I think The 49ers could be one of those teams in this lava lamp league whose glob is ready to rise to the top. If Gore stays healthy, that is. Their division is full of teams who can't stop the run (St. Louis, Seattle, Arizona) and a decent passing attack to finally compliment a brutal running back like Gore is more than enough to compete in the NFC West. If Seattle could manage a running game, they'd be a power, but what they did against the Rams is indicative of the NFC West, not the Seahawks running-by-committee scheme.

I have a hard time believing Holmgren will really retire after this season - oh I think his time with the Seapigeons is done; I think he coaches somewhere else in the near future. A guy like him doesn't like to go out with a whimper, and that's what's happening to Seattle this year. They've won the NFC West by default two years in a row. A rotational running back system with a mash unit for a reciever corp = recipe for disastor. Of course, stranger things have happened - they went to the Superbowl with a mash unit for defensive backs...and that weakness showed itself in that game.