Oakland Raiders, who actually finished one position better last week at Denver in their final tune-up for their first playoff appearance in 14 years.
The thing to keep in mind on the Raiders’ past performance chart is to throw out their latest – the 24-6 loss to the Broncos.
Yes, the Raiders would have enjoyed a first-round bye with a win. Who couldn’t use an extra week off work? But there is no disgrace in being a wild card, as six teams have proceeded from that circumstance to win Super Bowls since the extra playoff teams were added in 1978. The Raiders did it in the 1980 season.
On Wednesday, the Raiders announced they will keep Connor Cook in the stirrups for Saturday’s wild-card playoff game against the Houston Texans.
Matt McGloin, the seldom-used backup, had been appointed to the first string by default after Derek Carr broke his leg. Then the rookie Cook played better than McGloin, a four-year veteran, in the loss to the Broncos.
Coach Jack Del Rio cited Cook’s performance as a major factor in the decision to start him in Houston. Another was McGloin’s left shoulder injury against Denver. The mathematics of the situation made Del Rio’s decision to go with Cook an easy one.
“We’ll get to watch it play out,” Del Rio said. “Let’s see him play. Honestly, we haven’t seen him a lot. We saw him a half a game, or thereabouts, in Denver last week, and that was pretty good.”
“I’m just going to go out there and make plays for my teammates,” Cook said. “I’ve never been the rah-rah kind of guy. You know I’m going to be vocal inside the huddle. I’m going to communicate to my guys on the sideline, and stuff like that, but I would just always go out there and just try and make plays and let the play speak for itself.”
If all else goes well for the Raiders on Saturday, all he’ll have to do is steer.