Williams, Clayton weigh-in on NFC’s elite
Oct 26, 2010, 6:24 PM | Updated: Apr 4, 2011, 7:54 pm
By Michael Simeona/MyNorthwest.com intern
The Seahawks are perched atop the NFC West at 4-2, so is it too soon to consider them the favorites in the NFC?
Former head coach Tony Dungy jumped the gun on NBC’s Football Night in America, saying the Seahawks are the team to beat in the conference. While his comments created quite the stir with co-hosts Dan Patrick and Rodney Harrison, is it premature to consider the Seahawks a powerhouse in the NFC?
Eric Williams of the Tacoma News Tribune thinks it’s too soon to anoint a leader in the race f
or home field advantage in the NFC.
“If that question was posed to me I would select none of the above” Williams said on Tuesday’s show. “I don’t know if a team deserves to be anointed as the best team in the NFC right now. If somebody were to hold a gun to my head I would probably go with Green Bay. I think they have the best overall talent right now, it’s just they are nicked up and banged up.”
While the Seahawks have gotten off to a hot start in the early portion of the season, they still have room to grow before being considered a contender in the NFC, said Williams.
“I think once this team gets better offensively and gets more efficient offensively, and they are certainly doing that by finding players like Mike Williams and Marshawn Lynch, then this team will be over the top. Right now maybe they are fourth or fifth best in the NFC, which is certainly better than anybody expected at this point. I picked them to win six games and they already got four.”
ESPN senior NFL analyst John Clayton thinks Dungy’s comments are indicative of a weak conference, especially considering the Seahawks are in the middle of a rebuilding stage.
“I think that’s a little bit of a reach there, yeah they have the best record in a bad division. I think they are getting better, but I think what Tony is kind of indicating is that there is not any really solid great teams in the NFC.
“If it goes the way it has for the most part where everybody is just knocking each other off, you very well are going to have a lot of mediocre teams make the playoffs and a lot more nine and possibly eight win teams” said Clayton.
Do you consider the Seahawks as a legitimate contender in the NFC?
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