Week 18: Wild Card Weekend Picks, Part II

Seahawks vs. Cowboys
Game Matters Little in Long Run

Saturday, Jan. 6
Dallas (9-7) at Seattle (9-7), 8 p.m.
Here are two more teams that have played terribly the last month-plus of the season. It used to be very rare for such teams to make the playoffs. One of these is a division winner and the other was very nearly so. They are 19th (Seattle, 21.3) and 20th (Dallas, 21.9) in points allowed per game. They are 13th (Dallas) and 14th (Seattle) in rushing offense, but Seattle was without Shawn Alexander for much of the season. Dallas is 5th in passing, Seattle is 20th, but, again, without Matt Hasselback for several games.

Their defenses are diametrically opposed. Dallas has a pretty good rushing defense (10th), while Seattle's is not so good (22nd). Dallas can exploit that with Julius Jones and Marion Barber, two pretty good backs. Seattle has the 16th ranked pass defense, which isn't great, but may pose challenges to the recently merely human Tony Romo. Meanwhile, the Dallas pass defense is just 24th, and Hasselback could pick them apart.

Despite some of the stats, Seattle's early injuries make believe they're the better overall team, but even with a mostly healthy team, they have instilled no confidence in me. Then again, Dallas -- who has no injuries reported -- has done little to convince me they belong here, needing a win last week and losing to the worst team in the NFC.

You might as well flip a coin. I don't think either New Orleans or Chicago care much either.

Prediction: Seahawks, 28-24.

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