Thoughts on the Wild Card round

I was sort of pulling for Detroit to beat Dallas last week, for lots of reasons.

First, on principle, I want the Cowboys to lose every week until everyone starts calling them the franchise formerly known as America's Team.

Second, Jerry Jones is evil and I love to see him fail.

Third, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is a traitor to his people. The Jets and the Giants play in his state, but he's watching the game as the personal guest and hug-buddy of the Dallas owner? Real New Jerseyans either root for the New York teams, or they're Philadelphia fans. If folks who live in the Garden State are going to support any team other than the Eagles, Jets and Giants, then the only moral choice is to be a Seahawks fan.

And guess what, Chris? Texas still won't vote for you in the primary.

No, I like Detroit because its an underdog team representing an underdog town, and because they recruit former Seahawks so consistently that I have dubbed them the Sea Lions.

Currently, there are four former Seahawks with Detroit: Defensive end Darryl Tapp, tight end Kellen Davis, and two starters: left guard Rob Sims and wideout Golden Tate.

I was right to rue the departure of Rob Sims back in 2010. Seattle has struggled to find a good left guard since Steve Hutchinson left in 2006. Big Rob is no Hutch, but he has been a steady starter for five solid years in Detroit while Seattle has experimented with a rotating cast of underperforming and oft-injured offensive linemen, especially at the left guard position.

I was wrong, however, to shrug at Golden Tate's departure. If I had known that friction between Percy Harvin and Tate had contributed to Seattle's decision to jettison the latter, I still would have supported the decision, because I was so excited about Harvin's potential contributions to the offense. I failed to foresee that Harvin would be a locker room cancer who clashed with multiple teammates, including Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin, and that the Seahawks would struggle to integrate Harvin's talents into our offensive scheme. (Given Darrell Bevell's failure to manage Percy Harvin, or to consistently put points on the board, why is he on anyone's radar as a head coach at this point?)

More than anything else, I failed to understand that Tate had big-time potential as a starting NFL wide receiver. I thought he could replace Nate Burleson as a credible complement to Calvin Johnson, but who would have guessed that the Top Pot Bandit would outperform Megatron in 2014, recording more catches (99 to 71) for more yards (1,331 to 1.077) than one of the league's most dominant wideouts? (Yes, injuries sidelined Johnson for three games, and limited his production in others, but still...!)

And Little Man Tate can still throw a pretty brutal block.

So, I'm sorry Golden Tate III. I was wrong. I wish we had kept you.

Only two things dampened my enthusiasm for the Lions last week.

First, Ndamukong Suh is dirty. The NFL should have upheld his suspension for stomping on Aaron Rodgers. In fact, they should have extended the suspension because it injured Rodgers. Some complain that Suh got singled out because he hurt a marquee quarterback; linemen get stomped on all the time, without repercussions. The answer to this is not to let people stomp on quarterbacks; it's to start disciplining any player who stomps on any other player or otherwise commits acts of gratuitous violence outside of the rules or after the whistle.

Second, Detroit needs to stop crying about that pass interference non-call. Seahawks fans know better than anyone else how it feels to have referees rob you in a game, but last week's Detroit-Dallas game was not like Super Bowl XL.

The officials were right to pick up that flag for pass interference. There was some contact between Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens and Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew, and the referees conceded that Hitchens faceguarded Pettigrew, but that's not a penalty in the NFL. Moreover, the contact included the receiver briefly grabbing the defender's facemask, which made it more difficult for Hitchens to get his head around, and increased the probability of continued incidental contact between the two players.

I was also kind of looking forward to seeing Detroit come to Seattle, because it would have been our only chance to play the Lions this year, and that would have been a good game--Megatron vs. Optimus Prime, DangeRuss and Beast Mode vs. Ndamukong Suh, Byron Maxwell vs. Golden Tate, Kam Chancellor vs. Reggie Bush, etc.

Of course, that would have given Green Bay an easier game this week, and that's no good. Strategically, it is much better for Seattle to host Carolina while the undefeated road warriors of Dallas venture into the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field to face the Packers, undefeated at home. If Seattle wins tonight, I'll be rooting for the Cowboys tomorrow because I want the Seahawks to avenge our disgraceful loss to Dallas earlier this season. Besides, we already dominated Green Bay in the season opener.

Speaking of love for former Seahawks, I'm really happy for Justin Forsett. Diehards remember Forsett as Seattle's most effective running back in the lean years between Shaun Alexander and Marshawn Lynch. Although small and not particularly fast, Forsett has good vision and grasped the zone blocking scheme that chumps like Julius Jones never seemed to fathom. Unfortunately, the hopelessness of our O-line forced Seattle to load up on big backs who can bull their own holes through the lines. Enter Beast Mode, Turbo and Christine Michael, exeunt Forsett.

After a year in Houston and an injury-marred half-season in Jacksonville, Forsett caught on with Baltimore as a third-string running back. The suspension of Ray Rice and injuries to his backup thrust Forsett into the starting role, where he has excelled. When Rice's original backup Bernard Pierce recovered from his injury, he fell in line behind Forsett on the depth chart. Forsett finished as the league's fifth leading rusher, just behind Marshawn Lynch, whom he backed up both in Seattle and in college at UC-Berkeley.

So, I'm pulling for Justin Forsett and the Baltimore Ravens this afternoon. And rooting against Tom Brady and the Patriots, even though they're probably the best team in the conference and the AFC's best chance for winning the Super Bowl this year.