Seahawks get second shot at the Redskins
Losers of just three games all season, the Seattle Seahawks will get a chance to avenge one of them.
Washington’s 17-10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers yesterday means the Redskins will face the Seahawks at Qwest Field this Saturday afternoon in a rematch of a memorable overtime game from early October. Seahawks kicker Josh Brown missed the potential game-winning field goal in that game, and the Redskins went on to win 20-17 in overtime.
“It’s going to be a good game,” Seahawks defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs told the Everett Herald last week of a potential rematch. “They have a good offensive line. They’re big guys who are mobile, and they have a running back (Clinton Portis) that can light you up at any point. He can put up 100 or 200 yards on you. So we’ll have our work cut out for us.”
The Seahawks have plenty of advantages over the first meeting, the most notable of which is homefield advantage. Seattle is also coming off a bye week that afforded enough healing time that every player on the active roster is expected to be available.
But, seeing as though they’ve lost their last six playoff games, this year’s Seahawks aren’t too concerned about history.
“Obviously, having played them, there’s some experience there,” Seahawks center Robbie Tobeck said last week. “But you can throw all that out in the playoffs. It’s a new day, a new situation. The loser goes home, and the winner goes on.”
Seahawks Pro Bowlers will start
All five Seahawks headed to the Pro Bowl will start in that game, the league announced. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, running back Shaun Alexander and fullback Mack Strong will make up an all-Seattle backfield, while tackle Walter Jones and guard Steve Hutchinson will represent two-fifths of the offensive line.
The Colts will have all of their NFL-high seven selections in the starting lineup, including Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison.
The Chargers will have five starters: tight end Antonio Gates, fullback Lorenzo Neal, defensive lineman Jamal Williams, linebacker Shawne Merriman and special teams player Hanik Milligan.
The Pro Bowl is Feb. 12 in Honolulu.
Bears’ Smith coach of year
Lovie Smith was hired to resurrect the proud Chicago Bears franchise once coached by George Halas and Mike Ditka. He did such a strong job in 2005 that he was chosen the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year.
In his second season with the Bears, Smith took them from 5-11 to 11-5, the NFC North title and a first-round bye.
Smith beat out his mentor, Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy, drawing 24 1/2 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL. Dungy was next with 20 1/2 .
Marcus Vick opts for NFL
Marcus Vick apologized to Virginia Tech and said his next stop will be the NFL.
Not that he had many options as far as football was concerned after being tossed off the Virginia Tech team a day earlier.
The junior quarterback dazzled on the field but carried a long list of transgressions. His latest display – stomping on the leg of a fallen opponent during the Gator Bowl – prompted an outpouring of letters to the university and a plea from his mother that her son not be portrayed as a “monster.”
Vick, the brother of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, plans to enter the draft rather than finish his college career elsewhere.