***OFFICIAL SUPERBOWL XLVIII Thread***

[vi edit]

This is my first post since the game yesterday. Wow. Talk about two teams with two very different approaches.

Seattle came to play. Period. Both sides of the ball. Balls out, leave nothing behind, incredibly well executed, and efficent play.

Denver looked rattled from literally the first play of the game. The long snapper lobbed it over the head of a guy that's almost 6 and a half freaking feet tall. Peyton was under pressure nearly every snap of the game, receivers looked hesitant to go after the ball and got very little seperation. Special teams were a mess and Holiday was terrible. He either made some miserable reads trying to return, is far more confident in his abilities than he should be, or Seattles coverage was just *THAT* freaking good. Whatever the case, nearly every time he was better off just taking a knee.

Seattle just flat out played harder, smarter, and more determined ball. Denver never could find an answer on either end of their bench and it was a total team collapse. I just find it amazing that a group of guys with that much collective experience failed to put *ANYTHING* together. They looked scared, disinsterested, and just all around lost the entire game.

That was an incredible coaching feat for Carroll and he deserves credit for it. He took a bunch of castoffs and 2nd hand players and turned them into angry, controlled and hungry players. That team seemed so cool and collected last night. Quite an accomplishment for such a relatively young roster of players.

As far as Peyton goes, he had a shitty game. Seattle had the perfect scheme against him and exploited it repeatedly. They were able to bring pressure, knock him around take away the easy targets. His mobility is his biggest weakness and if you collapse the pocket in a hurry you get him rattled. They did this all night, got deflections, had a hand on his passing arm multiple times, ect. He couldn't evade the pressure. Brady would have had the same problem though so I'm not going to put it all on Manning. Manning did have some flat out bad passes and over throws.

 

[smackababy]

Edit: I also think the Saints stymied that offensive plan a little bit in the their playoff game because Cam Jordan and Junior Gallette were fast enough to contain Wilson and force him to dump the ball instead of running for first downs. Wilson's running ability is really a huge part of why Seattle is so hard to get off the field. I also remember the production the Saints started getting offensively when they were forced to go up-tempo near the end of the game. It made me wonder how an offense like the Eagles were running this season would have fared against them.

I think most of stopping Seattle's defense relies on getting their offense off the field quickly. Their D seems to be in full sprint 100% of the time they are on the field. And, having Lynch grind out 3-4 yards a carry and 3rd down conversion percentage being good, lets them rest up between possessions.

If Seattle get's some better O-line, they have damn near a perfect combination. Explosive receivers, a smart QB who can move if he has to, an RB that just refuses to let the first 3 guys that touch him bring him down, and a big, fast defense that isn't afraid to ball hawk and make big hits.


I also think as much as we've heard about the legion of boom all season, Seattle's D-line is what won that game. They dominated Denver's O-line, which is a feat itself. Both of Manning's INTs were from pressure (one directly caused by the D end). And their special teams were phenomenal. Once Ryan starting putting the kick offs around the 1 yard line, Denver was starting at the 15. That kick coverage squad is so fast.

 

[preslove]

Exactly how many NASCAR fans have you met? And, let's not forget those soccer fans who riot if their team loses and riot if their team wins.

A couple, and they tended to know far more about stock car racing than your average idiot nfl fan who barely knows anything about football. Same goes for soccer hooligans. They understand the sport far more than an nfl fan understands football. And it's not like nfl fans have never rioted.

 

[zinfamous]

Neither won a Heisman, but Peyton finished 2nd behind Charles Woodson in 1997, while Eli finished 3rd in 2003. So yay Peyton?

oh snap--I thought dopey the Manning won it that year.

 

[preslove]

Funny thing is, except for some very fortuitous 3rd down conversions and harvin trick plays, the seattle offense for the most part was negligible.

Defense wins championships.

 

[smackababy]

Special teams were a mess and Holiday was terrible. He either made some miserable reads trying to return, is far more confident in his abilities than he should be, or Seattles coverage was just *THAT* freaking good. Whatever the case, nearly every time he was better off just taking a knee.

I don't blame Holiday on that performance. He literally could not get from the 1 to the 15 before being swarmed. Seattle's kick coverage unit really shined (they have some starters on it). The first one, from that deep in the end zone, was his fault. Everything else, was just great kick coverage.

 

[BUTCH1]

Only an ignorant asshole who knows absolutely nothing about football would use that metric. Seriously, it's funny how Football is by far the most complicated big american sport while simultaneously having the stupidest fucking fans in the world.

Really, your football knowledge is better than mine? I've been watching since 1966, you?. Stats can be deceiving but if you look at this season by itself Brady winning 12 games with one reliable receiver, no downfield threat, and a crippled defense that routinely let guys like Cleveland's backup (Campbell) have career outings against them speaks for itself, the guy just knows how to win, period. If you hate Brady for some reason or other that's fine and your entitled to your opinion but he IS the best QB in the league right now, please describe what "metric" a fucking genius like yourself uses to evaluate who is the best..

