A Major Butt-Kicking
Posted: February 3rd, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 55 Comments »I picked Seattle to win the Super Bowl, but I sure didn’t see a 43-8 finish. I think we all had a clue things were going to be weird when Denver had the safety on their first offensive play. To steal the overused line from Anchorman, “Things escalated quickly.” Before you knew it, the game was over. Crazy, just crazy.
This outcome doesn’t prove that defense wins championships. It also doesn’t prove that Peyton Manning isn’t a big game QB. Seattle dominated that game. They made big plays on offense, defense and special teams. That was a total team performance.
The biggest takeaway for me was the speed of Seattle’s defense. They let Denver complete short passes. Seahawks LBs and DBs then flew to the ball and delivered punishing hits. Clean hits. The DEs were able to consistently pressure Peyton. They made him uncomfortable in the pocket and created INTs by hitting his arm as he threw the ball.
We knew coming in that Seattle was fast, but Denver had lit up defense after defense this year. Surely they would find some matchups to exploit and would move the ball. Nope. Seattle’s speed literally overwhelmed them.
In a way, this game shows just how great Peyton Manning is. Denver lost LT Ryan Clady early on in the season. His replacement, Chris Clark, did an admirable job this year. Peyton got the ball out quickly for much of the year which helped Clark out and made him look like a good LT. Tonight Clark faced speedy DEs and Peyton had to hold the ball against good press coverage. Clark got exposed, as did RT Orlando Franklin. Peyton couldn’t manipulate the defense and make his OL look better than they truly are.
I sure hope Chip Kelly and Howie Roseman looked at the impact of Seattle’s speed on defense. The Eagles are slow on D. They must get faster. Size is great, but the guys in the back seven must be able to fly to the ball. Bill Davis loves to have the DBs keep things in front of them. That works great when the back seven players rally to the ball and tackle well. The Eagles didn’t do this consistently well (see the KC game for the worst example).
One thing that strikes me every year is how much fun it must be to win the Super Bowl. The sheer joy on the faces of the players, coaches and executives is something I want to experience.
Someday…
_
well kendricks is fast barwin is fast.. we need 2 new S’s the starting CBs should stay starting Cbs… so basiclly you are saying we need to replace demeco ryans…?
CB is definitely a position I think we can upgrade. Boykin could be an elite player in time, but neither Williams nor Fletcher is anything more than a solid starter. If you have the chance to upgrade from that to a guy who can be a lockdown defender like Sherman or Revis, you take it.
idk… carey and fletch were 2 bright points of the defense, esp vs bigger WRs..
Cary did make one big play per game. Fletcher had some PBUs but also some bad PIs and he was hurt. Boykin is elite in the slot, no one else on D is elite so we should upgrade if there is opportunity. Seattle has ELITE players all over their D, that’s why they won this game.
Also Seattle had the balls to go overpay for talent when they thought they were close. Don’t be scared Howie!!
Two points: 1.)Seattle didn’t think they were close, they knew they were, since they basically went toe-to-toe with a team (San Francisco) that came within a play of winning the Super Bowl last year. I’d argue that the Eagles benefited from a soft schedule this year and aren’t as close to true contention as the Seahawks were last year. They still need to lay down some pieces of the foundation and shouldn’t get ahead of themselves worrying about putting the finishing touches on the fixtures (or the sconces) just yet. 2.)Seattle didn’t overpay for the talent they acquired this past offseason – they actually either got it on the cheap (Michael Bennett) or were able to pay market value for players other teams in their position likely wouldn’t be able to afford because they have an upper echelon quarterback signed to a contract with a very low cap figure, which is an unusual situation to be in (if Foles is the real deal, the Eagles are fortunately in the same situation for at least another year). It’s not a question of being scared. We want Howie to be aggressive, but smart John Schneider aggressive, not dumb Dan Snyder aggressive.
