Coffee & Cigarettes: Seahawks links for Wednesday

Happy Xmas!

Pete Carroll: Percy Harvin could go on Seahawks' IR - NFL.com
Asked whether the Seahawks would need to make a move with Harvin's surgically repaired hip not making progress, Carroll said, via the team's official website, "That may happen."

Notebook: Seahawks could move Harvin to IR - 710sports.com
There's no change in Percy Harvin's status with the Seahawks.

Seahawks' run game struggling to find footing | KING5.com Seattle
For the first 10 games of the season, the Seattle Seahawks were the best in the NFL at running the football. The last five games they haven't even been average.

Christmas Eve mock draft | Seahawks Draft Blog
What’s one of the toughest things to do when putting a mock together?

Golden Tate expects trash talking Sunday - Seattle Seahawks Blog - ESPN
Seattle receiver Golden Tate knows he isn’t the most popular guy in St. Louis. And he’s OK with that.

Christmas Eve in Hawkville: Seahawks talking about controlling their own destiny
Despite the recent losses to the 49ers and Cardinals, the 12-3 Seahawks still can clinch the NFC West title and everything that comes with that by beating the St. Louis Rams in their regular-season finale.

Coaches and teammates expecting Russell Wilson to bounce back
After three uncharacteristic performances, which have followed three of the best games of his career, the focus is on Russell Wilson as the second-year QB and his team have one last chance to wrap up the NFC West title.

Pete Carroll: "Our division is ridiculously tough"
News, notes and personnel updates from Pete Carroll's Week 17 Tuesday press conference at Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

Christine Michael's time will have to wait in Seattle - ESPN
“He’s working his way in and we think he has great promise for the future,” coach Pete Carroll said of Michael Monday on 710 ESPN Seattle radio. “But he’s still a young guy trying to break in.”

News, notes and quotes: Roster move with Harvin may be near | Seahawks Insider - The News Tribune
Pete Carroll was asked Tuesday if the Seahawks would soon have to make a move with Harvin and determine whether he can play this year. “That may happen,” Carroll said.

Morning links: Does a fullback help Lynch’s rushing? | Seahawks Insider - The News Tribune
Here’s the table with the percentage of snaps a fullback played that game and the total offensive snaps, who the primary fullback was and Lynch’s results:

Seahawks agitated, not panicked | Seattle Seahawks | The News Tribune
Pete Carroll caught the falling sky and put it back together Monday.

Kaepernick, Bowman changed play-calls in 49ers' win - NFL.com
Colin Kaepernick and NaVorro Bowman both eschewed called plays and went with their instincts in the San Francisco 49ers' win over the Falcons. Was Jim Harbaugh fine with the players waving him off?

Harry Douglas victim of NaVorro Bowman's magic - NFL.com
The Atlanta Falcons had a chance to avenge last season's playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but Harry Douglas saw the ball raked away by NaVorro Bowman, who raced into Candlestick Park lore.

NFL Power Rankings: Broncos back atop heap of flawed title contenders - NFL - CBSSports.com
The playoffs are gonna be wild because elite clubs -- even the Seahawks at home -- have blemishes. Seattle's loss springs Denver back to No. 1.

Top NFL Rookie of Week 16: Pittsburgh Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell - CBSSports.com
Logging his first career 100-yard rushing performance to power the Steelers over the Packers and their first-year star running back Eddie Lacy earns Bell the nod.

1 injured, 30 arrested following 49ers win at Candlestick Park - CBSSports.com
After 42 years, the Giants said goodbye to Candlestick Park, with a 34-24 victory over the Falcons. But after the game, police said at least one person was hurt and 30 others were arrested.

The All-22: The NFL’s division leaders, and their potentially fatal flaws | Audibles - SI.com
Not to rain on anybody's parade during the holidays or anything, but there isn't really one dominant team in the NFL right now. That's great for the league's parity model, but the fans of every team lining up for the playoffs can find at least one weak spot to worry about on the road to the Supe...

NFL Draft 2014 Bowl Preview: Jace Amaro, other prospects to watch | Audibles - SI.com
The college football bowl season is in full swing, which means we have one last chance to steal a look at some potential future NFL players. Here are some guys to keep an eye on during the second week of postseason games: Hawaii Bowl: Boise State vs. Oregon State (Dec. 24, 8:00 p.m.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Week 16 DVOA Ratings
Remember all that stuff from last week about how Seattle had climbed into the all-time DVOA top five because unlike a number of historically great team, they didn't have a letdown in Week 15? Well, apparently they decided to have a letdown in Week 16 instead. Of course, Seattle was so far ahead of the rest of the league that the loss to Arizona doesn't take the Seahawks out of the No. 1 spot. It does drop them down the list of all-time great teams. Seattle now stands as the No. 8 team in DVOA through 15 games.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Clutch Encounters: Week 16
Some of the best games on paper never make it to this column because they were not the close encounter we expected. Colts-Chiefs, Patriots-Ravens and Bears-Eagles each lacked in competitiveness down the stretch (or earlier) in Week 16. Sunday night might as well have been one long cigarette break for Jay Cutler. We did have 10 comeback opportunities and it's good to know the Dallas Cowboys are reliable enough to give us a great finish.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Any Given Sunday: Cardinals Over Seahawks
Arizona came into Seattle as nine-point underdogs and delivered the Seahawks their first home defeat since Christmas Eve 2011. With a stingy defense that held Seattle to just 3.8 yards per play, the Cardinals were able to overcome four Carson Palmer interceptions and come away with a 17-10 victory.

What’s the Correct Margin-of-Victory Cap For the NFL?
The Simple Rating System is a many-splendored thing, but a known bug of the process is that huge outlier scoring margins can have undue influence on the rankings. Take the 2009 NFL season, for instance, during which the Patriots led the NFL in SRS in no small part because they annihilated the Titans 59-0 in a snowy October game that tied for the second-most lopsided margin of victory in NFL history. Outside of that single game, the Patriots’ PPG margin was +5.2, which wouldn’t have even ranked among the league’s top ten teams, but the SRS (particularly because it minimizes squared prediction errors between actual outcomes and those expected from team ratings) gave the 59-0 win a lot of weight, enough to propel New England to the #1 ranking. (A placement that looked downright laughable, I might add, when the Pats were crushed at home by Baltimore on Wild Card Weekend.)