After splitting the season series in 2012 as well as beef up their rivalry, the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks have yet to stop competing against one another as both teams have made this off-season an arms race. With the NFC West expected to be a dogfight between the two, both organizations have gotten off to an early start in preparation of claiming the division title in 2013 by adding weapons to their roster. Making the first splash of the off-season was the Seahawks, acquiring wide-receiver and kick return specialist Percy Harvin from the Minnesota Vikings. Hours after learning that Seattle had bulked up their receiving corps, the 49ers made a deal of their own, answering their biggest threat to overtake them in the division with the addition of wide-out Anquan Boldin who last month helped the Baltimore Ravens defeat his new team in Super Bowl XLVII and figures to be a one-year rental at the wide-out position.
San Francisco showed no ill-will towards Boldin putting a dent in the franchise's perfect Super Bowl record, sending a sixth-round pick in next month's draft to Baltimore in exchange for the 3-time Pro-Bowler who is in the final year of his contract. With the 49ers getting a seasoned veteran receiver for what many considered to be a bargain, the Seahawks were forced to give up a little more in return for Harvin who not only brings a little more to the table offensively, but also comes with some baggage as he bumped heads with Vikings personnel on a number of occasions. Not to mention an injury history that has haunted him for much of his young career including a season-ending ankle injury suffered during week 9 this past year. But when healthy, Harvin, a former Rookie of the Year can be the deep threat that Seattle lacked last season as well as one of the most dangerous men on special-teams in the game today. After all, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is somewhat of a wizard when taking on players with a troubled past and developing them into play-makers. And though Harvin may be the better player out of the two now with Boldin's better days in the league behind him, Boldin will help his new team just as much if not more than Harvin will.
With 10 years of NFL experience under his belt, the 32 year old Boldin will replace the four year elder Randy Moss and will be the guiding light and mentor to his fellow 49er wide-outs as Mario Manningham, Michael Crabtree, Kyle Williams and A.J. Jenkins are all under the age of 27. And in case they're in need of some tips, who better to learn from than a man that was credited by former Ravens teammates Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones for making them better receivers. And while Harvin and Boldin are the two biggest names acquired by either team this off-season, they aren't the only ones. Seattle also made an effort to bolster their defensive line with the signings of Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett, an area in which their NFC West counterparts have excelled in. The one area the 49ers are vulnerable at however, is their secondary. With the cornerback position being an issue as seen in the NFC Championship game as well as in the Super Bowl where Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco picked the 49ers apart through the air, we can expect to see some improvement.
And with a stockpile of picks (15 in all) in next month's draft, don't be surprised if coach Jim Harbaugh targets a corner or a safety early on to fill in for the departed Dashon Goldson who recently agreed to terms with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5 years, $41 Million). There's also the possibility of trading for the Jets' Darrelle Revis or signing free-agent Nnamdi Asomugha who's looking to bounce back from two mediocre years in Philadelphia. And a return to the bay area might be just what he needs to regain that form that helped Asomugha make three consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl while with the Raiders, making him one of the most coveted players in free-agency just two years ago. But the closer we get to April's NFL Draft, the likeliness of acquiring one of the aforementioned corners decreases. The 49ers did sign former St. Louis Rams defensive-back Craig Dahl to a three-year deal but that doesn't quite solve their issue. Other notable 49er acquisitions this off-season include former fifth overall pick in 2009 -- defensive-tackle Glenn Dorsey and kicker Phil Dawson who in his 15th NFL season last year was named to his first ever Pro-Bowl with the Cleveland Browns, hopefully solving San Francisco's nightmare kicking situation caused by David Akers last year.
What was once considered to be the weakest division in all of sports as recent as a couple years ago has suddenly transformed into one of the most competitive divisions in all of football. The St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals are quite on the same radar as Seattle and San Francisco are, but even they can put up a fight and win a game on any given Sunday. And though the rivalry between the 49ers and Seahawks has always been one to keep an eye on, it wasn't until just recently that it evolved into one of the game's best. Even the coaches have some history and bad blood between one another dating back to when they both held clipboards at the collegiate level in the Pac10. And with a nucleus of young talent on both sides of the ball including at the quarterback position with two young studs in Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson at the helm, we should be in store for some entertainment for many years to come.
