Umfragen » I suspect most Seattle Seahawks fans would’ve figured the worst

case scenario out of these conference title games was for the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams to prevail. That’s exactly what happened. And they both did so in overtime.The Rams rallied from 13-0 down to beat the New Orleans Saints 26-23 in overtime Marshawn Lynch Color Rush Jersey , in large part because Sean Payton called a bizarre game, and then Tommy Lee Lewis was allowed to be decleated without penalty on Nickell Robey-Coleman. This would’ve given the Saints anew set of downs and basically they’d have been able to run almost all the clock out and kick the winning field goal. Alas, they kicked the go-ahead field goal, but lost the lead at the end of regulation, then lost the game in overtime.Meanwhile, the New England Patriots had a 14-0 halftime lead at the Kansas City Chiefs, but the Chiefs offense came alive in the 2nd half and the two teams played one of the most exhilarating fourth quarters in recent memory. At the end of the third quarter, it was 17-7 Patriots. By the end of regulation, it was 31-31. Patrick Mahomes made some incredible plays, but the Chiefs defense was just a sieve when it mattered most Earl Thomas III Color Rush Jersey , and Tom Brady enjoyed great pass protection and made clutch third down throws to Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski. Kansas City never saw the ball on offense in overtime, as Rex Burkhead crossed the goal line for the winning points. A 37-31 overtime classic that sees New England get the Lamar Hunt Trophy raised at Arrowhead Stadium, but for the road team.If you despise the Patriots for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is XLIX, this sucks. As does seeing the Seahawks’ biggest rivals in the NFC West also make the big game, as they were favored to do prior to the start of the regular season. Like I said at the top, arguably worst case outcome for most of us.Tom Brady will play in his ninth Super Bowl, and it’s against the same team he won his first Super Bowl against... except the Rams were in St. Louis back in the 2001 season, and the Seahawks were an AFC team. It’ll be on the 17-year anniversary of Super Bowl XXXVI, too.So tune in (or don’t) on February 3rd at 3:40 PM PT on CBS. Game 267 will either mean a sixth Super Bowl for the Patriots or a first NFL title for the city of Los Angeles since the 1980s. Chris Carson didn’t play down to the Arizona Cardinals. The mighty running back finished with one touchdown and 122 rushing yards at 6.4 yards per carry. The second-year runner put up season-totals of 1 Chris Carson Color Rush Jersey ,151 yards and 9 touchdowns on the ground, making his Pro Bowl snub look more and more ridiculous. Now Carson deserves genuine All-Pro consideration. His run with 6:06 left in the third quarter symbolized the spirit that Carson’s toughness brings to this team. After defensive holding saved the Seattle Seahawks from fumbling the ball over for an embarrassing touchdown and loss of the lead, Carson responded. For Brian Schottenheimer, this gift of a first down on Seattle’s own 11-yard line was the time to try something different. The Seahawks are predominantly an inside zone running team. One layer they have off this is “duo”, a gap-blocked change-up.Dropping back, Russell Wilson went to his left. That, combined with the overall movement of the offensive line, saw the Cardinals flow aggressively to the right. After all, they had been frequently running to the left. Left tackle Duane Brown and left guard Ethan Pocic blocked as though it were inside zone. Brown went for EDGE defender Chandler Jones in the bear front; Pocic mauled Pasoni Tasini. The duo element was the two double teams on the backside. Center Justin Britt and right guard Germain Ifedi double-teamed nose tackle Corey Peters. Helped by Vontarrius Dora stepping inside when reading the blocks, right tackle George Fant and tight end Nick Vannett were able to double-team the defensive lineman out of the c-gap. Meanwhile George Fant Color Rush Jersey , tight end Ed Dickson—motioned in to wingback—kicked out EDGE defender Haason Reddick well into the d-gap.Wilson’s drop was a lie. Instead, he turned and handed the ball to the other side. Carson, after syncing his footwork with the handoff, took the gap footwork typical of duo and got downhill quickly. Wilson’s turn and Carson’s counter-ish footwork were the pieces of misdirection. (Typically, as illustrated by Geoff Schwartz, the quarterback would drop to that side, the double teams would be on the immediate playside and the back wouldn’t do his slight delay)Reading middle linebacker Gerald Hodges’ aggressive scraping inside to the b-gap, Carson moved his read to the gaping d-gap. Seattle blocked this marvellously. Free in the space of the murdered c- and d-gaps, after strong safety Budda Baker got caught trying to fit secondary force, Carson ran for a gain that was more than double his previous professional AND collegiate long (excluding JUCO):The Seahawks looked shaky. They were in a spot. The game felt like it was turning. And then it wasn’t. Carson surged for 61 yards. On the next play Rashaad Penny Color Rush Jersey , Schottenheimer gave Wilson a quick, short bootleg to Vannett for a first down. Seattle then extended their margin after Mike Davis bounced a run outside for a touchdown. Sure, they huffed and puffed; Arizona at home appears destined to always be hard work; Seattle threatening to give the game away certainly made for tough watching. But they were running super vanilla gameplans on both sides of the football. Worse, Mike Solari’s offensive line had multiple changes up front. When the #5 seed Seattle Seahawks travel to Dallas for their Saturday encounter, their o-line will be back to full strength. Furthermore, the scheme will be more exploitive. That means the run game—which has a strong inside zone identity—will flash some more fun layers. Chris Carson will lead the way.