Seattle doesn't need to disguise. They have the #1 thing you need to beat Peyton Manning, or Tom Brady, or any upper echelon QB: The ability to get pressure with four guys only. If Seattle can get pressure with just its front four all day Sunday, its going to be a blowout for the Seahawks. An elite secondary with front four pressure is almost unbeatable.
This ESPN article was from pre season. It drew my attention since the Sounders are apparently going to incorporate this holistic training and practice philosophy. It seemed a little New Age-y but in hindsight, very insightful piece on the Seahawks' success.
Quote:
The big idea is that happy players make for better players. Everyone in the facility, from coaches and players to personal assistants and valets, is expected to follow Carroll's mantras regarding positivity of thought, words and actions. "Do your job better than it has ever been done before," he tells them. Yelling and swearing are frowned upon, and every media interview with a player or coach ends with a thank-you to the reporter. And in a trial program entering its second year, a group of 15 to 20 players is undergoing Neurotopia brain-performance testing and has worked with Gervais to create status profiles -- updated every week on an iPad app -- of what's going on in their lives, how much sleep they're getting, their goals and how they're dealing with stressors.
I always take a great defense over a great offense., A great defense always has something to prove. I mean thats most of what we heard in the lead up to the game was "How can Seattle slow Denver's offense down?". Rarely did we hear "How can Denver's offense score against Seattle?". So the defense in these games is always more motivated. Throw in the 2 weeks to prepare for the Super Bowl and it really makes it hard to pick against the stronger defensive side.
This Seahawks defense was easily the best since the 2002 Bucs won the Super Bowl. Really this Seahawks defense has a staggeing amount of depth, their backup corners could start for more than half the league and they rotate 8 defensive lineman. Yes they have potential cap issues upcoming but good teams recognize these things and manage the cap well and much, much more importantly, they hit home runs in the draft. You can argue Seattle's 5 most important players Sunday were 3rd round picks or lower (Wilson, Sherman, Chancellor, Malcolm Smith, Doug Baldwin or Jermaine Kearse). That is how you build a dynasty.
__________________
"Think I'm gonna be the scapegoat for the whole damn machine? Sheeee......."
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Senator Clay Davis For This Useful Post:
I always take a great defense over a great offense.
Maybe for one championship. Why don't these types of teams become dynasties? Dynasty teams seem more rounded. Perhaps SEA is well-rounded enough.
We've seen some impressive defences win a Superbowl, but not repeat (Bears, Ravens, Bucs). Any reason for that? Can SEA repeat?
Maybe for one championship. Why don't these types of teams become dynasties? Dynasty teams seem more rounded. Perhaps SEA is well-rounded enough.
We've seen some impressive defences win a Superbowl, but not repeat (Bears, Ravens, Bucs). Any reason for that? Can SEA repeat?
I was probably thinking of NE and possibly PITT. NYG? Teams that won more than one title. Why don't these great defensive teams repeat or win again?
Earlier - Broncos, Cowboys, 49ers. I take your point that things were different pre-cap. That Bears team was pre-cap, and never got back.
New England was not a great offence when they won 3 Superbowls in 4 years. Teams need balance on both sides of the ball, and in the cap era if they want to win more than one Superbowl. Your Patriots were more of a defensive team back 10-12 years ago when they won.
Pittsburgh, Baltimore, the New York Giants....these teams won Superbowls when their defences were playing well. Teams like the Colts, Rams and Saints one Superbowl despite several years of top ranked offences.
__________________ "Some guys like old balls"
Patriots QB Tom Brady
The Following User Says Thank You to Sylvanfan For This Useful Post:
If Denver had a above average defense that could pressure the QB often and create turnovers here and there, the Broncos would've been a lot more competitive in the Super Bowl. It really shows that you need to have a good defense at the least to have a good chance of winning a championship.
