Heres the NFC Championship Break Down QBs: I think the QBs are pretty equal. I think Matt Hasselbeck has a little more skill that Jake Delhomme, Delhomme has had more playoff experience, so i think its at a standstill RBs: The seahawks have much better running game then the panthers. Alexander is amazing and Mack Strong is a pro bowler. Nick Going who ran for 821 yards in 8 starts last year will start for the injuried Deshaun Foster. Behind Goings will be Jamal Robertson and Rod "He hate me" Smart. Both are kick returners with little nfl running experience. Seahawks have a huge edge, but they are going up against the 3rd best defense WRs: Panthers win this catagory. Steve Smith is the best WR in the NFL, and couldnt be stoped by the #2 defense. Drew Carter is as fast as smith but very raw. Keary Colbert and Ricky Proehl will make big catches but no YAC. Joe Jurevicious is good, and Jackson really good but no one can compare to Smith. Offensive Line: Seahawks allowed 27 sacks on the year, and Panthers allowed 28. So both lines can protect the QB. The Seahawks left side is amazing but there right side is a little lacking. RT Locklear was arrested recently so his status is questonable. Panthers have solid line all around, but run blocking is no where near the blocking of Jones and Hutchinson on the seahawks left side. Seahawks slightly win this catagory. Defense: Defensive Line: Seahawks have 5 more sacks but panthers can stop the run great. The panthers defensive line consits of two top DE in Rucker and Peppers. Peppers is the best athlete in the playoffs and is as fast as alexander. I think panthers win this catagory because the panthers can stop the run great unlike seattle. Linebackers: Panthers win the catagory by a large margin based on experience. Tatupu has is a rookie and Dan Morgan is a pro bowler. Leroy Hill is also a rookie and Will Witherspoon is a 4 year veteran. Witherspoon does great in coverage is helps stop the run great. D.D Lewis is a good LB and him and Brandon Short are pretty equal. The panthers also have speedy LB/S Thomas Davis who doesnt miss any tackles. Secondary: The panthers win this catagory. Panthers secondary is a playmaking secondary that forced 19 INTS, and the seahawks have only had 13 INTS. Marcus Trufant and Ken Lucas are both great corners, but Lucas can shut down a reciever. He only allowed 1 TD this year. Lucas also knows the seahawk playbook and will help the offense. Chris Gamble is a better corner than Andre Dyson. Chris Gamble got 7 INTs this year, and Dyson has one. Chris makes big plays when he is need. Ricky Manning was a starter last year and moved to nickel back. Last NFC Championship he had 3 INTs and will looking to repeat that. Mike Minter and Marlon McCree are both great safeties, McCree is a hard hitter and Minter is the leader of that secondary. Boulware is a beast in the running game. Special Teams: Both teams have great speical teams. Panthers have a slight advatage. Josh Brown and John Kasey are both really good kickers. Panthers P Jason Baker leads NFL in net yards. Panthers kick coverage is really good with Thomas Davis and captian Karl Hankton leading the charge. The seahawks cover teams are a little suspect because of youth. Edge: Seahawks are playing at home, which is extremly loud, but panthers have won like 5 or 6 straight road games. Panthers are really banged up against a physical game against the bears and having to play one more game than the seahawks. The Seahawks are pretty healthy so that and the crowd noise is a big factor. Its gonna be a really good game and its gonna come down to the 4th quarter.
The difference in this game is that one team will be able to run the ball & the other won't...therefor the Seahawks win.