Overpaying was a reference to Harvin, but they did pay for pieces aggressively. Seattle last year wasn’t much better than we were this year. If RGIII doesn’t break a leg Seattle doesn’t get out of the wild card game.
Seattle did know they had to strike while the iron was hot b/c they had a lot of young talent that wasn’t going to be around in 2 years. I guess we don’t have that to be worried about.
nah seattle doesnt have elite players all over, they play together at an elite level for sure tho.. over pay for talent? they did that for harvin, thats it. lol.. and harvin didnt get them to the super bowl nor did he win it..
They were solid and I wouldn’t be upset if either or both are back as starters next year. But neither is a guy you build a secondary around either. You need one or two guys like that to have an elite pass defense.
its hard to find guys like that to build around, and seattle found them in the mid rounds except fpor thomas…
I don’t know that you need an elite secondary though. The Niners, Panthers, Patriots, Broncos, Packers are all pretty average.
Meco and Cole
I would like to see you do a post on college prospects you’ve watched on tape, you think “fly to the ball”.
Off topic but there has to be room for Tommy to start off as a quality control guy on the Philly staff, right? Always quality insights, TL.
This was the best game I’ve ever seen Russell Wilson play (easily). Velocity, ball placement, and intelligence, plus mobility, on the biggest stage? Sign me up.
Love nick, but all those saying they’d rather take him over over RW are dead wrong.
Eagles obviously have a ton of work to do. Telvin Smith is suddenly a much more intriguing name to me after seeing the Seahawks fly around like that.
Still want to trade back, pick up an extra 3rd round pick. Being able to draft a Brent Urban / Jimmie Ward / Jordan Zumwalt type player with an extra pick would be nice.
Wilson was really good, but let’s not overrate him based on what he did in this game. It’s easy to look good when your defense and special teams stake you 16 points without you having to take a snap and keep giving you short fields to work with. I want to see Wilson excel in more adverse conditions before I anoint him one of the game’s top QBs (Foles doesn’t belong in that class as of now either, FWIW).
Not a big Telvin Smith fan. 218 pound linebackers look great when you have a big lead and the other team basically has to pass. Not so much when you’re down and need the ball back and the opponent is running the ball down your throat. We need the right combination of speed and strength, not just speed.
I hear you, but I haven’t seen him put the ball on guys like he did tonight yet. He moved the ball very early in the game, well before the floodgates opened.
I’m not sure why we have to relate the performance of every other QB in the league back to Nick Foles. More than one QB is allowed to be good at the same time. Wilson is really good, and the evidence we have so far suggests Foles is as well.
I agree, but the steady stream of “Foles is better than Kap and Wilson” comments after the NFCCG deserves to be addressed.
If anything, Kap’s performance kooks better. Playing against a top-2, legit defense is hard.
2nd para is right on. hard to tell who has a poorer game, peyton or kap
It’s a little ridiculous to claim that Foles is better than Kaepernick/Wilson right now, but I’d say that’s partially because none of the three are a finished product as of right now and we haven’t yet ascertained their respective ceilings. If Kaepernick fixes his penchant for dumb throws and develops a bit more patience in the pocket, he’s easily the best of the three, because he has prototype size and great athleticism as well. But that’s not a given. Wilson has benefited from playing with a dominant defense and running back and has rarely been called on to carry his team; we’ve got to see how he responds when he has to lead his team to victory rather than just coasting along before we can slot him properly. As for Foles, the question is whether opposing coaches will be able to design defenses that expose his physical limitations that he can’t overcome or whether his excellent decision-making, accuracy, football intelligence, and work ethic will keep him a step ahead of them. I think it’s too early to make definitive statements about any of these three guys just yet.
take D in every round, gotta hit on 3, take D in FA hopefully we get some playmakers.
Find vid of Russel dismantling the Bills in Toronto.
Not THE Buffalo Bills. Their defense is the best since Buddy Ryan’s 46 in Chicago or Oakland’s 2013 squad…I forget which.
