Keys to Winning

[Paintrain]

As I posted on another message board

Factors that could play into an upset this weekend-
>The Seahawks struggle against physical teams. The 4 'physical' teams they played (Jacksonville, Washington, Dallas and NYG) all either beat them or took them the distance. The two home games played by Seattle against NFC East opponents were their two closest games, winning each by 3 points. Both teams were destroyed by Washington (albeit at home) late in the season but they play the physical style that the Redskins play.

>The book on Hasslbeck is hit him early and often and he gets gun shy and will make a bad decision. The Seahawks have the best OL in the conference so that is very difficult to acheive though. In the last game the Redskins didn't have Lavar Arrington, Joe Saleve'a or 'Toast' Walt Harris. Playing at less than 100% was Sean Taylor and they still held the Seahawks to 17 pts and Alexander to less than 100 yds. This time the defense comes in at full strength and full health. Expect to see a lot of blitzing with Springs, Rogers, Taylor and Harris all healthy and able to cover WR one on one.

>The Seahawks lack of success in the postseason is well documented as is Joe Gibbs success in the postseason, but a stat I heard on one of the shows this week is the 2nd time their team faces the same opponent in the same season, Gibbs has like a 73% winning percentage vs. Holmgren at about 52%.

>Finally, a lot has been put on the 122 yds of offense the Redskins put up last week. In that game, with a 14 pt lead in the 1st quarter, the coaching staff took all of the long passing plays out of the playbook (as was noted in a Washington Post article earlier in the week) and played conservatively to keep the ball secure. Of the remaining 11 or so possessions, 9 were run on 1st down, run on 2nd down, short pass on 3rd down. There was no attempt to rack up more yards or put more points on the board. For more of what to expect from a game plan, look at the Cowboys and Giants games from late in the season. Run on 1st down, play action on 2nd down, run or pass (depending) on 3rd down with at least one long attempt per possession that goes more than one cycle of downs.

Bottom line, the Redskins do need to play a near perfect game to capture the upset but I am going with 27-23 Redskins.