 

[bignateyk]

Well yes, you can argue, the QB with the highest winning % of all time is... Brady@.775
Staubach@.746
Montana@.713
P. Manning@.696
Unitas@.645
Bradshaw@.677
Roethlisberger@.669
Stabler@.661
Young@.657
Elway@.643
Kelly@.631
Theismann@.621
Griese@.619
Starr@.618
Rivers@.617
Marino@.613
McNabb@.612
Cunningham@.611

So there you go, Brady=#1

So you're saying #4 all time career win % is overrated?

 

[purbeast0]

lol just saw this on twitter.

https://twitter.com/CharlesRae2/status/430165949749415936/photo/1

 

[preslove]

Really, your football knowledge is better than mine? I've been watching since 1966, you?. Stats can be deceiving but if you look at this season by itself Brady winning 12 games with one reliable receiver, no downfield threat, and a crippled defense that routinely let guys like Cleveland's backup (Campbell) have career outings against them speaks for itself, the guy just knows how to win, period. If you hate Brady for some reason or other that's fine and your entitled to your opinion but he IS the best QB in the league right now, please describe what "metric" a fucking genius like yourself uses to evaluate who is the best..

Anyone who thinks that winning percentage is a good way to compare quarterbacks is a fucking idiot. Given the fact that you've spent so much of your life following a sport that you don't understand, you are EXTREMELY, MASSIVELY, PATHETICALLY STUPID.

Just shut the hell up, you blithering idiot.

ps, I actually like Tom Brady.

 

[BUTCH1]

So you're saying #4 all time career win % is overrated?

Not at all, I think he's great, I was just rebutting the comment "Meh.. you can't argue with his regular season domination over his career"

 

[preslove]

lol just saw this on twitter.

https://twitter.com/CharlesRae2/status/430165949749415936/photo/1

It's a hoax.

 

[Arkaign]

I just don't get the debate.

Manning owned this year. Flat out. I have never saw anything like it.

Seattle treated his offense like a practice squad. I have never saw anything like it.

Immovable force met immovable object.

Imho two things happened :

#1 - Denver's schedule had them playing a good number of weaker teams (even my mediocre Cowboys!), which led to a somewhat inflated sense of how good Denver actually was.

and ..

#2 - EVERYBODY (well, it seems like everybody, particularly in the sports media) would go on and on and on and on and on about how Denver was the best ever, Manning was flawless, they were unstoppable, etc. It seems like they might have started to believe their own press, which is a dangerous thing. It's like they came onto the field only feeling like they had to physically show up to the game in order to get those rings and that trophy, when in fact they should have showed up ready to play a tough game.

If they were mentally set for it, I think they could have made it a game. And for that, I put the highest level of blame at the coaching staff of Denver. The message should have been :

"Forget everything anyone has said about us. We are 0-0 headed into this game. We are getting ready to play a team that has a wild hunger and tons of talent who will play at 110% every single play. We need to play at 115%. Those tricks we use to confuse the defenses aren't going to be enough here. We simply have to be faster, stronger, and have more heart to make our stand, and to claw for those yards."

Instead, we saw a game plan shatter completely in the first few minutes, followed by a systemic failure to make any adjustments at all. Nobody emerged as a leader, nobody adjusted, and even more mistakes were made flailing around on the field like a bunch of flabby drunks posing as NFL players. It was the most complete beating I've ever seen in the postseason.

Nobody can take away the Seahawk's supreme performance, but I still feel like a truly jacked up ready to play Broncos team could have made that a 34-23 kind of game instead of a complete annihilation. Even the sole Bronco's touchdown looked like charity, haha.

 

[rudeguy]

this is really sad to say...

but I think the halftime show was the best part of the game. And I'm not a Bruno fan..

The game was boring
The commericals sucks
There was zero nipple

Bruno owned the night!

 

[BUTCH1]

Anyone who thinks that winning percentage is a good way to compare quarterbacks is a fucking idiot. Given the fact that you've spent so much of your life following a sport that you don't understand, you are EXTREMELY, MASSIVELY, PATHETICALLY STUPID.

Just shut the hell up, you blithering idiot.

ps, I actually like Tom Brady.

Ah, I see, you have no genius "metric" measurement that makes you smarter than the rest of us blithering idiots who know nothing about football and stats like lifetime winning% are irrelevant yet PM put's up gaudy numbers in the regular season and wins the MVP, (all based on his stats). Let him play with the crapfest roster that NE had this season and see if he would have won 12 games and made it all the way to the AFC championship game. Please keep up the bolded insults and swearing though, your moron rating goes up with every post.

 

[Nintendesert]

Once again...

Best running back of the decade. AD and him are very close but now Lynch has the jewelry to break the tie.