Statsitical Jake Delhomme is the best QB to ever play in the postseason. He has had a better postseason then Montana, Elway, etc
i think there could be a good upset in the NFC panthers and steelers for the SB... Wild Card Championship
My comments/disagreements: QBs: Couldn't agree more. I think we are going to see the two best teams in NFC this year. And, not coincidentally, I think these are the two best QBs in the NFC this year with the big injuries to McNabb and Culpepper. Hasselbeck is probably a better decision maker with just 9 Ints to Delhomes 16 picks, but Jake has won more playoff games/has more playoff experience. WRs: Steve Smith was the best WR in the NFL this season. If you look at the teams passing stats Seattle actually has small number advantages though including a 5% better completion percentage. I would say this category is a draw with Carolina having the big play capability and Seattle being a little more consistent. Offensive Line: Seahawks have the best Offensive Line in football or are tied with KC. You didn't even mention C Robbie Tobeck who is a Pro Bowl alternate this year. And just because the right side doesn't have two All Pro/Pro Bowlers like the left side doesn't mean they are "a little lacking". RG Chris Gray is underrated and above average. And your comment about RT Sean Locklear makes it sound like your hoping he won't play which he will. Sean Locklear vs. big name right DE's this year 10/09 vs. Leonard Little 2 tackles .5 sacks 11/13 vs. Leonard Little 4 tackles 0 sacks 11/27 vs. Michael Strahan 6 tackles 0 sacks 12/5 vs. Jevon Kearse 2 tackles 0 sacks Looks better than "a little lacking" to me. Defense: Defensive Line: Carolina definitely has the big names. But if you look at the stats, Seattle and Carolinas run Defense's are almost identical. Carolina allowed 4th fewest rushing yards, Seattle allowed 5th fewest. The teams are tied for 3rd in the NFL with a 3.6 yards per carry allowed. Carolina gave up 9 rushing TD, Seattle gave up just 5. And Carolina held opponents to only 5 runs of 20+ yards while Seattle allowed 6 runs of 20+ yards. Looks like a draw to me. Linebackers: My only comment here is that Lofa Tatupu was robbed of the Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Compare his stats to Merriman and then realize that Tatupu started at middle linebacker on a 13-3 team and was voted by his teammates as a postseason defensive captain. I think Merriman only won this award because he had two sacks in that big Colts upset, but Lofa was better over the course of the season. Tatupu also lead the Hawks in tackles with 8 in his first postseason game last Saturday. Shawne Merriman 43 tackles, 14 assists, 10 sacks, 4 passes defensed, 0 int, 2 forced fumbles, 0 td. Lofa Tatupu 85 tackles 19 assists, 4 sacks, 6 passes defensed, 3 int, 0 forced fumbles, 1 td. I still agree Carolina has better backers. Special Teams: I don't know much about Carolina's special teams so I won't comment on them. But being an 8 year season ticket holder let me tell you that Seattle special teams are average at best. Our punt returner has been Jimmy Williams, but after muffing two punts against the Skins Holmgren is "looking at making a change". (don't be surprised if Bobby Engram returns punts on Sunday) Our kicker is solid and our punter is average. Our coverage teams are maybe a little above average, but our return men and schemes are definately sub par. We simply don't have a return man capable of having a big run back. If Carolina's special teams are even just a little above average I would give them the edge here. Should be a great game. Bonus section (PG-13): Cheerleaders: Panthers win this hands down. Will they be sending any drunken lesbian cheerleaders to Seattle? Maybe with all the rain we've been getting they could have wet T-shirt contest. ;-)
Nah im sorry they arent coming to seattle, they decided to party at my house. Me, the Carolina panthers cheerleaders, playboys girls, and hooter girls are coming over. So ill be well taken care of during the confernece game.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (panthersare#1)</div><div class='quotemain'>Statsitical Jake Delhomme is the best QB to ever play in the postseason. He has had a better postseason then Montana, Elway, etc</div> Most important postseason statistic = super bowl wins. I.E. he is not the best
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BearsFan1)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (panthersare#1)</div><div class='quotemain'>Statsitical Jake Delhomme is the best QB to ever play in the postseason. He has had a better postseason then Montana, Elway, etc</div> Most important postseason statistic = super bowl wins. I.E. he is not the best</div> This is only his 3rd year of starting, and he came really close to winning against the Patriots. Hopefully Ken Lucas, the former Seahawk corner can give us some inside info on their defense
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (panthersare#1)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BearsFan1)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (panthersare#1)</div><div class='quotemain'>Statsitical Jake Delhomme is the best QB to ever play in the postseason. He has had a better postseason then Montana, Elway, etc</div> Most important postseason statistic = super bowl wins. I.E. he is not the best</div> This is only his 3rd year of starting, and he came really close to winning against the Patriots. Hopefully Ken Lucas, the former Seahawk corner can give us some inside info on their defense</div> I see and i guess he only has like 5 postseason games. so it would be fair to judge him on statistics, either way