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After Sunday's 34-3 beating the Vikings served the Cowboys, fans have quickly forgotten how weak Minnesota finished the season off. & Similar to year's past, Tony Romo proved he couldn't get over the hump as he went touchdown-less and was taken down by the Vikings defense for a total of six sacks which resulted in three fumbles by the Cowboys quarterback. To make matters worse, Romo also threw an interception, giving him three turnovers on the day, his most since Week 2. The other team's QB however, made sure Dallas wouldn't beat him in the playoffs for a fourth time. Prior to Sunday's game, Brett Favre faced the Cowboys in the postseason a total of three times, all resulting in losses for the future Hall of Famer.Not only did Favre prevent the team from beating him for a fourth time by winning on Sunday, but he did it by setting a personal best, throwing for a playoff career-high four touchdowns. In spite of his magnificent performance, Favre had to give much thanks to the Vikings defense who decided to show up for once, after failing to deliver all season long and cause me my fantasy team(but that's another story). The 'D' held Romo in check all game long and kept him from targeting Miles Austin who has become one of his favorite targets along with TE Jason Witten. Throughout the season Austin has proved to be a nightmare to defend, but finished Sunday's game with only 4 receptions and 34 yards to show for. Witten led all Cowboys with 10 receptions for 98 yards, while neither team's run game would play much of a factor.Helping Favre reach a new career best in postseason touchdowns, was wide-out Sidney Rice who was on the receiving end of three of them. Favre has made a star receiver out of Rice as the two have become a dominant duo this season, connecting for a total of 8 touchdowns. Prior to Favre's arrival this year, Rice had only 8 receiving touchdowns in his first 2 years combined. Rice would finish the day with 6 receptions for 141 yards and 3 touchdowns. But after Favre's fourth and final touchdown pass with just under 2 minutes remaining and the game well out of reach, Cowboys veteran linebacker Keith Brooking had a few words for Favre as he followed the QB back to the sidelines. Brooking complained that the Vikings were rubbing it in and took offense by calling it "totally classless and disrespectful." The Cowboys players called it racking up the score, but it looked almost as if Dallas had given up. Jim Rome said it best on his show 'Jim Rome Is Burning' by saying, "Just because the Cowboys were done competing for the day and wanted to get off the field as fast as they could, it doesn't mean the Vikings were."But despite the 34-point shellacking Jerry Jones' boys received, Jones still believes in his head coach Wade Phillips as the two reached an agreement on an extension to Phillips' contract that will keep him in Dallas through the 2011 season. As disappointment hits Dallas for yet another year, the Minnesota faithful hope to see their team win the Superbowl for the first time in franchise history. & If they do, we all know who to thank, a guy named Brett. With the victory last Sunday, Favre became the first 40 year old starting quarterback to win a playoff game. Not bad for an old man.
BREAKING NEWS: Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings will have to do without Rookie receiver and kick returner Percy Harvin. As of right now Harvin is doubtful with migraines, but could play on Sunday as it'll be a game-time decision.
After the first 12 exciting weeks of what should pan out to be one of the better endings in years past to an NFL season, the favorite to win this season's Rookie of the Year Award could be just as close as the division standings itself. Heading into the 2009 season, many had eyes on former college standouts and players such as Detroit's Matthew Stafford who put up stellar numbers as a Georgia Bulldog, New York's Mark Sanchez who had a breakthrough year as a USC Trojan and San Francisco's Michael Crabtree who became an instant fan favorite at Texas Tech, just to name a few. However another rookie that's been no stranger, is Minnesota's Percy Harvin.Harvin, who was a college star for the Florida Gators last year, received passes thrown by Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow, as the Gators went on to win the BCS Championship in 2008. Harvin is now making a name for himself by receiving passes thrown by none other than Brett Favre. Harvin has feasted off of Favre's MVP-like season, as he totaled a career-high 101 yards receiving including 1 touchdown reception on Sunday against the Bears. Throughout the rest of the season, Harvin has put up some impressive numbers, compiling 5 touchdown receptions and 602 receiving yards, while helping the Vikings continue their dominance in the NFC North with a record of 10-1. The 21st overall pick in the 1st Round of this year's NFL Draft, has also been a key component to the Vikings' special-teams success, by returning kicks, as he's already returned two of them for touchdowns so far this season.My former choice for Rookie of the Year, was Jets Quarterback Mark Sanchez. & Although he put up solid numbers in the opening weeks of the 2009 NFL season, the last big headline he's made involving football, was while he was caught on camera during a national televised game sitting on the sidelines trying to get rid of a tummy ache, eating a hot-dog. The 49ers highly talented receiver Michael Crabtree has had a solid campaign thus far since returning from his 7-week long hold-out to the start of the season, but I believe his debut was a bit too late to actually win the award. If so, those first 7-weeks could become rather costly for rookie.
