Welcome to not-as-rainy-as-earlier-today Seattle, where kickoff is minutes away, as long as they clear the field of the snoke from the pregame intros. Thanks for being patient, and sorry for leaving you so long with that Arthur Blank fried-chicken comment. Not a good way to freeze the blog.

No one expects this to be a good game. The Seattle papers this weekend are full of stories of how the Seahawks fell on their faces last week against Carolina, and how they either have no running game, or Mike Holmgren apparently hates using the running game. We know what there is to watch from the Ravens' side: Troy.

Here's the problem. The rest of the NFL is unwatchable, too. So far: the Browns, with a chance to keep pace with the Steelers, just gagged against Cincinnati. So the Steelers clinch the AFC North, but they have to go the rest of the way without Willie Parker.

The Cowboys may have lost T.O. for God knows how long, so they're suddenly vulnerable. Door's open for the Packers, right? Nope, they just got shellacked in Chicago by the Bears, who, as we all know, really stink. The Sportsman of the Year threw two picks, one that got returned 85 yards by Brian Urlacher for a TD, and totaled 153 yards. So the Packers have to go through Dallas, if they get there. And if Dallas gets there.

And last but not least, the Saints turned back into the Saints at home, losing to the Eagles handily. They're pretty much out.

This all continues to reduce the prospects of a postseason that follows a pretty pathetic regular season to what it had seemed to be from the beginning: the Patriots-Colts AFC championship game. The elite in the NFC aren't so elite anymore: you can't trust the Cowboys without T.O., and you can't trust the Packers on the road. In the AFC, the Steelers are weakened and the Browns aren't quite the team of destiny yet. Jacksonville, you say? They drilled the Raiders at home, but that doesn't prove anything.

Nope, we're back to a one-game postseason, and that game isn't even the Super Bowl.

Oh well, at least there's Maryland basketball to look forward to. I mean ... uh ... never mind.