Now's the chance to choose what you'll regret...

Matt Hasselbeck will start at quarterback for the Seahawks this Sunday in Tampa, which neither pleases or upsets me at this point. While I'm a Beck-jersey wearing, #8 loyalist, I'd switch to Whitehurst this week if I was Seattle's head coach. I think that CW's mobility and arm-strength give us a slightly better chance to win these last two games (and the playoff games that hopefully follow), given Hasselbeck's complete meltdown over the last two games.

The pivotal question is... what do you think is more likely?

A) Charlie Whitehurst, in his 2nd and 3rd NFL starts, plays well enough to lead Seattle to victory and get the Seahawks into the playoffs.

OR

B) Matthew Hasselbeck returns to at least COMPETENT quarterback play over the next two games, and leads Seattle into the playoffs.

I lean slightly towards option A, but I can understand why Coach Carroll has went with option B. Notice what is left out of this equation: The 2011 season. No, I don't think we need to "see what we've got" in Whitehurst. We already know- He's not Hasselbeck's replacement, but the back-up to Hasselbeck's replacement. Some people are saying "we spent a 3rd rounder on him" as if that alone means we HAVE TO put him out on the field. First of all, that's a classic example of being trapped by sunk costs, which is toxic for any organization's long-term success. Plus, we spent a 3rd on David Greene. Did that mean he was entitled to a few regular season starts? Fuck no.

I'm continually amazed at how much Seahawks fans are discounting an opportunity to make the playoffs. You can't swing a Sounders FC scarf in Seattle without hitting some morose mother fucker who is convinced that the Seahawks are doomed to get trucked in the Wild Card round, so why bother making the playoffs?

All I can say is that Pete Carroll isn't thinking that way, and neither is any coach or player on Seattle's roster. Every NFL team, in every season, wants to make the playoffs. If Pete Carroll started doing things aimed at the 2011 season, while the team is still IN CONTROL OF ITS PLAYOFF DENSITY DESTINY (Christ, who am I? George McFly?), and not aimed at this campaign's post-season, he wouldn't just be misguided- He'd be guilty of football malpractice. As long as Seattle has any, even infinitesimal, chance at reaching XLV, Carroll is OBLIGATED to try to get there. Why is this SO HARD for some Twelves to comprehend?

Tampa Bay and St. Louis are beatable teams. If Hasselbeck simply avoids turnovers, the Seahawks can and WILL win both games- Which means the defense, special teams, and running game have to help the Seahawks avoid falling behind (which is when Beck is pressing badly and at his worst).

I want the Seahawks to make the playoffs for direct, simple reasons of my own personal joy. But I've reached a point where I also want the Seahawks to win the NFC West in part as a "Fuck You" to the negative, fatalistic, downtrodden wing of the Twelve Army that has come to anger me more and more as this season has progressed.

What do you think, sirs?