Don't really buy into the dynasty talk for Seattle or anyone. Seattle, with their drafting record and then picking up outcasts and coaching them up into better individual and team players will continue even with the usual or smaller then NFL average attrition Seattle will experience. . With Wilson still on a cheap deal, they don't have that large contract or contracts this upcoming year, that gives some relief, relief that is eaten up by Sherman and Thomas. They now also are moving up the list, all things equal, with talented free agents around the league. So in that regard they are setup better certainly than a team like the Ravens last year who had to gut the team to pay Flacco, and losing Lewis and Reed.
But the NFL is a fine line between winning and losing, because of the cap or just the competition. Interdivision NFC West games will be wars this year and likely determine who wins the division. Only one team gets a guaranteed spot and the others have to go the WC route on the road. If the NFL expands playoffs, you have to win the division and conference to get a rest and home field. In one game playoffs, anything can happen.
As dominant as Seattle was more often than not this year, a couple plays go the other way and Seattle is on the road to start the playoffs, without really playing and less dominant as they were. There are always what ifs both ways, but Seattle gutted out a low scoring game Week 1 vs Car, both teams strong and took a late TD for Seattle to win. Then Schaub throwing the late 4th quarter INT to Sherman to send that to OT where Seattle wins. Coming back from 21 down vs Tampa. Holding on a last minute drive vs St. Louis on the road. One or certainly two of those go the other way, and in a vacuum, Seattle doesn't win the division and has to play in GB in the cold, then Car, and hopefully gets out of that healthy, and then would have to play in SF and maybe due to the home field advantage or whatever, the result may not turn out the same... with it coming down to a few plays, not the overall dominance of Seattle's defense.
Of course, there are things going the other way; Seattle dominated Indy the first half but didn't capitalize on all the points they should've had and let them back in it. Losing to SF on the road and Arizona at home (where everything that could go wrong, did) were well timed in hindsight, and kept the team grounded going into the playoffs. In the playoffs, the NFC final , if SF scores on that first drive after the first play fumble by Wilson, (in a vacuum) it wouldve meant that SF would've just needed a FG to win in the last drive, not a Td, then the Sherman thing never happens and SF has a chip shot FG, if things payed out as they did (they wouldn't as different decisions would've been made through the game) . But that shows the fine line within a single game and within a season from going home vs going to a Superbowl.
Bottom line, as a fan, I will enjoy this win and not stress over needing to win another. This team will have the talent in all aspects of offense and defense, for a few years, but even with all that, you need good timing/luck/bounces, or maybe better put, lack of really bad timing/luck/injury/bounces, from week one through to the Super Bowl. Last year's team was on the cusp, 30 seconds away from the NFC Championship game against SF, 4 weeks after Seattle trounced SF, but blew it in the last minute of Atlanta or who knows how far they get last year. This year they built off that loss and even through injuries, proved most weeks that they were a top team in the league... but that means little unless you can win it all in the end and in the tough division they are in, makes the margin for error that much less. Overjoyed that Seattle got what they deserved in the end, with dominant play, but that script may not play out like that next year or in future years, and one or two plays or bounce go another way, and Seattle is out earlier no matter the talent and desire of Wilson and offense, or the swarming defense playing just as well as they did this year.
Getting that monkey off the back and having this win should be enjoyed by the Seahawks and their fans for what it is.
Last edited by browna; 02-05-2014 at 10:15 PM.
The Following User Says Thank You to browna For This Useful Post:
Geez! I didn't believe any of the Seattle is rioting posts, but maybe there is some truth to it...is the media telling us the whole truth? Here is a video with an obvious lie in the title:
There is clearly one guy who doesn't wait until the walk sign before crossing!
Don't really buy into the dynasty talk for Seattle or anyone. Seattle, with their drafting record and then picking up outcasts and coaching them up into better individual and team players will continue even with the usual or smaller then NFL average attrition Seattle will experience. . With Wilson still on a cheap deal, they don't have that large contract or contracts this upcoming year, that gives some relief, relief that is eaten up by Sherman and Thomas. They now also are moving up the list, all things equal, with talented free agents around the league. So in that regard they are setup better certainly than a team like the Ravens last year who had to gut the team to pay Flacco, and losing Lewis and Reed.
Getting that monkey off the back and having this win should be enjoyed by the Seahawks and their fans for what it is.
