NFC Championship Preview

The Seattle Seahawks are soaring after their victory Saturday over the Washington Redskins in the playoffs, proving they can win against a formidable defense even without the help of league MVP Shaun Alexander.

It wasn’t just the injury bug that struck Mike Holmgren’s team this past weekend, it was the injury plague. Alexander took a hit early and left the game with a concussion, starting wide receiver Darrell Jackson was in and out with a sore back and even their sturdy left tackle Walter Jones had to leave the game when he came up hurting after a play.

Carolina Panthers (13-5) at Seattle Seahawks (14-3)
6:30 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 22, 2006, on Fox”

Yet, despite all that, Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck looked like Holmgren’s new Brett Favre, capitalizing on solid throws and leading his team to a 20-10 victory and justifying their home-field advantage for the NFC championship game.

If the Seahawks do beat the Panthers in the upcoming championship game, NFL fans could be in for another Mike Shanahan vs. Holmgren Super Bowl like in 1998 when Shanahan’s Broncos defeated Holmgren’s Packers. Neither coach had won a playoff game since that year until last weekend.

Unfortunately for the Seahawks, nobody has told the Panthers it’s not 2004, when unlikely Carolina upset the heavily touted top-seeded Philadelphia to head to the Super Bowl and pull within a field goal of winning the Lombardi trophy.

Will history repeat itself? Will the Panthers, who find themselves in the familiar position of underdog, knock off another heavy-hitting number-one team?

The Panthers have looked dominant thus far, blanking the New York Giants in the playoffs before putting up 29 points on the tenacious Chicago Bears defense.

Carolina wide receiver Steve Smith is making a strong case for himself as the most dominant playmaker in the league after making the Bears’ defensive backs fall all over themselves on his two touchdown catches.