This defense and it's place in history

[c_hawkbob]

We are now and will forever be in the conversation of "the best defenses in the history of the NFL!" ... you can't have that conversation anymore without including the 2013 Seahawks! Ever!!

Let that soak in man, then think about next year

[RiverDog]

I was just commenting about it in another thread.

IMO we are already at the level of the '85 Bears, the '00 Ravens, and the '02 Bucs. They were all one hit wonders and brought home just the one Lombardi. What will separate us from them will be claiming another Lombardi, or even just getting to a 2nd SB, something none of those teams did. This is without a doubt the best defense in at least 10 years, and it came at a time when defenses were being hamstrung with a never ending series of rule changes that hampered defenses.

But it's going to require multiple Lombardi's to put us into the Steel Curtain/No Name Defense neighborhood, and that's going to be a monumental challenge in today's age of free agency and the salary cap.

[NorthHawk]

It's frightening to think that they might even be able to get better.
If you ask them, I think you would get a response that there were a number of mistakes made that they would like to correct.
That's the mark of a possible repeat champion. At least they will be in the mix for a while.

[daweez]

I've seen some talk already about how Payton just had a bad game, well that is not entirely true but the reason he had such a bad day is this defense. No other defense has been able to get into his head like Seattle did last night. If you look at the numbers he really didn't have that bad of a game, he compleated 34 passes, the key is they only got 280 yards off those 34 compleations. This defense is scary good. If we can keep them togeter for next year I dont see why we can't do this again!!!

[savvyman]

A couple analyst are making the point that (unlike thye 1985 bears and 2002 Ravens) the Seahawks dominant defensive performance was against the most successful offense of all time.

Teddy Breuschi - former New England patriot linebacker said it was the most dominant Defensive performance in Superbowl history.


The analyst do make a excellent point - the dominant performance by the Seahawks defense was against statistically the greatest offensive performing unit in NFL history.

On a side note I saw on ESPN the post6 game interviews with Peyton Manning - - He really handled himself with such class and respect with the respect in his comments for the Seahawks and his teammates at what had to be one of the most painful moments of his life.

[EntiatHawk]

Totally agree, This Defense can now hang their hat in the Hallow grounds of the very best. No one can take that away from them.

The scary thing is that the way PC and JS are priming this thing we could be in reload mode for several years. We have a window now to make this all happen again. Time will tell and that is a long way off, but with Pete and Johns philosophy of bringing in young talent and coaching them up and just adding a few pieces here and there in free agency we could have a nice run going.

[RiverDog]

A couple analyst are making the point that (unlike thye 1985 bears and 2002 Ravens) the Seahawks dominant defensive performance was against the most successful offense of all time.

Teddy Breuschi - former New England patriot linebacker said it was the most dominant Defensive performance in Superbowl history.


The analyst do make a excellent point - the dominant performance by the Seahawks defense was against statistically the greatest offensive performing unit in NFL history.

On a side note I saw on ESPN the post6 game interviews with Peyton Manning - - He really handled himself with such class and respect with the respect in his comments for the Seahawks and his teammates at what had to be one of the most painful moments of his life.

Good point about the '85 Bears (faced Steve Grogan) and the '00 Ravens (Hostetler?). The No Name Defense faced Billy Kilmer and either an over the hill Fran Tarkenton or Joe Kapp. And who was the QB the Steelers faced when they played the Rams in the Super Bowl? Vince Ferragamo? I can't even remember who Denver's QB was when Doomsday faced them in the SB back in the 70's.

In my memory, the best QB any of the legendary defenses had to face was the Steel Curtain vs. Roger Staubach, and if I recall, the Cowboys put up a lot of points against the Steel Curtain that day. When you consider who the Hawks defense was facing, that was the single most impressive SB performance of any defense in the history of the game.

[savvyman]

A far as fans that deserve a championship - congratulations Riverdog - you have been a great fan for many years - including traveling at your own expense to other cities to show your support - I a good fan but I am not as good as 12th Man as many fans such as yourself. You (and many other 12th men and women) deserve this team and this historic victory.

[RiverDog]

A far as fans that deserve a championship - congratulations Riverdog - you have been a great fan for many years - including traveling at your own expense to other cities to show your support - I a good fan but I am not as good as 12th Man as many fans such as yourself. You (and many other 12th men and women) deserve this team and this historic victory.

Thanks a bunch, savvy. After all the grief I've had to take about my "negativism", your acknowledgement really means a lot to me.

