I haven’t made my disdain for Pete Carroll known to many people, but I believe he is the biggest, well one of the biggest phonies in the NFL.  And there are plenty to go around.  What he has built though in Seattle is pretty amazing.  He had the foundation in place with the acquisition of Marshawn Lynch.  The same former first round pick of the Buffalo Bills, who were quick to let him loose. Now he did have some off field issues which led to that, but to his credit he has been a model citizen in Seattle.  Carroll is one of the brashest head coaches in the game.  He doesn’t hide the fact that he likes to run up the score on opponents.  Just ask the Bills about that fake punt Carroll pulled on them when the Seahawks were up by 30.  With Lynch and the defense being a solid force.  All Carroll needed was a quarterback.  We all thought Matt Flynn was going to be the guy, but low and behold third round pick Russell Wilson took the job instead.  Besides Robert Griffin and Andrew Luck, folks should be looking closer at Wilson.  After the performance he’s done this season it will be tough to duplicate it in the playoffs, but I’m sure no one wants to play this team whether it’s in Seattle or somewhere else.

It hasn’t been a secret that the Pittsburgh Steelers have changed their identity.  When you think of this franchise, immediately you think of a tough run first and dominating defensive team.  Those days are long gone.  They haven’t had a consistent running game since the days of Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker.  The defense has been good, but they have suffered through lapses of inconsistency for a while now.  It seems that they’ve gotten older in a hurry too.  They have been a good offensive team, but only when they can keep their quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on his feet for most of the game.  Now the Steelers have one of the most loyal fan bases in the league.  They will still support this team, but there is no doubt that they need to fix the holes and fast.  The last time the Steelers missed the playoffs in consecutive years was 1999-2000.  I don’t think their fans want to see that happen again. 

It’s been setup as a winner take all matchup with their division rival the Dallas Cowboys.  This is starting to bring back memories of classic rivalry games between these two.  Whoever wins will automatically clinch the NFC East and host a playoff game.  Most would rather see the Washington Redskins since they have Robert Griffin leading the way.  Of course the Dallas Cowboys have the dubious distinction of being called ‘America’s team’.  But regardless of what folks want, this should be a good game.  One thing the NFL has done right is making sure that games in the last week of the season matter somewhat.  All teams play a division opponent and they changed the schedule so that playoff scenarios wouldn’t be known until later that night.  Get ready for a fight to the finish in the final week of the season.