THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Sunday, January 18, 2015
Once upon a time, the story goes, there was a heated, hated rivalry percolating between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers.
Hard to believe it was only a year ago when the Current Beasts of the NFL and the Team of the 1980s and Early '90s battled it out in the NFC championship game.
Where, depending on your point of view, Colin Kaepernick's underthrown pass/Richard Sherman's acrobatic deflection led to a game-saving interception in the waning minutes before a deafening crowd/piped-in noise at CenturyLink Field.
The Seahawks, of course, went on to destroy the Denver Broncos two weeks later in the Super Bowl.
THE 49ERS, meanwhile, went on to stumble through a turmoil-filled 8-8 season in 2014, missing the playoffs after three straight trips to the NFC title game, including one Super Bowl appearance.
After years in an antiquated stadium in a scary part of town, the team debuted in a fancy new stadium in a new town - but couldn't figure out how to score touchdowns, much less grow the grass right.
The 49ers offense looked downright offensive, and they went through a "mutual parting of the ways" with the coach who had led the franchise back to among the NFL's elite.
Not only did they push the head coach out the door, they axed most of the assistant coaches. They promoted one of the few remaining coaches from last year's staff to head coach, and will enter the 2015 season with more questions than answers.
Strange how things can change in such a short time.
THEN AGAIN, maybe losing to the Seahawks these days just has that effect on teams.
The Broncos thought they had retooled after that bludgeoning in last year's Super Bowl, and actually stayed in the game when they visited Seattle earlier this season, considering it somewhat of a moral victory.
But a loss at home last week to the Colts in an AFC divisional playoff game was apparently too much for Bronco brass to stomach - the head coach was sent packing and the quarterback was dropping hints that he might have even more time available to film Papa John's commercials.
The stunning turn of events in Denver had people wondering what in the name of John Elway is going on in the Mile-High City.
MAKES YOU wonder what might happen next, if Seattle thrashes the Packers today in the NFC title game, as so many Seahawk bandwagoners expect.
Will Aaron Rodgers and his ailing calf be sent packing from Green Bay, to be replaced by an actual calf? Or perhaps replaced by Brett Favre? Will coach Mike McCarthy be forced to eat an actual cheesehead? Will linebacker Clay Matthews have to cut his hair?
And fast-forward two weeks from now, if the Seahawks make the Patriots cry uncle in the Super Bowl? Will Tom Brady have to leave his supermodel wife? Will Bill Belichick be forced to sell his hoodie collection? Will Rob Gronkowski have to part with his party bus?
At this rate of carnage, the Seahawks could leave the rest of the NFL pretty much a pile of rubble in 2-3 years.
Which will put the onus on the 49ers to fix their problems in a hurry, figure out how to move the ball again with all that talent on offense, so there's at least someone left to challenge the Current Beasts of the NFL.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.