BTW, Irish Greg has gone to far more road games than I have. I've been to just two (Arizona in 2009, Houston in 2013). But I plan on going to at least one road game per year for as long as I can.

[HumanCockroach]

Cemented as one of the greatest, the book is still being written, on whether they become hands down the greatest of ALL time. Win a few more Lombardi's and it is undeniable.

[kalibane]

I don't include the no name defense in the all time greats. They were great but they weren't better than the 85 Bears or 2000 Ravens. (I'd take the 86 Giants over them too who aren't typically in "the discussion"). Their level of comptetition was terrible.

But yes that was one of my first thoughts after this game. You won't be able to have that discussion anymore without the 2013 Seahawks. We waited a long time for this but we got one of the most fun teams when we finally got it and LOB will be remembered forever. Awesome stuff.

[Seahawks4Ever]

Well, the "only" thing to complain about this season was when Pete dialed back the offense toward the end of the year. It was a great move because everyone including most of the pundits and probably the Broncos bought in t the myth that there was something seriously wrong with our offense. Our only fear was that maybe RW and company possibly couldn't "turn it on" when they needed to. We need not have worried, RW was his usual locked on self and we could have really run up ghe score on the hapless Broncos but Pete showed the class that Jim Hairball didn't so many years ago when both were coaching in college.

The fact that our defense totally dominated the best offense in the history of the NFL to me means they are better that the 85 Bears, 00 Ravens, or 02 Bucs. I say our guys did better in our SB than any of the "vaunted" Steel Curtain did in theirs because our defense held the numero uno offense to a single digit score of 8 pts.

P.S. Dallas faced their former QB Craig Morton in their 1978 win over the Broncos.

P.P.S. Tony Eason started for the Pats against the Bears and when he couldn't do anything they brought in former starter Steve Grogan who did little better.

That was the Super Bowl that everyone thought would be our first, even Walter Payton said he had dreamed he scored the winning TD against the Seahawks the previous off season. Alas, neither happened, we didn't make the SB and Payton didn't get to score even one TD as Ditka kept giving the ball to the Refrigerator on the goal line. Ditka was so out of touch with his team that he said later "if I knew that scoring a TD in the SB was so important to Payton I would have let him score one" that pretty much says it all as to why the Bears only won one championship, that, and Jim McMahon couldn't stay healthy.

Walter Payton WAS the Bears for many years, long before Ditka became HC. To deny the greatest runningback of all time the opportunity to score a TD in the biggest game of his career was disgraceful. I mean for years Payton carried a Bear team that went no where.

[RiverDog]

Craig Morton. Thanks for dusting off the cob webs.

Disagree completely with Kal about the No Name defense. They went to 3 straight SB's, winning two of them, including what still stands as the only perfect season in the 17-0 1972 squad. They were much like us, with an offense that featured a scrambling, game manager type quarterback in Bob Griese and a hard as nails, tough to bring down running back in Larry Czonka.

If we can go to three straight SB's and win two, including a perfect season.....

[kalibane]

Well you're talking about a stretch of three years that's different than the one year dominance. Considering the era I like this defense better than any one year of the No Names. And you might as well drop that perfect record line of argument. There is a reason why when discussing greatest single season teams that the 72 Dolphins are never in the argument. There is a reason why everyone hates Mercury Morris always mouthing off about it and why so many people pull for someone to gon undefeated.

#1 it was a 14 game sechule vs. 16 games. #2 and most importantly Go back and look at their schedule. They played only 2 teams with winning records (both 8-6) and their opponents combined winning % was an abyssmal 37%. There "perfect" season was mainly "perfect" favorable conditions that allowed them to beat up on a bunch of also rans.

Adjusted for era they gave up more points than the Hawks did this year and racked up those stats against terrible competition. They get the door. Putting then next to teams like the 76 Steelers, 85 Bears and 2000 Ravens is an insult to those first three teams.

[Irish Greg 2.0]

When our run defense is sound, there's just very little offenses can do. You can't go deep, you can't go to the tight ends other than dump offs (covering TEs was a problem a few years ago but they fixed that fast). The short and underneath stuff is risky, because our head hunter Kam is waiting and willing to punish you.

It seemed like every completion last night was short "finesse" stuff. We get consistent pressure, force turnovers and just don't give up a lot of points.

Pretty awesome defense! And man, has Malcolm Smith been a find. Dude just makes PLAYS.

