Super Bowl Underdog By:
Q.
Smyth
Wednesday
January 25th, 2006 - Page Updated at 7:45am
Senior Editor For WagerOnFootball.com Handicapping.
2006
super bowl wager - super bowl underdog
Seahawks' middling history makes
for underdog present
Associated
Press - Wed, Jan 25, 2006
Courtesy
of MySportsbook.com -- Shaun
Alexander was relaxing in front of his television
when a face from the Seahawks' middling past appeared
on the screen: Tim Brown, now retired after 16 seasons
with the Raiders.
From 1988 to 2002, Brown and the Raiders
owned Seattle, winning 17 of 29 games when the Seahawks
were still in the AFC West. Brown is now a commentator
for an NFL preview show on Fox Sports Net.
``He said, 'I love the Seahawks. I
love what they do. But I have beaten them so many
times, I just can't pick them,''' Alexander recalled.
That perception helps explains why
Seattle (15-3), the NFC's top seed, is a four-point
underdog against the Pittsburgh Steelers (14-5), the
AFC's sixth seed.
The apparent snub isn't unprecedented.
Last season, NFC top seed Philadelphia was a 7-point
underdog to AFC second seed New England. At the end
of the 2000 season, the top-seeded New York Giants
of the NFC were a 3-point underdog against fourth-seeded
Baltimore.
After 1988, Cincinnati was the AFC
top seed but was a 7-point underdog to NFC second
seed San Francisco. And after 1982, top-seeded Washington
was a 3-point 'dog to second-seeded Miami.
Those '82 Redskins were the only top-seeded
underdog to win.
Yet every postseason, players rush
to claim the underdog, under-appreciated status as
if it was the Lombardi Trophy. This season, the Seahawks
haven't had to seize the low ground. The nation has
brought it to them.
Beyond Brown's comments, there is the
belief that the NFC is weaker than the supposedly
mighty AFC.
That spawns this corollary notion:
Seattle's ridiculously inept division, the NFC West
- where the combined records of the other three teams
was 15-33 - gave the Seahawks their first-round bye
and home-field advantage throughout the conference
playoffs.
Hence, they got their first postseason
win since 1984 and then their first Super Bowl appearance.
The Seahawks have heard all this before
- from their own coach, Mike Holmgren.
``Mike said from the very beginning,
that we are always going to be the 'other' team,''
Alexander said. ``We play against the Redskins and
they talked about Joe Gibbs. Then we play against
Carolina and had a team that really stuffs the run.
And now we play against Pittsburgh. And even though
they are a sixth seed, they are going to pick them
over us.
``We win 11 games in a row. And they
say it is our fault that the other teams weren't as
good.''
Seattle needed this season to get over
the hump. Holmgren was 0-3 in the postseason with
the Seahawks before his team broke through in his
seventh season here. Before that, the Seahawks defined
mediocrity by finishing within one game of .500 in
eight of the previous 10 years.
Seattle had zero winning seasons from
1991-98. Before that, the lone playoff win was back
in 1984. Before that, the Seahawks were never better
than 9-7 in the regular season, with five losing seasons
in their first eight years in the league.
Get the picture? These current Seahawks
do.
``We've always had a chip on our shoulders,''
defensive tackle Chuck Darby said.
``All year long, we've heard we didn't
have enough of that to do this, we didn't have enough
of this to do that,'' Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson
said. ``Everyone inside the organization knows we've
done enough to earn respect. You'd think by going
13-3, we'd earn respect. We love being the underdogs.
``All we can do is win.''
Super Bowl Underdog
By: Q.
Smyth
Wednesday
January 25th, 2006 - Page Updated at 7:45am
Senior Editor For WagerOnFootball.com Handicapping.
|
