In a bit of a head-scratcher for Vikings fans, the Vikes will get pick number 25 in the first round, the 7th round Seahawks’ pick this year plus a middle-round pick next year.

The Vikings are trying to develop a physically limited Christian Ponder at QB and it appeared they were making progress at least with the pieces around him when they drafted LT Matt Kalil and Adrian Peterson bounced back from a horrible knee injury with a 2,000-yard season.

They were thin at WR last year, and now….

What WR are you going to replace him with at 25 in the first round? Cordarrelle Patterson? Nope, he’ll be long gone by then. Same thing with California’s guy, Keenan Allen. West Virginia’s Tavon Auston might well be gone as well.

On the flip side, it gives the Vikings some interesting options to explore with their organic pick at 23.

What it doesn’t do is give Ponder a veteran threat anywhere at the wide receiver position now.

I think the Vikings are ultimately taking a step backwards with this. Unless there’s some durability concern or a near-future contract issue, this won’t help the team in the immediate future. A rookie isn’t likely to come in and take the NFL by storm like the much more highly-touted A.J. Green was, for example. He was a top-five pick and the first WR off the board in that draft – the Julio Jones trade draft for the Atlanta Falcons.

Seattle now becomes a Super Bowl contender with this move. Rising second-year sensation Russell Wilson now has an extremely explosive and versatile veteran at his disposal. I don’t think there’s anyone more ecstatic about this trade than he is right about now. With that defense, they’ve just increased the heat on the entire NFC West.

Don’t forget that the San Francisco 49′ers have more draft picks than they know what to do with now thanks in part to the Alex Smith trade. When you factor in they were a non-thrown penalty flag of probably winning the Super Bowl, it takes bold moves to keep up and be competitive on that level.

On the surface now it appears that the NFC West winner of 2013 is going to be one of those two teams. Watch the draft the Niners have. After that, come back here to catcrave.com where we’ll analyze how each division looks to be shaping up.

Follow me on Twitter @Ken_Dye

Jan 13, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) celebrates as he leaves the field after defeating the Seattle Seahawks 30-28 in the NFC divisional playoff game at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

General Manager Thomas Dimitroff, Head Coach Mike Smith, and quarter back Matt Ryan all were looking for their first playoff win. The Falcons had acquired a reputation as a good regular season team but a team that chokes in the post season. Well the way things started out on Sunday afternoon, it looked like Atlanta was going to rid themselves of said reputation. Ryan hit Gonzalez in the 1st quarter for a short TD. This was after a Matt Bryant field goal earlier in the quarter. Bryant added another field goal in the 2nd period which again was followed by a 47 yard touch down strike by Matt Ryan to receiver Roddy White who made a beautiful diving catch in the endzone. All the while the Falcons defense kept stifling the Seahawks offense. When Seattle was able to move the ball, they made some questionable personnel changes and some questionable play calling. So at half time we have a 20-0 lead for the home team Falcons.

In the 3rd quarter both teams traded touch downs and it still looked like Atlanta could not be stopped by the vaunted Seahawk defense. Honestly to this point in the game it looked as if Seattle was playing some very uninspired football. We that all changed in the 4th quarter.

The 4th quarter became the Russell Wilson show. He was able to scramble from the pocket and hurt the Falcons defense because they had no one accounting for the quarterback. So as he was able to gain yards with his feet the defenders began to loosen the coverage on the receivers because they were forced to keep an eye on Wilson. I must add that John Abraham sat out a considerable portion of this game  and that most certainly allowed Wilson to make use of his elusiveness against the Falcons defensive line. That being said Wilson lead Seattle on 3 touch down scoring drives in the 4th quarter. This inspired the defense who all of a sudden came to life and began stopping the potent Atlanta offense. The momentum had swung in favor of the Seahawks and it appeared as if the Falcons choke artist reputation had reared it’s ugly head once again. But alas Matt Ryan had other plans for the final outcome of this game.