[RiverDog]

Well you're talking about a stretch of three years that's different than the one year dominance. Considering the era I like this defense better than any one year of the No Names. And you might as well drop that perfect record line of argument. There is a reason why when discussing greatest single season teams that the 72 Dolphins are never in the argument. There is a reason why everyone hates Mercury Morris always mouthing off about it and why so many people pull for someone to gon undefeated.

#1 it was a 14 game sechule vs. 16 games. #2 and most importantly Go back and look at their schedule. They played only 2 teams with winning records (both 8-6) and their opponents combined winning % was an abyssmal 37%. There "perfect" season was mainly "perfect" favorable conditions that allowed them to beat up on a bunch of also rans.

Adjusted for era they gave up more points than the Hawks did this year and racked up those stats against terrible competition. They get the door. Putting then next to teams like the 76 Steelers, 85 Bears and 2000 Ravens is an insult to those first three teams.

I agree. Like I stated, the '72 Dolphins faced Billy Kilmer in the SB, we faced Peyton Manning. We shouldn't even be comparing the two teams/defenses. Apples and oranges. We probably need to start somewhere after the beginning of free agency.

I just wanted to set the record straight about the Dolphins. They were the most dominant team/defense of their era, ie early 70's.

[Hawktawk]

Yes we can claim a stake to the best defense of all time. FA, salary cap, none of that really matters. Its about a snapshot in time. The 85 Bears and the 2OO1 Ravens were dominant throughout the year as was Seattle. But as has been pointed out they faced absolute stiffs in the Super Bowl during their blowout wins. As we know Seattle faced and absolutely destroyed a first ballot HOF QB and a record setting offense. Its the most dominant SB performance of all time for certain. As far as being great for a long time, that's tough. The Pats and Stealers have done the best at that IMO. But last night was about the best as the NFL has ever seen for one game.

[lklhawk]

Its our offense that will make our defense legendary. I think this team is simular to the Bucs and Bears teams of legend only in that they were all balanced teams with legendary defenses. I would much rather have Russell than, Johnson or McMahon though. And the Ravens were afraid to let Dilfer do much of anything. I saw all of them play. McMahon was undiciplined and played by the seat of his pants, Dilfer was no more than a game manager and Johnson never excited anybody. The Hawks are more explosive than those teams. They are a cut above them more like the Steelers of the curtain years. Bradshaw was someone that was not really called upon to pass much, not un-like Wilson. Of course Russell is infinitely more mobile than Bradshaw was. But the steelers had play makers like the Hawks do, and their QBs were diciplined but much more than just game managers. This explosive offense will make our defense as legendary as The Steel Curtain when together they bring us twevles home more than one Lombardy trophy. Thats the key.

[Eaglehawk]

A couple analyst are making the point that (unlike thye 1985 bears and 2002 Ravens) the Seahawks dominant defensive performance was against the most successful offense of all time.

Teddy Breuschi - former New England patriot linebacker said it was the most dominant Defensive performance in Superbowl history.


The analyst do make a excellent point - the dominant performance by the Seahawks defense was against statistically the greatest offensive performing unit in NFL history.

On a side note I saw on ESPN the post6 game interviews with Peyton Manning - - He really handled himself with such class and respect with the respect in his comments for the Seahawks and his teammates at what had to be one of the most painful moments of his life.

Savvy,
Never looked at it that way. You make great points!

[Eaglehawk]

Well you're talking about a stretch of three years that's different than the one year dominance. Considering the era I like this defense better than any one year of the No Names. And you might as well drop that perfect record line of argument. There is a reason why when discussing greatest single season teams that the 72 Dolphins are never in the argument. There is a reason why everyone hates Mercury Morris always mouthing off about it and why so many people pull for someone to gon undefeated.

#1 it was a 14 game sechule vs. 16 games. #2 and most importantly Go back and look at their schedule. They played only 2 teams with winning records (both 8-6) and their opponents combined winning % was an abyssmal 37%. There "perfect" season was mainly "perfect" favorable conditions that allowed them to beat up on a bunch of also rans.

Adjusted for era they gave up more points than the Hawks did this year and racked up those stats against terrible competition. They get the door. Putting then next to teams like the 76 Steelers, 85 Bears and 2000 Ravens is an insult to those first three teams.

I agree. Like I stated, the '72 Dolphins faced Billy Kilmer in the SB, we faced Peyton Manning. We shouldn't even be comparing the two teams/defenses. Apples and oranges. We probably need to start somewhere after the beginning of free agency.