First the Broncos defense was terrible even if you adjust for them leading in most games. Second what about Wilson’s 5 dud games before this one? Wilson was in the Super bowl because of his defense, Foles got us to the play offs despite his defense
Wilson and Thomas are overrated and are simply products of the team they play for. Just ask Anders.
I have always said Wilson isnt better than Luck, that is it.
Regarding Thomas, I still stand on that Thomas wasnt pro bowl worthy before this year.
What’s wrong with playing within a system with great coaching? They all get the ring.
First, Pete Carroll stated on Monday that their choice of Wilson was deliberate. No he doesn’t carry the team on his shoulders. The Seahawks did not want a QB to do that. Look at what happens when your QB carrying everyone goes down? Or plays poorly (Peyton). They wanted a point guard for their quarterback, to play within their team/scheme. Bradshaw once threw less than 20 passes in a Super Bowl and, yes, the Steel Curtain won the game, along with the RBs. Terry still has 4 rings.
and that is okay, Kelly has same philosophy with his QB, but that just means as a player Wilson so far hasnt had to carry his team like an Andrew Luck or RG3 and even Nick Foles to some extend.
Smith would be a great safety.
Interesting result, but god the game was boring. We left at the start of the 4th quarter. Blowout superbowls are not exciting whatsoever.
That first play safety was just so bizarre. Not sure I’ve seen that on the very first snap. Broncos seemed completely out of sorts and unprepared early. Didn’t get much better late.
The one moment that had us laughing was when Demaryius Thomas fumbled. The first big play they had and DT just drops the ball. Seattle player barely hit it. Just amazing how poorly they played.
This game must have been BRUTAL to watch as a Broncos fan. If it were the Eagles getting reamed out like that in the super bowl I think I’d probably need to be put on suicide watch.
Saw lots of broncos fans coming home on the subway, didn’t have the heart to say anything to them.
It definitely wasn’t competitive, but for me it was an absolute treat to see a flat out dominant defense in action. Bill Bellichick and Rex Ryan swear the only possible way to beat Manning is to disguise disguise disguise. Pray that for one key snap that Manning actually doesn’t know what you’re doing and hopefully make the most of it. That’s not how Seattle plays. Everyone just playst straight up and does their jobs so well. No smoke and Mirrors, just a wall.
It will be a long time before we see and offense that good get dominated so thoroughly. Maybe not ever again, the direction the league is supposedly going.
I saw a report that the smoke cloud hovering over Colorado is going to impact weather patterns for the next 4-5 weeks.
There have been 3 certified blow outs in the past 14 Super Bowls
The 2000 Ravens over the Giants.
The 2002 Bucs over the Raiders.
The 2013 Seahawks over Denver.
The winners all had dominant defenses.
What may make the Seahawks more impressive than the others is they have a young team led by a very good young quarterback. Seattle will be around awhile by all indications.
IMO too much of their success rides on their young cheap talent. Some serious pay days will be coming around. If they don’t keep having stellar drafts, they could find themselves sieving talent. They’re a good organization with a great coach, so they’ll probably be trouble, but sustaining that level of dominance is far from a guarantee.
Nah, they draft well. They get finished products like Wilson. They also do the Darth Al thing and get athletes. Then they coach well. Keep doing that, and you can reload, much as the Ravens, Steelers, etc, etc, have been doing. This is also a very young team.
They are paying there QB and both starting CBs under 1 mill per year, that is at least 35 saved per year in cap space (15 for Sherman, 15 for Wilson and 5 for Maxwell and that is going low on Wilson and Maxwell).
Do you know they are paying 11 mill for Zach Miller? They got horrible cap management, but is saved by cheap young talent.
What happens when they have to pay 10 mill to keep Bennet, 15+ for Wilson, 15 for Sherman, 10+ for Thomas, 6-7 mill for Wagner etc.?
Saw another post on 24/7 which gave a breakdown o their cap, etc. They don’t seem to have a major problem, as long as everyone doesn’t need to get paid all at once.