Jan 13, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons kicker Matt Bryant (3) celebrates after defeating the Seattle Seahawks 30-28 in the NFC divisional playoff game at the Georgia Dome. Bryant kicked the game winning field goal with .08 left in the game. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

Ryan was left with 31 seconds to get the Falcons into field goal range. To a team as loaded with the weapons Atlanta has, 31 seconds is an eternity. A deep out pass to Harry Douglas and fittingly a 19 yard pass to Ryan’s go to guy, Gonzalez, had them in range of Matt Bryant. Bryant then nailed the 49 yard attempt and propelled the Falcons into the NFC Championship Game, which will be played in Atlanta. Why Seattle switched it’s coverage on the last drive befuddles me. The Seahawk defense had confounded the Falcons offense for most of the 4th quarter so why change it with 31 seconds left?

Congratulations to the Atlanta Falcons, Mike Smith, Matt Ryan, and GM Thomas Dimitroff on finally getting that 1st playoff victory. It certainly was a long time coming.

God Bless!

Follow me on Twitter @JoeRiollano

The “Flynn is a high priced free agent” angle is overblown. He’s making backup QB money for the most part, though a good deal of it is guaranteed. One of the least reported aspects of this is that Matt Flynn has been hurt. He has tendentious in his elbow and hasn’t been able handle the workload in practice until this week. Plus, Russell Wilson just came in and shocked everyone with his play in the pre-season and really put pressure on the coaches to pick him in the QB competition.

Since the regular season began though, Wilson has come back down to Earth. Now that Flynn is healthy again, the Seahawks have the makings of a major QB controversy. Wilson will need to have a good game this week, or the calls for Flynn will continue to get louder.

2) Who really makes that strong D “go?”

More than anyone, FS Earl Thomas is the engine of this defense. He’s so good and covers so much ground that it really opens up the rest of the players to make plays. The CBs can play press and not worry about being beat over the top, and SS Kam Chancellor can play up near the line of scrimmage when needed more than he’d be able to otherwise.

Up in the front 7, the best cog in this machine is Brandon Mebane. He’s one of the most under appreciated linemen in the NFL. Ultimately though, the front 7 is just a collection of good pieces, but doesn’t really have any stars.

3) What are the coaches saying about the offense in general? We know about Lynch in the backfield, but are they taking any steps to help the passing game that you know of?

This coaching staff doesn’t say anything about anything. Pete Carroll talks, but I’ve never seen anyone with the ability to speak for 5 minutes and not actually say anything like he does. When asked about Wilson and the passing offense, he mostly seems to deflect the question and not answer it.

All that said, Carroll knows that the passing offense is holding the team back. WR Doug Baldwin admitted that to reporters this week, and said that they are working on getting it fixed. What exactly that means is anyones guess.

4) What are the challenges do you see as the team’s biggest hurdles being on the road facing Carolina this week?

The first is the travel and the early start. west coast teams are notoriously bad on the east coast. The game starts at 10:00 am local time here, which is just really early for players to be physically and emotionally ready for a game.

On the field, Cam Newton is the biggest hurdle that the team will have faced. He’s just such a dynamic playmaker. His threat to run along will slow down down the Seahawks pass rush as they try to “contain” him. And when he has time, he’s also a damn good passer. The Seahawks just haven’t seen a QB like him this year.

5) What’s the story on Sidney Rice? He had a great season in Minnesota and has seen lingering injuries ever since, it seems like.

When healthy, Rice is one of the best receivers in the league. Maybe not Larry Fitzgerald good, but still very good. The problem is that he’s rarely fully healthy. He had surgeries on both shoulders during the offseason, and that kept him out of most of training camp and the preseason. He says he’s now and healthy as he’s been since college, and I’m not going to argue with him on the matter.

The problem this season has been the QB play. If the Seahawks had a competent QB, Rice would have put up some really nice stats to this point.