I just wanted to set the record straight about the Dolphins. They were the most dominant team/defense of their era, ie early 70's.

Yes you are right RIver.
Among the teams that I have seen, IN THE SUPERBOWL since the 80's say, was the 85 Bears SB team with Singletary and Walter Payton.
They are still better than the Hawks. But that will not last if we continue to be this good year in and year out.
What did they win by? 35 points or so?
Since the 85 Bears. I have NEVER seen a defense like that during the SB. Except the Seahawks who rank number 2 of all time since 85. From what I have seen of SB teams since then.
Just my opinion. Who the hell knows what the analysts will say.
And also, while I was too young to remember anything, from what I have read and seen the Steel Curtain and No Name rank up there for all time defenses. Higher than the hawks as well.

But think about it folks, this is our really FIRST YEAR of DOMINATION!!!! How many years can we continue this?

Then and only then can we REALLY start talking about best defenses of ALL TIME.
But, as CBOB said, its damn sweet to be mentioned in the conversation!!!!! DAMN SWEET!!!!!!

[RiverDog]

The '85 Bears were heavy favorites going in. They had lost just one regular season game all year (vs. the Dolphins on MNF). They breezed through the playoffs without hardly breaking a sweat, winning 21-0 and 24-0. They were one of the most dominating teams of their era, and are legitimately in the mix for consideration as greatest ever.

Here's a good comparison of the 2013 Hawks and the 1985 Bears. Pretty objective article considering that it's coming out of Chicago. Apples and oranges to say the least, but it's good fodder for debate.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/grizzly ... 78141.html

[monkey]

We are now and will forever be in the conversation of "the best defenses in the history of the NFL!" ... you can't have that conversation anymore without including the 2013 Seahawks! Ever!!

Let that soak in man, then think about next year

http://www.footballperspective.com/the-best-scoring-defenses-in-nfl-history/#comment-77287 That link leads to an OUTSTANDING read, a very well researched and well thought out piece that discusses just this topic.
It's a must read IMO if you want to talk about all time Superbowl defense rank.

I'll say this, the all time greatest offense got completely dominated for four quarters of the biggest game. That's enough to stake the claim as the best Superbowl defense ever IMO.

[monkey]

Good point about the '85 Bears (faced Steve Grogan) and the '00 Ravens (Hostetler?). The No Name Defense faced Billy Kilmer and either an over the hill Fran Tarkenton or Joe Kapp. And who was the QB the Steelers faced when they played the Rams in the Super Bowl? Vince Ferragamo? I can't even remember who Denver's QB was when Doomsday faced them in the SB back in the 70's.

In my memory, the best QB any of the legendary defenses had to face was the Steel Curtain vs. Roger Staubach, and if I recall, the Cowboys put up a lot of points against the Steel Curtain that day. When you consider who the Hawks defense was facing, that was the single most impressive SB performance of any defense in the history of the game.

Just a small point Riv, it was Tony Eason for the Patriots until late in the game when they pulled him for Grogan. It was Kerry Collins for the Giants.
Still, the point is the same, those QB's were lousy. The offenses they faced in the Superbowl were a LONG ways from being GOAT, which the Broncos were...at least statistically.
People just didn't understand how well our defense matched up with them, now in hindsight they get it, we could play them 20 times and have essentially the same result 19, because as I have been saying since the preseason game against them this year, there's not another team in football better built to utterly destroy that offense. The Seahawks were simply the worst match up they could have drawn, period.
Doesn't mean those stats weren't real though, doesn't mean they didn't have a legitimately great offense, or Manning chokes, or whatever (though I will say that they were propped up by Manning a lot, the line looked better because of him, and those soft receivers sure looked a lot better because of him!)

[Venice_Hawk]

It's plain and simple, the history making #1 offense played in the Super Bowl against the #1 defense.
The history making #1 offense was held to only 8 points and was very well could have benn shut out.
The Seahawks in my opinion have the best defense.

[Venice_Hawk]

It's plain and simple, the history making #1 offense played in the Super Bowl against the #1 defense.
The history making #1 offense was held to only 8 points and was very well could have benn shut out.
The Seahawks in my opinion have the best defense.

[NorthHawk]

In this case, stats for the Broncos aren't telling the whole story - they didn't play many real good Defenses.
Not to take anything away from our guys, but was it truly the best Offense? I have my doubts about it.
Statistically the Broncos were the best, but the stats were really padded by weak opposition especially early when opposing Defenses hadn't toughened up yet.

