Ten Reasons The Redskins Can Beat The Seahawks

To listen to anyone in the media, the Washington Redskins have about as much of a chance of upsetting the Seattle Seahawks as Angelina Jolie's child has of growing up well-adjusted. It's not surprising that people are picking Seattle (the Seahawks should be big favorites in the game), but many analysts are actually guaranteeing the game won't be close.
Some schmo on ESPN.com named Matt Williamson hosted a chat on Monday and said there is "no chance" the Redskins can win. No chance? The same way there was no chance Broadway Joe and the Jets could upset the Colts in Super Bowl III? Is that the same chance Buster Douglass had to beat Mike Tyson or the 16 1/2 point underdog New England Patriots had of upsetting the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI?
Saying a team has no chance to win a game is utterly ridiculous unless they're playing the Globetrotters. That's why they play the games, as Chris Berman is fond of saying. If there was "no chance" of Washington winning, nobody would watch the game and analysts on TV certainly wouldn't be talking about it.
There's a big difference between being "not likely" to win than having "no chance" to win. Every year the NCAA Tournament sees teams that had "no chance" to play on the weekend doing just that. Upsets happen all the time. To listen to fools like Williamson, the Redskins beating Seattle would be like a #16 knocking off a #1. In actuality, it'd be like a #11 besting a #6.
So of course the Redskins have a chance. It doesn't mean they'll win or that it will even be close, but when Saturday's Divisional Playoff kicks-off in Seattle, the score will be 0-0. And at that point, the Washington Redskins definitely have a chance.
My prediction will come tomorrow, but until then, here's ten reasons why the Redskins can beat the Seahawks.

1) Excluding their meaningless late-season games with the Colts and Packers (W and L, respectively), the Seahawks have played four teams with a winning record and have split those contests. The Redskins, meanwhile, have played eleven teams with a winning record and are 6-5 in those games.

2) The Seahawks two wins against teams with winning records came via monumental gaffes by their opponents. In week 7 against Dallas, Drew Bledsoe threw an ill-advised last-second interception that set up a game-winning Seattle FG. Five weeks later, in another home game against an NFC East opponent, Giants kicker Jay Feely missed three makeable FGs in the 4th quarter and overtime. Don't tell me Seattle is invincible at home.

3) In his nine games against teams with records worse than 6-10, Alexander is averaging 131.1 yards and 2.33 touchdowns. In four games against teams with winning records, Shaun Alexander is averaging 85.5 yards and .5 touchdowns. If A. Rod doesn't play in the World Baseball Classic, maybe Shaun A. could take his place, seeing as they both love piling up stats against inferior opponents but never seem to get it done in big games.

4) Everyone talks about how difficult it is to win a Wild Card and Divisional Playoff game on the road. And they're right. Only twice since the NFL expanded to a 12-team playoff in 1990 have teams won road games in the first two rounds of the playoffs. The last team to do it was the 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars. Their quarterback? Mark Brunell.

5) Joe Gibbs has a career 18-5 record in the playoffs and is 19-4 in games played in January.

6) The Seahawks franchise has not won a playoff game since 1984, the longest such current drought in the NFL. Under Holmgren, Seattle is 0-3 in the playoffs, including a home-loss last season to the underdog St. Louis Rams.

7) Mike Holmgren is a very good coach, but he wasn't won a playoff game without Brett Favre. Joe Gibbs, on the other hand, is a very great coach and has won playoff games and Super Bowls with Jay Schroeder, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien.

8) Seattle tackle Walter Jones is one of, if the not the, best offensive lineman in football. This should help quell Philip Daniels, but the strength of the Redskins d-line is not on the outside but in the middle with Cornelius Griffin and Joe Salave'a.

9) The Redskins have played four "rematch" games this season (Dallas, New York, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia). In the first games against those teams, Washington went 2-2 and was outscored 95-66. In the rematches, Washington was undefeated, outscoring the opposition 118-57. Gibbs took them from a 29-point deficit to a 61-point advantage, a 90-point turnaround. This leads me to #10, the most important fact on this list:

10) Week 3: Washington 20 - Seattle 17. It's one thing to think the Redskins won't win. But to think they can't, especially in light of the fact they've already beaten Seattle this season, is absurd.
Picks tomorrow.