He had a horrible game. I'm not sure which one you all were watching, but without that 1 carry for 18 yards he rushed 14 times for 21 yards. That's 1.5 yards a carry. Complete and total trash game from him in the Super Bowl against a horrible defense. :|

 

[rudeguy]

He had a horrible game. I'm not sure which one you all were watching, but without that 1 carry for 18 yards he rushed 14 times for 21 yards. That's 1.5 yards a carry. Complete and total trash game from him in the Super Bowl against a horrible defense. :|

I love when people make up stats.

"If you take away some of what he did...."

Are you saying that he is not the best running back of the decade?

 

[BUTCH1]

He had a horrible game. I'm not sure which one you all were watching, but without that 1 carry for 18 yards he rushed 14 times for 21 yards. That's 1.5 yards a carry. Complete and total trash game from him in the Super Bowl against a horrible defense. :|

Denver has a good run defense, finished #4 in the league IIRC, they got Lynch behind the line for a loss on several occasions. They also stopped the Pat's running game stone-cold and Lebluont had spent the previous 4 games ringing up huge numbers, against Denver he was 4 carries for 6yds, at that point NE knew that running against Denver was not going anywhere and stopped trying.

 

[skyking]

I give Denver's D-line some credit for containing him inside. They were ready for his style of running.

 

[Nintendesert]

I love when people make up stats.

"If you take away some of what he did...."

Are you saying that he is not the best running back of the decade?

Wow, best RB of the past 3 years?


Even with that trash run when the game was sealed he only averaged 2.5 yards a carry, guess what? That's still a trash performance. I'd take LeSean McCoy over him anyday.

 

[Nintendesert]

Denver has a good run defense, finished #4 in the league IIRC, they got Lynch behind the line for a loss on several occasions. They also stopped the Pat's running game stone-cold and Lebluont had spent the previous 4 games ringing up huge numbers, against Denver he was 4 carries for 6yds, at that point NE knew that running against Denver was not going anywhere and stopped trying.

So I suppose we have lots of excuses for P. Manning too then. :whiste:

 

[Arkaign]

He had a horrible game. I'm not sure which one you all were watching, but without that 1 carry for 18 yards he rushed 14 times for 21 yards. That's 1.5 yards a carry. Complete and total trash game from him in the Super Bowl against a horrible defense. :|

Well, some of that was skewed by the goal line standup stuff, which drops avg like a rock no matter what. Also, similar to how a CB can be underrated on stats due to just not being thrown at, he was more effective than his stats due to how the defense had to stack the line to get those stops. Loading the defense like that opened the door to other opportunities for Seattle to get first downs.

Denver's focus on stopping him came at a high price, investing too many players to do the job.

 

[SlitheryDee]

He had a horrible game. I'm not sure which one you all were watching, but without that 1 carry for 18 yards he rushed 14 times for 21 yards. That's 1.5 yards a carry. Complete and total trash game from him in the Super Bowl against a horrible defense. :|

I dunno. Even when Lynch has a statistically poor game I feel like he makes an impact. They're usually hard yards that should have been no-gainers. They're usually part of an offense that is inching forward rather than getting pushed back. They're usually the difference between 3rd and long and 3rd and short, or between a touchdown and a field goal. They're always seeming to verge on breaking that last defender's grasp, which eventually turns into the 18+ yard runs that he sometimes gets.

 

[rudeguy]

Denver has a good run defense, finished #4 in the league IIRC, they got Lynch behind the line for a loss on several occasions. They also stopped the Pat's running game stone-cold and Lebluont had spent the previous 4 games ringing up huge numbers, against Denver he was 4 carries for 6yds, at that point NE knew that running against Denver was not going anywhere and stopped trying.

And then Denver didn't have to respect the run and could just play pass. It didn't end well for NE.

What I'm saying is that with a guy like Lynch, there is always a danger. You can't stop playing the run with him as a factor. That's what a good RB does, he adds another variable to what the defense has to account for. Having to keep extra guys in the box to stop the run frees up your receivers.

Its not always about stats guys. Please try to remember that.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Amazing how the medias opinion on Peyton has so many people being such jerks about him. Peyton didn't ask for any of it, he goes out and plays the game and does a damn good job of it. Meanwhile haters are so pissed at their own lives they can't wait to see a nice guy fail. Does Peyton go off on everyone around him in a yell fest when he loses like that Brady does? No he actually has some class.

Montana and Brady both refer to Peyton as one of the greatest that has ever played the game too.

A few thoughts on this post:

1. Brady is a nice guy, too. Very nice.
2. Peyton didn't ask for it, but he didn't shy away from it or downplay any of the compliments, either.
3. Sure, he IS one of the greatest ever, as Montana and Brady said....just not "THE" greatest ever, nor is he even in the conversation. Top of the list is Montana and Brady.
Then you have your Mannings, Elways, Marinos, etc. If you want to group them all together in a "greatest ever group"..okay, but when you're talking the absolute top of the heap: It's Brady and Montana.