Patriots-Seahawks prediction roundup

By Eric Wilbur

December 5, 2008

2 minutes to read

We’re sorry, Canada.

In an effort to apologize for the stench it has suffocated your US border with, the NFL this weekend awards you with at least some semblance of decent football, when the Bills (6-6) and Dolphins (7-5) invade Toronto for a real-life, honest-to-goodness regular season game in another country, for the second time this season (London, you know).

When it comes to NFL teams hovering on the border, the Bills are the 16-0 Pats compared to the rest. Look at what else we’ve given these poor souls to catch on their satellite dishes: The 2-10 Seahawks, 5-7 Packers, 4-8 Browns, and 0-12 Lions.

Go down south, and things aren’t much better. Mexico gets to follow the curious inefficiencies of the San Diego Chargers.

So really this weekend’s game arose out of necessity. If the NFL is ever to pray for a team outside country borders (which makes the London possibility pretty scary) it needs to show our neighboring friends that not everybody in the league is as hopeless as Rod Marinelli. I mean, these poor Canadians were a tunnel ride away from Matt Millen all those years. Something had to be done to sway public perception of American football.

Still, Mexico is going to have a beef. After all, we gave them the 49ers and Cardinals back in 2005, back when the teams ended the season a combined 9-23. True, we sent the 1-15 Dolphins to London a year ago, but the Giants more than made up for that inequality when they went and won the Super Bowl a few months later. Next season, they get what many have called the NFL’s model franchise in the New England Patriots.

It all begs the ultimate question that arises from all this: Which country gets the next NFL franchise? As we said, London would be a nightmare travel-wise, particularly considering the noted difficulties that West teams have coming East already. Mexico City may work, but it’s interesting to note that the league will be headed back to England for a third-straight season in ’09, but has yet to revisit Mexico since ’05.

That leaves you, Canada. A new franchise in ’12, perhaps?

Unless you want the Lions. I mean, take ‘em. You guys can’t do any worse.

Whom they’re picking

Our roundup of pundit picks for Sunday’s Patriots-Seahawks showdown:

Jim
McBride, Boston Globe: Patriots. “Matt Hasselbeck made a visit to the Issaquah (Wash.) Middle School this week as part of the NFL’s “Play 60” program to encourage kids to exercise more. No big deal. The big deal was that after tossing the ball around the gym for a while, two seventh-graders were signed by the Seahawks to play receiver this week.”
Globe staff: Four of five pick the Patriots against the spread (Patriots favored by 4 1/2).
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: Patriots 34, Seahawks 20. “Sunken Seahawks are only 1-5 at home, and English have won 13 straight against NFC teams. Still, give Starbuckers a fair chance to keep it close, but see a nice rebound game by Matt Cassel against the league’s 32nd-ranked passing defense.”
Peter King, Sports Illustrated: Patriots 30, Seahawks 26. “Most impressive player on a loser on Thanksgiving: Seattle rookie tight end John Carlson. Second-most impressive player on a loser on Thanksgiving: Matt Hasselbeck. That’s why this will be a game at the two-minute warning.”
ESPN.com staff: Patriots across the board (of those who have picked).
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: Patriots 30, Seahawks 20. “This is a long trip for the Patriots coming off that bad loss to the Steelers. The Seahawks aren’t playing well, which helps. The focus for New England will be there after losing last week. If they lose here, their playoff hopes might end in the Northwest. They won’t.”
CBS Sports staff: Five of six pick the Patriots to cover.
Cold, Hard, Football Facts: Patriots 27, Seahawks 17. “The Seahawks are a ghastly 0-7 versus Quality Opponents, and their next-to-last Defensive Passer Rating bodes well for Matt Cassel’s return to statistical prominence.”
Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News: Patriots 24, Seahawks 20. “This is a potential trap game for the Pats, especially after being battered by the Steelers in a brutal home loss last week. But their trademark under Bill Belichick has been the ability to rebound and keep moving forward. Look for Matt Cassel to show more of his Week 11-12 form against the Seahawks’ shaky pass defense. On the other side, the Patriots’ defense will have little trouble stopping Seattle’s anemic running game, allowing them to throw plenty of blitz and coverage looks at Matt Hasselbeck.”
USA Today staff: Patriots across the board.
Yahoo! staff: Michael Silver goes with Seattle. Jason Cole and Charles Robinson pick New England.
Peter Schrager, FOXSports.com: Patriots 30, Seahawks 20. “The Sonics are in Oklahoma City, Washington and Washington State combined for two wins on the year, and the Mariners are coming off a 101-loss season. And, oh yeah, the Seahawks? They’re one of the worst teams in the league. Get well soon, Seattle.”
Nancy Gay, San Francisco Chronicle: Patriots. “NBC dumped this matchup from its Sunday night flex schedule for good reason. The Seahawks should be pitied because the Patriots traditionally destroy their next opponent when coming off an embarrassing loss.”
Sam Farmer, LA Times: Patriots. “The last six weeks, the Patriots have gone W, L, W, L, W, L. With consecutive road games against overmatched Seattle and Oakland, New England should break that pattern.”
T-Bone: Seahawks. (To the mastery of “Thorn In My Pride.”)
Our pick: Patriots 42, Seahawks 28. In what has been an injury-filled season, Hasselbeck has a worse pass completion percentage (52.2), touchdown-to-interception ratio (5-11), and QB rating (57.8) than either Marc Bulger or Ryan Fitzpatrick, who each head up two of the other most inept offenses in the NFL this season. Daunte Culpepper, who has only started four games now for Detroit, is worse, but not by much.
Hasselbeck’s longest play from scrimmage this season – no thanks to nagging injuries on the parts of Deion Branch and Bobby Engram – has been a mere 34 yards. Tight end John Carlson is the only one catching the ball with any consistency in Seattle. And the Seattle defense, thought to be among the top-tier of NFL units heading into the season, has allowed more yards per game than anyone not in Detroit or Kansas City, including a league-high 265.2 passing yards per game.
We could go on, but what’s the point?