-- the Jesus Lizard, "And Then The Rain"

The NFL's 2008 Wild Card Wknd has arrived at the same time as this rainstorm front. It's forecasted to be wet at both of Saturday's games as well, so we Bay Area folks can feel better about whinin' how the weather outside is frightful as we snuggle into blankets, safe and warm, sipping Mexican chocolate as we watch the games. As long as the power stays on...

* Washington vs Seattle
Saturday, January 5, 2008. 1:30 PM, PST.
Wild Card 2008
Battle Of The Wounded

Washington is still riding the emotional wave of FS Sean Taylor's untimely death, and gashed their way into the playoffs by beating (an admittedly resting-for-the-postseason) archrival Dallas by 21 points. 21 was Sean's jersey number. Now this ragtag just-good-enough emotionally-charged franchise heads northwest to Seattle.

Photo via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The cold-fish Seahawks have the unenviable task of trying to defeat a team that has become a memorial wake on-the-field. The Hawks are unwillingly become the opposing force in Washington's storyline. No fun.

And no run game. Seattle still misses former LG Steve Hutchison (long gone; poached by the Vikings), and their run game has sucked so hard that it's been given up. The Seahawks have become one-dimensional, dragging their dead run game behind them like a wolf that'd chewed off its leg to get out of a trap. The crazy part? It's worked. Shaven-headed QB Matt Hasslebeck has had a fantastic season executing Head Coach Holmgren's pure form of the West Coast Offense, and it may provide enough firepower to get Seattle through.

Both teams are hurt, but in different ways. Who will survive?

And then the rain / and then the rain / and then the rain / beats down on me