New Year, New Super Bowl Champs!

So who do you think will win the Super Bowl this year? Will it be the defending world champions or the Dallas Cowboys? Maybe someone from the AFC?

NFC Playoff Picture

Just to clear things up, this is what the playoff picture looks like for the NFC.

The winner of the Cardinals-Panthers game will face the Seahawks in the Divisional Championship game. The winner of the Lions-Cowboys game will face the Packers in their Divisional Championships. The winners of the Divisional Championships will face each other in the NFC Championship game. Whoever wins that game will face the winner of the AFC in the Super Bowl.

Ryan Lindley Throws First TD Pass

In the final regular season game against the 49ers, Cardinals quarterback Ryan Lindley threw his very first touchdown pass. The pass ended a 229-0 attempt drought. Lindley would go on to throw one more touchdown pass in the game.

The Cardinals lost to the 49ers 20-17.

Just A Short Rant

Okay, this may sound a little biased since I'm a Seahawks fan, but I'm really fed up with ESPN right now. I went to their website to look for some Seahawks highlights, and there were only four videos from the game. Ninety-five percent of the highlights videos were from the AFC. The last time I checked the NFC was also part of the NFL. I think the NFL talks too much about Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Yeah, those guys are great, but they've been around forever. It's getting really boring hearing the sports commentators constantly praising Manning on how good he is. I hate to say it, but his glory days are kind of behind him now. For some reason though, the NFL is determined to ignore the NFC. I get that a lot of sports centers are based in AFC locations, but the defending world champions are in the NFC. Would it kill them to show at least a few more Seahawks highlights?

And not only that, but what is with those refs sometimes? They call BS penalties all the time. There was the Fail Mary of 2012, the 2005 Super Bowl, the final play of the 2013 Super Bowl, several calls against the Seahawks this season that I don't even want to go into, and that one play in the NFC Championship game last year where the 49ers seemed to have recovered a fumble, but didn't get the ball. Refs...they make your team lose.

New NFC West Standings

1. Seattle Seahawks 12-4 *

2. Arizona Cardinals 11-5 ^

3. San Francisco (Santa Clara?) 49ers 8-8

4. St. Louis Rams 6-10

* clinched division, first round bye, and home field advantage
^ wild card spot

Seahawks vs Rams Recap

They've done it! The Seattle Seahawks are the NFC West division champions for the second year in a row. The defending world champs beat the 6-9 Rams by a score of 20-6. This is the second straight game where the Seahawks defense has not allowed a touchdown and the fourth since the loss to Kansas City earlier in the season. The Seahawks are now 12-4 and no longer tied with the Cardinals, as they lost to the 49ers today. They're next game will be on January 10.

What Happened to Peyton Manning?

Really, what happened to him yesterday? Four picks in one game? This is an player who was once regarded as the best quarterback in the league. And now he's throwing four interceptions and looking more and more like a rookie? What is he doing, channelling Colin Kaepernick? Nah, he's too cool for that...oh wait, Kaepernick always has a crappy second half...never mind. He's channelling Colin Kaepernick....that's the only explanation.

Seahawks Now...

And this is what I think the Seahawks regular season record will be.

You know it! The Seahawks are going to rePETE! #goseahawks #12thman

Just Something Random

I decided to make a meme that shows my prediction on how the 49ers record will end up like this year.

Too soon?

NFC South Standings

Onto the NFC South now...

1. Carolina Panthers 6-8-1

2. Atlanta Falcons 6-9

3. New Orleans Saints 6-9

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2-13

Okay, it's not really my job to decide this, but in all honesty I don't think this division deserves to have anyone go to the playoffs. I mean, is it fair that the Panthers might get to go to the playoffs while the Cardinals, who clearly have the better record, might only get a wild card spot? I vote that the NFL pass a new rule that divisions that don't have any team with a winning record doesn't get to go to the playoffs.

NFC East Standings

These are the current NFC East standings.

1. Dallas Cowboys 11-4

2. Philadelphia Eagles 9-6

3. New York Giants 6-9

4. Washington Redskins 4-11

NFC West Standings

Okay, I've made way too many posts in one day, but I decided to update everyone on the current NFC West division standings. I'll see if I can get to the other divisions later.