Impressive analysis PA1, but I still have some criticism: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (panthersare#1)</div><div class='quotemain'>WRs: Panthers win this catagory. Steve Smith is the best WR in the NFL, and couldnt be stoped by the #2 defense. Drew Carter is as fast as smith but very raw. Keary Colbert and Ricky Proehl will make big catches but no YAC. Joe Jurevicious is good, and Jackson really good but no one can compare to Smith.</div> Now you make it sound like the Panthers are better at WR by far. With Jackson, he could be just as good as Smith because Jackson got 40 more yards than Moss did who had about 20 less REC compared with Smith and still has almost as much yards as him. Plus the AVG of Moss is more than Smith. The Seahawks ?other? WR is better than Panthers also. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (panthersare#1)</div><div class='quotemain'>Special Teams: Both teams have great speical teams. Panthers have a slight advatage. Josh Brown and John Kasey are both really good kickers. Panthers P Jason Baker leads NFL in net yards. Panthers kick coverage is really good with Thomas Davis and captian Karl Hankton leading the charge. The seahawks cover teams are a little suspect because of youth.</div> I disagree. The Seahawks P Tom Rouen is doing great. He kicked the ball to the 10-20 yard line most of his punts. I wouldn?t be so sure the Panthers punter will be so great. In the wild card game, his longest punt was 42 yards. Tom also has more than double experience than Jason Baker. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (panthersare#1)</div><div class='quotemain'>Linebackers: Panthers win the catagory by a large margin based on experience. Tatupu has is a rookie and Dan Morgan is a pro bowler. Leroy Hill is also a rookie and Will Witherspoon is a 4 year veteran. Witherspoon does great in coverage is helps stop the run great. D.D Lewis is a good LB and him and Brandon Short are pretty equal. The panthers also have speedy LB/S Thomas Davis who doesnt miss any tackles.</div> Yes, maybe they are better by a large margin if you ignore the fact that Tatupu is the rookie of the year.
You can not sy Delhomme is the best PS QB ever, he has only played in 5 games or something...That is like saying a guy that touches the ball 60 times in a season and fumbles 5 isn't as solid as the guy who touches the ball 10 times and doesn't fumble. It is ridicolous also superbowl wins is ultimately what it comes down to
I'm pulling for Seattle..mearly beacuse Hasselbeck is a former BC boy and played High School Ball at Xaverian with a lot of kids from my home town...Also I can't stand how much of a Bad Ass Jake Delhomme believes he is...the guy just needs to shut is mouth..he reminds me of a WWE personality or something.
I going with the Panthers so that if the Panthers win i can say that atleast the Giants lost to the NFC champions.
Well John Fox doesnt believe that Tom Rouen is a better punter because he decided to keep Jason Baker and cut Tom Rouen. The seahawks are pulling their return man Jimmy Williams, so i dk who will play instead. Panthers have two great returners in Steve Smith(who does about 80% of the punts) and Chris Gamble.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (panthersare#1)</div><div class='quotemain'>The panthers also have speedy LB/S Thomas Davis who doesnt miss any tackles.</div> He averaged about 2 tackles a game, so if he wasnt missing any, i guess he wasnt in position for many(he is dumb) or he was blocked out of the way(he is too small to be LB)
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (panthersare#1)</div><div class='quotemain'>Nah im sorry they arent coming to seattle, they decided to party at my house. Me, the Carolina panthers cheerleaders, playboys girls, and hooter girls are coming over. So ill be well taken care of during the confernece game.</div> So your name is Hugh Hefner? Damn I'd love to be in that man's shoes.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pats_Fan420)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (panthersare#1)</div><div class='quotemain'>Nah im sorry they arent coming to seattle, they decided to party at my house. Me, the Carolina panthers cheerleaders, playboys girls, and hooter girls are coming over. So ill be well taken care of during the confernece game.</div> So your name is Hugh Hefner? Damn I'd love to be in that man's shoes.</div> Am I the only one that saw what those cheerleaders looked like?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (porky88)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pats_Fan420)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (panthersare#1)</div><div class='quotemain'>Nah im sorry they arent coming to seattle, they decided to party at my house. Me, the Carolina panthers cheerleaders, playboys girls, and hooter girls are coming over. So ill be well taken care of during the confernece game.</div> So your name is Hugh Hefner? Damn I'd love to be in that man's shoes.</div> Am I the only one that saw what those cheerleaders looked like?</div> Im not gonna be partying with those cheerleaders, im partying with the actually hot ones, and those girls are off the squad anyway
Im worried about this game. Panthers have faced all rookie playoff QBs and Matt Hasselbeck is a really good QB. And Trufant is a really good corner, and i know holmgreen will double and triple cover Smith. So i hope Drew Carter, and Ricky Proehl can pick up the slack