Good write up Browna. Winning in the NFL is a VERY fine line and the Seahawks played well and had things go their way, which you need in the NFL to win it all.
If the ref in the 49ers/Saints game didn't blow that call on the sack to Drew Brees (where they called a 15 yard personal foul penalty), San Fran would've ran the clock out and won and would've won the division.
It's crazy how the NFL season can literally come down to one call and be the difference (in the Niners case) from finishing 1st to 5th in a conference.
The Niners/Seahawks division is gonna be crazy good next year. The Hawks and Niners will be favourites again next year but with such a tough division they might be too worn out/injured at the end of the year to win a Superbowl.
Should be good next year though, looking forward to it.
If Denver had a above average defense that could pressure the QB often and create turnovers here and there, the Broncos would've been a lot more competitive in the Super Bowl. It really shows that you need to have a good defense at the least to have a good chance of winning a championship.
The reason denver had what appeared to be a mid range defense was due to the fact most teams would be forced into pass only offense as they were always playing catch up during the year. Unless they shore up that D they won't be winning a title next year either.
Seattle on the other hand should improve on offense with a healthy Harvin, healthy O line and I don't really see them taking a step back defensively for at least a couple of years.
If Denver had a above average defense that could pressure the QB often and create turnovers here and there, the Broncos would've been a lot more competitive in the Super Bowl. It really shows that you need to have a good defense at the least to have a good chance of winning a championship.
The strangest thing about Denver's defense is two years ago it was (rightfully) considered great, as they had to carry the Tebow led Broncos. In less than two years its become a very mediocre defense. But for the Bronocs that is the nice thing this offseason, focus should only be on defense. They'll lose Decker but its Peyton Manning, you can find dozens of guys (Austin Collie, Blair White, Anthony Gonzalez etc...) who can look good with Peyton.
Quote:
Originally Posted by browna
Don't really buy into the dynasty talk for Seattle or anyone. Seattle, with their drafting record and then picking up outcasts and coaching them up into better individual and team players will continue even with the usual or smaller then NFL average attrition Seattle will experience. . With Wilson still on a cheap deal, they don't have that large contract or contracts this upcoming year, that gives some relief, relief that is eaten up by Sherman and Thomas. They now also are moving up the list, all things equal, with talented free agents around the league. So in that regard they are setup better certainly than a team like the Ravens last year who had to gut the team to pay Flacco, and losing Lewis and Reed.
The interesting thing about talking about a play here and a play there, is the Seahawks could be back to back Super Bowl champs right now. Lest we forget they had a 2 point lead with under 30 seconds left and Atlanta pulled the miracle out. It is a fine line but the Seahawks are set up as well as any team in the cap era. They have their contracts set up so that as one set of guys are about to get paid (see: Sherman and Thomas mostly), another set is about to come off the books or can be cut and replaced with comparable production (Rice, Tate, Miller). Cap management is essentially a game and the best GMs know how to manipulate it to their advantage. Then you have the Raiders and Cowboys and Redskins who are horrible at cap management, thus they are the ones mired in mediocrity forever.
Schneider is a wonderful GM and Carroll is an elite coach, Paul Allen is a great owner who just stays the #### out of the way, and they have one of the youngest teams in the NFL. Those things alone will keep Seattle consistently fighting for championships for the next 5-10 years. Might not turn into what is considered a dynasty but I think pretty much every fan base in the NFL would trade their franchises state for the Seahawks. It's an enviable position to be in.
__________________
"Think I'm gonna be the scapegoat for the whole damn machine? Sheeee......."
On the NFL website, one of the best and most interesting things week to week is the SoundFX, the audio pulled from the various players and coaches mic'd up. There's now 4 (maybe should be 5) 7 minute segments from the flubbed Namath coin toss to the final gun in the Superbowl.
Fox, Carroll, Manning, Wilson, Sherman, Bailey and the ref, are featured, and as always, some great stuff and interesting perspective, as the words and expressions come straight from the mouths of the players, not the talking heads trying to analyze things afterwards.
