Matt Hasselbeck – Super Bowl rerun with Steelers

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Matt can not pass on his revenge

The Seattle Seahawks want revenge from two years ago.

Seattle lost that Super Bowl to Pittsburgh and can’t seem to get the taste of that defeat out of their mouth.

Matt Hasselbeck says it will not just be another game.

He wants this one bad.

This is revenge!

Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck told us this week, “To some of us, this really means a great deal. To myself, Shaun Alexander, to Walter Jones, Mack Strong, Lofa Tatupu, guys like that, this game really means a lot. On the other hand, there are a bunch of new guys on this team, like Julian Peterson, Deon Grant, Brian Russell, Deion Branch, Nate Burleson, Marcus Pollard, they weren’t even here. That game hurt. It took us a while to get over that game. We are still not over that game. But it is a different year. They have a new coaching staff. And that’s a tough team and tough place to play. We don’t forget what happened but we have to be focused on the 2007 Steelers. Hopefully we can learn from what Arizona did to help us get a win.” source

A lot of time has past and this is not the same Seahawks and not the same Steelers, but you can’t help feeling that this will be a mini-Super Bowl all in its own.

Matt wants revenge for that Super Bowl!

Funny Hasselbeck would say that. Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson told us this week that Arizona treated Pittsburgh, a game that featured Ken Whisenhunt coaching against his former team, as a “Super Bowl.” You kind of get the feeling this is bigger than your average Week 5 game for the Seahawks.

Last year Matt was injured and still played a lot and Shaun Alexander was hurt and did not play a lot, consequently the team did poorly. This year the Seahawks have beefed up their Defense and are looking like potential world beaters again.

Seattle’s defense is vastly improved from the last time Pittsburgh played it. Tim Ruskell did a great job bringing in hard-hitting and cerebral safeties Deon Grant and Brian Russell. Last year, 49ers tailback Frank Gore tore through the Seahawks defense. Last Sunday, he was controlled. Julian Peterson, another fantastic Ruskell pickup since the Super Bowl, is in his second year starring at linebacker for Seattle. Peterson, Tatupu and the vastly underrated LeRoy Hill form one of the best linebacker trios in the NFL.

On the Pittsburgh side of the ball, even though Hines Ward (the Super Bowl MVP from that game) is hurt, the Steelers Defense is vastly improved and Roethlisberger is much improved as well.

“I think he is better than he was when we played him in the Super Bowl. He’s playing really good football. I mean really good football. He is going to run around and make something happen even when something isn’t there. Any time you play a quarterback like that, he is dangerous. And Ben is such a big guy. You can’t think he is sacked and stop coming. You have to wrap up against him. He doesn’t fold. And then he’ll beat you deep. That’s the key for me as a corner. You always have to keep focused on Ben at all times.”

This is a key game as both teams are 3 – 1.

Pittsburgh could win and put some separation between them and the struggling Ravens and surprising Browns.

Seattle could win and put some separation between them and the two headed Cardinals and loaded with potential 49ers.

One thing is for sure, you will be not separating these teams on Sunday in this Super Bowl rematch.

Matt wants his revenge and this should be a great game to watch!

If Seattle wins this game, they will be showing the early signs of being the conference favorite.

NFL Football Fan Question Is Seattle back on top of the conference?

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

More blogs about football.