NFL Playoff Predictions: New Orleans Saints at Seattle Seahawks

Exactly who was going to be under center for the Seattle Seahawks for their play-in game against the St. Louis Rams was a surprisingly hot topic this past Sunday. And despite the fact Matt Hasselbeck was technically healthy enough to get the start, Pete Carroll gave the nod to Charlie Whitehurst.

That turned out to be a good move.

For this weekend’s Wild Card tilt against the New Orleans Saints, there will be no such drama, as Tom Booth of the Associated Press reported on Thursday that Hasselbeck will get the start.

Well, I’m here to tell you that while Hasselbeck will be getting the start, he won’t be the one finishing the game.

After all, the Saints know as well as I do that Hasselbeck has been banged up pretty bad this season, and that they need to get pressure on him if they want to avoid seeing him torch them like he did earlier in their regular season matchup. If they can succeed in that regard, Hasselbeck won’t last.

Besides, that hip is iffy on its own right, as he aggravated it against Tampa Bay on a play where he wasn’t even touched.

So I’m just going to go out on a limb here by saying that Whitehurst will get in this game, one way or another.

For more on Wild Card Weekend, check out all of our Predictions and Keys for Each Game.