1. Seattle Seahawks 11-4

2. Arizona Cardinals 11-4

3. San Francisco 49ers 7-8

4. St. Louis Rams 6-9

Now, normally I would NEVER be happy about another team having a losing record (unless it's the Patriots, but with Tom Brady I doubt they'll ever have one), but I'll make an exception for the Rams. When they played Seattle earlier this year, they beat them by 2 points only because of all those trick plays (yeah, St. Louis, I dare you to try those against us again next Sunday) and because a fumble that was CLEARLY recovered by Seattle was overturned by those biased refs. Karma's a bitch though, and I'm sure the Seahawks will make them pay when they come here to play us in the final match of the regular season.

49ers Lose 4th Straight Game...Tell Me Again How Surprised You Are

Sadly, in recent history choking in the second half has become almost an expectation for the San Francisco...uh, Santa Clara 49ers. Are they still the San Francisco 49ers if their new stadium is 50 miles away? Hmm...someone might want to ask the NFL about that one. The 49ers had a 21-0 lead over the Chargers at one point, and then lost the game 35-38 in overtime. I'm not a big fan of the 49ers, so this was actually quite amusing to watch. In all fairness, Colin Kaepernick did make some great plays in the first and second half, like that 90-yard touchdown run to answer a fumble-and-touchdown return only moments before. Good job on that one Kaepernick (even though I don't like you).

But really, what's with the 49ers? It should be no problem to hold a 21-point lead for this franchise, but they got outscored 28-7 in the second half (31-7 if you count overtime). You have to wonder if they need to bench some of these guys...I mean, Kaepernick lead his team to the Super Bowl only two years ago, for goodness sake, and now he can't even finish a game right?

The 49ers are now 7-8, their first losing record since 2010. They have one more game to try to at least finish with an 8-8 record, but if recent history is any indication they probably won't be able to do it.

Jets Wide Receiver is Injured Again

Percy Harvin was forced to exit the game against the Patriots because of a rib injury. So first the migraines, then the hip surgery, then a concussion, then an ankle injury earlier this season, and now a rib injury. He must have been cursed...that's the only explanation.

Seahawks vs. Cardinals Week 16

I actually meant to create this blog earlier in the season but never really got around to it....oh well, I still have one more week of the regular season and then the post season to figure out how to write halfway decent recaps. Moving on now though...last night's game was a thriller if you're a Seahawks fan and not so much if you're a Cardinals fan. The final score of the game was 35-6 Seahawks (would have been 44-6 if not for those three missed field goals but who cares). Let's take a look back on the game at University of Phoenix Stadium.

1. Russell Wilson rushes for 55 yards.

           This guy is probably one of the best quarterbacks in the league right now. He stays calm under pressure, and because of that he can make big plays on third and fourth down. The Cardinals defense looked ridiculous trying to stop Wilson yesterday.

2. Steven Hauschka misses first field goal.

           I was a little surprised to see him miss a field goal since I've never seen him miss before. This kick was long enough, but also wide to the right. It was a little long though-52 yards-and from what I hear he's not a big distance kicker.

3. Wilson to Willson for a touchdown

            When I heard that the Seahawks wouldn't be getting their starting tight end Zach Miller back for the season because of an ankle injury, I immediately thought "Okay then, hopefully Luke Willson can make some good plays." I hadn't really watched Willson play much until yesterday....well, I was impressed with what I saw. For a backup tight end, that guy can sure make great moves. Maybe he'll end up being the starting tight end someday...

4. Hauschka misses second field goal

             Okay, okay. This one was a little closer, but still a pretty long shot. I'll let him get away with this one.

5. Marshawn Lynch runs for 79 yard TD

              Still worried about that back? Well, worry no more Seahawks fans! Marshawn Lynch ran for a 79-yard career high touchdown, complete with the "hold my d***" move at the end. What did you expect, though? They don't call him Beast Mode for nothing.

6. Hauschka misses third field goal

              This one shocked me...I understand if it's from 50+ yards...but a 47-yard attempt? I've seen him make field goals easily from that distance before. Oh well, everyone has off days. It's all part of the game...rest assured he will be back to his old self next week against the Rams!

7. Richard Sherman picks off Ryan Lindley

              And that, my friends, is why you don't talk about Richard Sherman. To be fair, the Cardinals were on their third-string quarterback, but the way he was playing you'd have to wonder why anyone would even draft this guy. Ahem...sorry Cardinals fans, but you know it's true...

8. Russell Wilson rushes for TD

              Those Cardinals defensive linemen have to be seething right now....they had several guys with a chance to make a play on Wilson before he got that touchdown. LMAO, it just goes to show that you can't stop him once he gets going. This touchdown all but finished the Cardinals, as it was the final score of the night.

I didn't recap every play of the game for the sake of time, so if you want the full recap go to espn.com.