It's one of those times where stats are very misleading.

[monkey]

In this case, stats for the Broncos aren't telling the whole story - they didn't play many real good Defenses.
Not to take anything away from our guys, but was it truly the best Offense? I have my doubts about it.
Statistically the Broncos were the best, but the stats were really padded by weak opposition especially early when opposing Defenses hadn't toughened up yet.

It's one of those times where stats are very misleading.

Again, I go back to what I said before, it's all about MATCH UPS!
Had the Broncos played nearly any other team, they probably would have won. The Niners could have beaten them, because they are so similar to us in design, though they lack the secondary, but make up for it in outstanding front 7.
But the Seahawks? We would beat them every time, because of how our defense is built. It's the WORST possible match up for the Broncos.
That does NOT take away from what they did to every other team though! You play the schedule you have, and they made mincemeat out of their schedule!
They set the all time record for offense!!! That's AMAZING any way you slice it!

Don't take away from the accomplishment by demeaning the opposition, they were great, we were BETTER! It wasn't that Manning failed, it's that WE BEAT HIM!
It wasn't that they were overrated, it's that we were UNDERRATED!!!
Don't buy into the media stupidity. There's not another team that would have done what we did to them, and what we did was NOT a fluke, and was NOT the result of them playing poorly! It was the result of a SUPERIOR defense taking it to an opponent, and it would happen again if we matched up again! That's because it was all about how we matched up with them, it was the worst match up they could have ever hoped for, we were PERFECTLY designed, from the way our secondary plays, to the cover 3 single safety deep, hybrid scheme we run, to the way we can get pressure using just four, because of the depth on the D-Line etc...we were Denvers NIGHTMARE match up, simple as that.
Doesn't make Denver bad, or overrated, they just ran into a BETTER team!!!

[c_hawkbob]

We are now and will forever be in the conversation of "the best defenses in the history of the NFL!" ... you can't have that conversation anymore without including the 2013 Seahawks! Ever!!

Let that soak in man, then think about next year

http://www.footballperspective.com/the-best-scoring-defenses-in-nfl-history/#comment-77287 That link leads to an OUTSTANDING read, a very well researched and well thought out piece that discusses just this topic.
It's a must read IMO if you want to talk about all time Superbowl defense rank.

I'll say this, the all time greatest offense got completely dominated for four quarters of the biggest game. That's enough to stake the claim as the best Superbowl defense ever IMO.

Taken in the context of a single Super Bowl performance and considering the opposition this is absolutely the best defensive performance in Super Bowl history.

Time will tell if we're the best defense ever.

[RiverDog]

Thanks for the corrections, monkey. I was going off memory instead of google. My point was that the Bears and Ravens went up against some pretty pedestrian quarterbacks compared to Peyton Manning and some pretty ho-hum offenses compared to the top ranked Bronco offense.

I don't like calling anyone or any team the "best ever." The game has changed, training methods and coaching philosophies have changed, and times in general have changed to the point where it makes a fair comparison impossible IMO. Suffice it to say that the 2013 Seahawk defense is the best of their era and are comparable to great defenses of the past.

I've watched a lot of football over the past 50 years, and I can honestly say that our defense stacks right up there with the very best. But nor do I want to discount any of the other great defenses of the past.

[monkey]

Thanks for the corrections, monkey. I was going off memory instead of google.

No problem Riv, so was I. I just remembered those Superbowls for some reason.

[RiverDog]

Thanks for the corrections, monkey. I was going off memory instead of google.

No problem Riv, so was I. I just remembered those Superbowls for some reason.

Google=cheating

[c_hawkbob]

Thanks for the corrections, monkey. I was going off memory instead of google.

No problem Riv, so was I. I just remembered those Superbowls for some reason.

Google=cheating

Google = fact checking. I recommend it.

[RiverDog]

Google=cheating

Google = fact checking. I recommend it.

I'll do it if I have time and if it's critically important to the argument get the story completely accurate, which in this case, it was not.

[NorthHawk]

In this case, stats for the Broncos aren't telling the whole story - they didn't play many real good Defenses.
Not to take anything away from our guys, but was it truly the best Offense? I have my doubts about it.
Statistically the Broncos were the best, but the stats were really padded by weak opposition especially early when opposing Defenses hadn't toughened up yet.

It's one of those times where stats are very misleading.