They don’t draft well. Schneider has hit on 2 of 5 1st round picks- Thomas and Okung.
They draft certain types of guys, who are then coached up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Seahawks_draft_history
Its not like their GM or coach is going anywhere. They’ll let another team overpay for their young talent and just draft and coach up some more, thats the beauty of the model.
What is Davis vision for the D? Versatility, hybrid, 4-3 under??
Seahawks are dominating with that 4-3 under.. 49ers are dominating
with..? The 4-3 under with 3-4 personnel crazy right! lol
http://49ers.pressdemocrat.com/2013/03/inside-the-49ers/the-49ers-defensive-scheme/
Sorry, but that article is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wrong in just the first few lines.
It is still a 3-4 defense even if the NT is not in a 0 tech, it is just a difference between 2 gap (like we play or the Giants used on Parcells) or 1 gap that Bum Phillips invented made Bruce Smith to a legend and now has Watt as one of the best defensive players in the NFL.
The Hawks use a 4-3 under like the one used by Monte Kiffin and Dungy (aka the worst and the best defense last year used the same scheme), but the Hawks also used hybrid fronts with both 2 gapping and 1 gapping in the same front (we also did some of that this year) where the Niners used a 3-4 under, but also had some 2 gapping up front.
The two following articles tells the difference and we wants be a “true” 3-4.
http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/guide-to-n-f-l-defenses-part-3-the-4-3-front-continued/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/guide-to-n-f-l-defenses-part-4-the-3-4-front/
and the whole series
http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/guide-to-n-f-l-defenses-part-7-nickel-subpackages/
Also there is no best scheme.
Seahawks use a 4-3 under, Niners 3-4 Under, Stanford (college) uses a true 3-4, Panthers use a traditional 4-3, Steelers and Patriots used a true 3-4 when they won 5 Super bowls in the last decade+
lol yeah thought it was wrong.. You got good Football head Anders keep up the posts
I think when it comes to defenses and offenses, scheme does not really matter. Talent matters and then having a vision for the team.
The Eagles vision for the defense is to limit big plays against them and turnover the ball.
Tommy, to your last point about how fun it is to win the Super Bowl…
I live in Seattle. It’s mayhem. I don’t think there’s anything else in the world that can unite an entire city and create so much happiness.
It was actually the whole state according to sports news on Seattle stations. And there were huge 12th man parties around the Vancouver, BC area as well. A bunch of Seahawk season ticket holders are from here and actually raised a 12 flag in front of a sports bar in downtown Vancouver.
You’re absolutely right. I should have said state.
A ton of Seahawk fans (and season ticket holders) are from Alaska, BC and Alberta.
Regarding FA, I was looking at some mid tier FA agents like Connor Barwin for us or Michael Bennet for the Seahawks:
Jason Worilds, OLB, 26 years old, had a semi break out season, but should not command more than Barwin.
Geoff Schwartz, OG, 28, had a good season for the Chiefs and is a PFF darling like Evan Mathis. I think he would love to play for Kelly again and get a good mid tier OG deal (2.5-3 mill)
Walter Thurmond, CB, 27, current slot CB for Legion of boom, got good length, played for Kelly, but has problems staying healthy, could be a good competition for Williams.
Corey Graham, CB, 29, an older player, but got great size and could be brought in for depth and competition.
All we need are 11 guys on defense who are bigger, stronger, and faster than everyone else. Should be pretty easy.
Don’t forget smarter. With 11 Ernie Sims on the field, the carnage would be unfit for younger viewers.
Yep! No problem, our coach likes to draft big people.
If that’s all, take Jimmy Fallon. 🙂
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2551566/Seahawks-star-Richard-Sherman-says-cracked-Peyton-Mannings-hand-signal-code-Super-Bowl-able-predict-play.html
is this why Seattle looked so dominant????? I’m thinking it is the major reason