Usually when a team in the NFL makes the Playoffs by way of winning the division, they finish with a .500 record or better. That's unless you play in the laughing stock that is the NFC West. In only his first year at the helm, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll made history, but not in the way he would have liked. After Sunday night's 16-6 victory over the division rival St. Louis Rams, the Seattle Seahawks made the record books by becoming the first team in NFL history to win their division and clinch a Playoff berth with a losing record (7-9). Much of that can be credited to a mediocre bunch within the division.
While St. Louis surprised many most notably behind the heroics of top Rookie of the Year candidate Sam Bradford who helped turn a dreadful 1-15 Rams team just a year ago into a possible Playoff contender before falling shy of the Playoffs (7-9), the rest of the teams struggled in the QB department. In Arizona, the hangover that Kurt Warner left behind, was nothing short of obvious as frustration was filled throughout behind the likes of Derek Anderson and Max Hall among others. However, no disappointment was greater than that of the San Francisco 49ers. After finishing the 2009 season with a .500 record of 8-8, many predicted the Mike Singletary led 49ers to not only win the division with ease, but also be a force in the Playoffs. That obviously wasn't the case, as an 0-5 record to start the season dug an early hole for the franchise that saw Alex Smith and Troy Smith juggle the starting QB job.
Although there's been a handful of team to make the Playoffs with .500 records, never has it been this sad, as two teams in the NFC with 10-6 records (New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers) will miss out on a shot to the Super Bowl. Whether or not they're more deserving, is entirely up to the commissioners office to do something about it. Of coarse nothing will be done this season if ever, but it's a for sure topic to be addressed come next football season. Hoping to silence the critics, the Seahawks will host the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints who won the NFC Wild Card. Hours after Seattle won their seventh game of the year to assure them a playoff spot, sports books around the States released their odds that have the Saints winning by double-digits. But to Seattle's credit, the self-proclaimed '12th Man' will do everything possible to make it tough on Drew Brees and company, as they'll enter the most hostile environment in the NFL -- Qwest Field.
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