Saturday, 24th December 2005--Christmas Eve here in Seattle, and everywhere else, too. A day to finish up your last minute shopping if you are a Christmas procrastinator; give your presents one last shake to see if you can guess what they are before you actually open them; and to realize that the new year is just seven days away (OMG--wasn't it just New Year's 2005 yesterday?). It is also the day that the Indianapolis Colts are coming to town for a football game that now means considerably less to them than it did five days ago.

For a good many weeks, it has been all about the Colts and their run at history, and deservedly so.  They are a great football team, who were pursuing something that hasn't been done since I was a young 21 years of age.  But that all changed last Sunday, at the hands of a hungry and playoff desperate San Diego Chargers team. Now that the Colts have lost a game, and have already secured a first week bye and home field advantage for the balance of the AFC playoffs, players will be doing more resting than previously planned for this Saturday's game.

The game DOES mean something to the Seattle Seahawks, though, on several levels. The first being the need for home field advantage for the playoffs, which a win this weekend will earn for them. Another is a need to overcome a widely held perception that this is a team of lightweights, who are only winning because the NFC is the "weak sister" of the two NFL conferences.

Consider this: The vaunted Colts' offense is 4th overall in the NFL at 371 yards per game. Who is first? The Seahawks, at 381.3 yards per game. The Colts are 12th in rushing yards at 117.8 yards per game. The Seahawks? 3rd--at 156.1 yards per game.  Total points scored year to date:  Indianapolis 235 (4th in the NFL), Seattle 407 (2nd in the NFL). MVP candidates?  Peyton Manning again? Well sure, he was just voted the best mannered person in the US by the Junior Cotillions, and his football/quarterbacking skills cannot be denied. But what about Shaun Alexander?  Does he not currently own the NFL lead in total rushing yards? Is he not poised to break Priest Holmes' record for number of touchdowns in a season? Has he not had 5 1000+ plus yard rushing seasons (not to mention two in a row of 1600+)?

Consider this also. When the Seahawks beat the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday (notice that I said when, not if--being ever the eternal optimist), both teams will own exactly the same season to date won/loss records--13 and 2.  Seattle has already earned a first week bye. This week they are playing for home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, and the right to say that the road to Detroit runs through Seattle (techically, for the Colts anyway, it already does). With Sunday's win over the Tennessee Titans, the Hawks won their 10th game in a row--a franchise record.

All of that being said, what more do the Seahawks need to do to earn a little respect? I say nothing. What do you say? Call me......