A few things happened last night: A young, mobile Quarterback won a Super Bowl for the first time (i believe). It was proved an elite defense beats an elite offense. Another college coach cemented his name in NFL lore. Manning's legacy was tarnished a little. A few things to ponder: Are teams like Seattle, San Fran, Carolina the future? Mobile quarterbacks, big money spent on defense, role players found for needed positions elsewhere? Is the window closing on elite quarterbacks and offenses being "the thing"? Will teams like the Packers, Broncos, Patriots, Saints continue to have big letdowns to teams with elite defenses? On paper, the Broncos were the perfect storm. They had the QB, they had change of pace backs (Moreno, Ball). They had playmaking receivers, they had playmaking defensive guys. And still, they got POUNDED. (Im just not ready for the NFL season to be over, honestly)
Steve Young? proven many times before probably, as the elite true pocket passers are getting old right now elite defense beats elite offense They just played their worst game. Play that game again, and no way Seattle dominates like they did. I'm not saying the Broncos win, but everything just went wrong for the Broncos from the first snap
The team(s) that can have a balance in spending will continue to win, IMO. I think if more teams recognize what Seattle did with their budget and pay out....it makes sense.
The Packers won the Super bowl with a great offense and an average D in 2010. The Saints won the Super bowl with the same formula. The colts beat the Bears with a good O and an average D. The years I mentioned above there was not a team with a dominate defense that was really really good as far as I remember. So I think the years when there are a really good Defense, then the great Offense teams do not have much of a shot. On the years where there are average D's the great O's do have a shot. Football is all about matchups. I guess the answer is it depends.
Great reply Hook. Few thoughts: I forgot about Steve Young, but he is nowhere near the mobile QB these new guys are. Unique talent for sure. You and I know elite defenses prevail, but the media forgets quite often. I agree the Broncos played like crap.
The GM up there has done it right for sure. They get Harvin back next year, with that D still intact. A repeat is possible. After that the paychecks will come out and its a toss up.
Yardage and points wise, those defenses were average. But they created turnovers at an astounding rate. At least the Packers and Saints did. Green Bay lined up Clay Matthews, Charles Woodson, Nick Collins, Tramon Williams, BJ Raji, Cullen Jenkins, Johnny Jolly and Sam Shields that year. All are HOF, All-Pro or Pro-Bowl guys.
I hope a bunch...LOL. Wilson and Sherman make less then a million, and Earl Thomas only makes a few million. All 3 consider themselves elite. All 3 are going to want Flacco, Revis and Reed money. They already Pay Harvin and Rice 10 mill a year, and Lynch gets 5+. They need to sign a bunch of their other core defensive guys in the next 2 years as well. But, next year they will have the opportunity to dominate if everyone plays nice.
I dont' know what direction the NFL is headed to be honest. I haven't been a fan of the "new era". As much as I hated watching that game last night and wanted Manning to win one, I have to say it was kind of nice to see the performance that defense put on. One thing that stood out to me and may be a good direction for teams to go. Seattle by far has the best secondary in the game. In the age of passing and points, seems to make sense to load up on your defense against that. If I were a franchise I would be LOADING up on "elite" defensive backs. It's the best medicine against the new game and was proven last night. I can't believe how they shut down that offense. Even the completions, the receivers were getting rocked at point of catch for minimal gains. Pass rush and defense against running game are obviously important (and Seattle had it all). But, if you have stud DB's patrolling you can negate that.
The Broncos didn't look like a Super Bowl contending team yesterday. Was Russel Wilson great in the game? IMO no, he had a good game but nothing spectacular. Seattle's defense played a great game and never let Denver in the game. The best way to keep Denver from scoring is to keep Payton on the bench which they did. Also the play calling for Denver sucked IMO.
The rumors at the beginning of the season had Lynch leaving Seattle at the end of this season. Not sure how much truth is to the rumor, but it had him being traded and Seattle rolling with Turbin and Michael.
The game is changing, that is for sure. The NFL is allowing qb's to run by unfairly penalizing defensive players. Therefore, yes, I believe a slightly more mobile qb is going to be somewhat more superior than the true pocket passers.
Seattle has alot of guys still on rookie contracts. With the new CBA they have I am not sure they can do much with rookie contracts and extentions even with a hold out. IMO the first thing Seattle needs to do is lock up their GM for several years because he has been about perfect in the drafts the past few seasons. As far as Wilson is concerned I think he is a good QB but not great. His stats are good enough to get the job done and thats it. The thing that does make him special is his preperation and attitude. If they can keep the D playing tough and make sure the O has plenty of role players they should be good.
Hey, I'm in the same boat. How do think I feel, as a Chiefs fan, watching The Bronco's and Seattle(former AFC West) both playing in a superbowl. Knowing that every AFC West team has played in the superbowl in the last 15 years, except the Chiefs.
