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With three out of four wild card games in the books (or very nearly so), all that's left to decide is whether the Washington Redskins or the Seattle Seahawks earn the right to advance and face the Falcons next week in the divisional round of the 2013 NFL playoffs.
Christian Ponder was a last-minute scratch from the Vikings' active roster yesterday, and backup QB Joe Webb just did not have what it takes to overcome either his own shortcomings or the performance of his counterpart Aaron Rodgers and the rest of the Green Bay Packers, and the Packers won 24-10. That means that even though I wasn't very close on the score, I did pick the correct winner of this game in yesterday's open thread post, putting me at 2-0 so far on my 2013 playoff picks.
By the end, the teams will put up right about their average scoring rate in the season, and the Packers move on, 27-24.
Now that we've got yesterday's action covered, let's see what is the what for the Seahawks-Redskins game.
What's being hyped as the Rookie QB Elimination Bowl should be filled with plenty of excitement as the second overall pick in the 2012 draft, Robert Griffin III and the Redskins host 3rd-round selection and unexpected 2012 starter wunderqb Russell Wilson and the Seahawks. Both quarterbacks have shown great leadership in leading their respective teams to successful seasons in their first year in the league.
I've been talking team trends before making my other picks in this wild card round, so there's no reason to change that here...
The Redskins have gone on a seven-game winning streak to storm back and clinch the NFC East title after bottoming out at 3-6 midseason, so there's no doubt as to the momentum they have built up. Meanwhile, the Seahawks have won five straight games behind a stout young defense, the great running of Marshawn Lynch, the undersized but overperforming phenom at QB, and the exuberant and infectious sideline personality of Pete Carroll.
So who's going to win, HansDat? Redskins fans have been pointing to the fact that all five of the Seahawks' losses have come on the road this year as their stake to victory, but I feel that RGIII's leg will slow him down just enough to allow the Seattle defense to bottle him up (as well as running back and fellow rookie star Alfred Morris). Look for the Seahawks to win going away, 24-21.
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Enjoy the game, everyone, and enjoy the live chat, too!!