The Biggest Loser?

This past Sunday could turn out to be a big day for the NFL, and not for the reason you might think. It’s been beaten to death enough; I don’t even need to say it again: The Seattle Seahawks beat the St. Louis Rams to clinch the NFC West and become the first team in league history to win their division with a losing record. At 7-9, the Seahawks are terrible. Even Charlie Whitehurst (who is apparently the second coming of Brett Favre according to Chris Collinsworth) would have a hard time refuting that.

But this isn’t a call to redo the playoff seeding like everyone else is doing right now. The 11-5 Saints are traveling 2,700 miles to take on the 7-9 Seahawks in Seattle. The ‘Hawks won their division, so they deserve it. If you toy with how the NFL seeds spots 3-6 then you start down a dangerous path that heads in the direction of a league without divisions or even conferences. How messed up would that be?

Forget it, none of that is what this is about. This is about how a 7-9 division-winning team could be great for the NFL. Think about it. Everyone is already counting out the Seahawks. As soon as Sam Bradford threw what was, in essence, the game-ending interception, Twitter lit up with tweets saying the Saints have a bye week. No one thinks that New Orleans will have any trouble with their hapless foes because, well, they won’t. The Saints are a far better team and will be moving on to the second round of the playoffs as the Seahawks go home one-and-done.

But what if they don’t?

What if the Seahawks actually play the game instead of letting the fans play it for them? What if they continue to just barely get by like they did on Sunday and all season long? And what if they win? In this season of unmatched parody in the NFL, wouldn’t this be exactly the kind of thing that is just crazy enough to happen?

I’m no Seattle fan, trust me. I simply think that if the ‘Hawks are able to pull off a couple of stunners, it would silence the critiques and show that the current playoff system, while not perfect, is among the best in professional sports. Also, it would continue the NFL’s current reign as the most competitive of sports. Imagine, a Super Bowl-winning team with an overall record of 11-9. Just over .500. Just barely getting by. But then again, sometimes, that’s all it takes in this league. And that, my friends, is why I’ll be watching the playoffs.