Before Saturday, winless Stanford hadn't scored a TD in like 5 weeks. They scored 2 Saturday vs UW.

UW scored 3 points.

Just forfeit the Apple Cup right now.

Also, THANK GOD Gil Meche has left. I was sick and tired of his emo pitcher schtick two years ago.

I was at the hawks game yesterday. the place came unglued after the kick return for a td. but the rams really gave us that one. their decision to challenge the reception instead of kicking the field goal and then the personal foul that had them kick off from their own fifteen basically set us up to win. if you start on the fifty with a buck thirty left, you'd better either score a td or get the field goal!

I have to say that the end of the bears game was pretty impressive. 108 yd fg return? crazy

Amen Gomez! Watching Gil Meche pitch was like watching a Bee Gees concert on PBS. We hardly knew ya Gil. Good luck in Kansas City or whoever the hell takes u.

Two more years for Mr. Willingham and is time to start looking for another coach. I am still cheering for him.

I hate them Bears, but that was a sweet return after the field goal miss. He had all the Giants fooled. They actually had stopped and some were turning to walk towards the sidelines.

The Huskies should watch tapes of Rutgers' incredible season, and get some inspiration.

The Hawks have STILL been outscored on the season. Luckiest team in the NFL. If they played in a division with real teams in it they'd be 3-6.

Good riddance, Gilga Meche.

It's good to be on top. Normally, that's something my brother would write. Now, Seattle's in a weak-and-getting-weaker division, and seem poised to be one of the two teams with a bye week in the postseason. Thanks, in no small part, to losses by the Saints and Vikings as well as the Bears victory over the Giants.

Lots of time for things to get screwed up again, but I'm still anticipating live-slogging the NFC championship game from somewhere in or near Soldier Field.

You Hawks-bashers are missing a critical point in your mid-season assessment of the team. Despite missing 5 key offensive starters, we still have the 2nd best record in the NFC. Yes, the NFC is weak compared to the AFC, and yes, the NFC West is particularly lacking in powerhouse teams. If we had all our starters and had our current record, I'd be on the "Seahawks suck!" bandwagon with you. But the fact that we've managed to squeak by and win games with 2nd or 3rd string players, well, that speaks to our depth and great coaching. Just wait until we get Hasselbeck and Alexander back, both with fresh legs, to finish out the season. See you all in Miami!

Great Hawks game. I loved seeing it played in the heavy weather. Therefore not too surprised by Wallace's fumbles.

Jerramy Stevens: Nice catch.

Josh "Vinatieri" Brown, you are loved by many, feared by more.

Charles, you nailed it. The punt return was the big turnaround. The back-juke, and deeking the K into the other Ram there was dainty. Utter calm in Burleson's eyes as he accelerated and pulled away.

No Meche? Sure, but that's one more pitcher to find. Can Willie picth, you know, in a pinch?

College Football -- Isn't that just youth football sans the parental oversight? I'm with Fnarf. Too many College sperm, only one NFL egg. I can't keep up on all these eventual player sad-endings. See ya in the pros, super-buddy.

@7 I agree, however I have to say that while the hawks cut through the rams like a hot knife through butter in the first half, I also watched as they got like zero yards in the third quarter. They needed a big momentum change, and it was obvious that it was going to have to be the defense of special teams to bring it because the offense couldn't get any decent field position.

a big credit goes to our defense which came up with several big stops while the offense was going three-and-out. by keeping the rams for getting on the board they kept us in it.

we got through this period with missing starters in pretty good shape, and i'm looking forward to getting our guys back in there. it will be good to play a few soft games so they can get up to speed before we go to denver. after denver we won't have a tough game until week 16 (versus now 7-2 san diego).

looking at this schedule, I could actually see us close the gap on chicago so I wouldn't get your heart set on a windy city rematch just yet, bill.

The Mariners now need two starting pitchers. They've got Felix and the overpaid Jarrod Washburn, plus will give the #5 spot to either Jake Woods or Cha Seung Baek, who were inoffensive during their trials as starters last season.

I just hope they don't indulge their local boy fetish and go after Adam Eaton, whose right arm is practically being held together by rubber bands and tape. Jason Schmidt's gonna be overpriced but he'll at least be good.

i am willing to concede that the NFC West is weak. it is. but could bears fans take a look around? NFC North is not exactly a powerhouse--not a winning record in the bunch of bears' punching bags, either.

@9 and @11:

First, Charles, 'Hawks fans MUST root for a re-match--you want to beat a team that beat you to get to the Super Bowl, just for the sake of comeuppance.

And hey Chops, you're right: NFC North is weak, never said it wasn't. The whole NFC is the NL of the NFL. Of course, one reason it's weak is because the Bears have already beaten each team in it once. But one team out of it will be in the Super Bowl. . . .

The Bears looked like "they were who we thought they were" all over again with the Giants D disrupting the Bears O and crushing wee little Rex a couple times in the first half. But, Jesus, that draw play to Thomas Jones, then the clowned-up 108(!) yd runback ended up sorting it out. All about concentration and stamina, as always. Ouch.

The Lambs coach blew it with that ASININE challenge. Did anyone bother to mention to him that is would still be 4th down!?!??! FUCK!!!!

That pretty much does it for the NFC West. Congrats Seahags.

Right, Mike. Looked like confusion on that one. Or Linehan's just a bit hesitant as to when to play which of his cards. Maybe, regardless of the challenge, he is thinking that he needs the 7 and not the 3 right then, with a chunk of time still to go for the Hawks on O. If he doesn't get the 7, he can hopefully get the stop on D, have Bulger get them downfield and and then get the 3............

The good: Less defensive breakdowns. 4 more sacks. Solid running game reappearing. Burleson returning punts might be a nice spark.
The bad: Still too much pressure on the QB. Thankfully Wallace evaded much of it (except that hit from Little). Hasselbeck ain't going to survive unless the protection shores up more. Plackenmeier does not seem to be upgrade over Ruen.

All-in-all I have to agree that the Seahawks are sitting pretty despite missing 5 offensive starters - including 3 pro-bowlers.

Ready for the lamest Apple Cup since '01?

I must agree that the Seahawks have done pretty well for a team that lost its starting QB and tailback for a month. Yes, they're in a weak NFC West that they can win as long as they give a C effort, but still, this game was ripe for the taking by the Rams, and they escaped with some great plays, plus you can't say they haven't been competitive in most of their losses.