NFL Playoffs.... Redskins vs Seahawks

In the second of this Saturday's games, the big story is Joe Gibbs rallying the troops after the death of safety Sean Taylor and sneaking into the playoffs. Although there is no way the Redskins would have made the playoffs if they were an AFC team, they have put together some nice wins over the past few weeks. The have taken out the NY Giants, Minnesota Vikings, and Dallas Cowboys, all in convincing fashion. They have been winning the Joe Gibbs way, playing stingy defense and by utilizing the power run game. The defense has shut down Brandon Jacobs, rookie sensation Adrian Peterson, and pro bowler Marion Barber in three consecutive weeks, and if this trend continues, it does not look good for Seattle. Todd Collins has been the X-factor for the Redskins in their current win streak. He has been making accurate passes, and not making mistakes. He has a quarterback rating of 106.4, has thrown 5 touchdowns to zero interceptions, and has completed almost 64% of his passes. Plus the players and coaches have seemingly been brought closer together by a common cause...playing for Sean Taylor.
Seattle is a decent team playing in a weak NFC west, and is going to need a big game out of Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck in order to beat the Redskins. Hasselbeck will be looking to connect with Deion Branch and pick apart the Washington secondary. However he will not be able to do so. Washington will shut down Shaun Alexander who has been plagued by injuries all year long, and his back up Mack Strong is a nice running back to spell Alexander, but nothing more. Without that running game it will be all on Matt Hasselbeck to move the chains and win the game, and that is not his game. The only thing Seattle will have going for them is the home field advantage. I will not downplay this at all, it is one of the best home field advantages in the NFL and the Stadium was specifically designed so the acoustics of the building will result in a lot of crowd noise.
All that being said, the Redskins will win this football game. They will run the ball, play good defense and by doing so, will control the rowdy Seattle crowd. Final score, 28-24.