Again, I go back to what I said before, it's all about MATCH UPS!
Had the Broncos played nearly any other team, they probably would have won. The Niners could have beaten them, because they are so similar to us in design, though they lack the secondary, but make up for it in outstanding front 7.
But the Seahawks? We would beat them every time, because of how our defense is built. It's the WORST possible match up for the Broncos.
That does NOT take away from what they did to every other team though! You play the schedule you have, and they made mincemeat out of their schedule!
They set the all time record for offense!!! That's AMAZING any way you slice it!

Don't take away from the accomplishment by demeaning the opposition, they were great, we were BETTER! It wasn't that Manning failed, it's that WE BEAT HIM!
It wasn't that they were overrated, it's that we were UNDERRATED!!!
Don't buy into the media stupidity. There's not another team that would have done what we did to them, and what we did was NOT a fluke, and was NOT the result of them playing poorly! It was the result of a SUPERIOR defense taking it to an opponent, and it would happen again if we matched up again! That's because it was all about how we matched up with them, it was the worst match up they could have ever hoped for, we were PERFECTLY designed, from the way our secondary plays, to the cover 3 single safety deep, hybrid scheme we run, to the way we can get pressure using just four, because of the depth on the D-Line etc...we were Denvers NIGHTMARE match up, simple as that.
Doesn't make Denver bad, or overrated, they just ran into a BETTER team!!!

Don't take away from the accomplishment by demeaning the opposition, they were great, we were BETTER!

Don't get me wrong. It's not like I think this Defense is PEDESTRIAN to coin a term. Rather the Broncos are in my mind suspect as a measuring stick considering their opponents.

[HumanCockroach]

Personally, I aspire to be "pedestrian", seems to be pretty electric to my eyes.....

[HumanCockroach]

In this case, stats for the Broncos aren't telling the whole story - they didn't play many real good Defenses.
Not to take anything away from our guys, but was it truly the best Offense? I have my doubts about it.
Statistically the Broncos were the best, but the stats were really padded by weak opposition especially early when opposing Defenses hadn't toughened up yet.

It's one of those times where stats are very misleading.

Again, I go back to what I said before, it's all about MATCH UPS!
Had the Broncos played nearly any other team, they probably would have won. The Niners could have beaten them, because they are so similar to us in design, though they lack the secondary, but make up for it in outstanding front 7.
But the Seahawks? We would beat them every time, because of how our defense is built. It's the WORST possible match up for the Broncos.
That does NOT take away from what they did to every other team though! You play the schedule you have, and they made mincemeat out of their schedule!
They set the all time record for offense!!! That's AMAZING any way you slice it!

Don't take away from the accomplishment by demeaning the opposition, they were great, we were BETTER! It wasn't that Manning failed, it's that WE BEAT HIM!
It wasn't that they were overrated, it's that we were UNDERRATED!!!
Don't buy into the media stupidity. There's not another team that would have done what we did to them, and what we did was NOT a fluke, and was NOT the result of them playing poorly! It was the result of a SUPERIOR defense taking it to an opponent, and it would happen again if we matched up again! That's because it was all about how we matched up with them, it was the worst match up they could have ever hoped for, we were PERFECTLY designed, from the way our secondary plays, to the cover 3 single safety deep, hybrid scheme we run, to the way we can get pressure using just four, because of the depth on the D-Line etc...we were Denvers NIGHTMARE match up, simple as that.
Doesn't make Denver bad, or overrated, they just ran into a BETTER team!!!

Don't take away from the accomplishment by demeaning the opposition, they were great, we were BETTER!

Don't get me wrong. It's not like I think this Defense is PEDESTRIAN to coin a term. Rather the Broncos are in my mind suspect as a measuring stick considering their opponents.

Sorry, I don't care if they were playing the worst defense in the league all 16 games, 600+ points is no joke, no matter the quality of their opponent..Brady and Moss weren't playing a murderers row either, but are generally considered a great offense, the same could be said about just about every great offense that has ever played, they still have to do it, and they still have to do so against NFL defenses, no matter how one wants to paint that. I mean, someone could just as easily flip the coin ( and they did) and say that Seattle, or the 00' Ravens, or the 85' Bears or any other great defense didn't play a great offense week after week, because well that is simply how the NFL works. No team plays anyone that isn't in front of them and that is all they can do...

Dismiss that offense if you want, but they aren't the first team to play that weak of a defensive lineup, and no one has ever come close to doing what they did.

[monkey]

If someone wants to say that Denver is overrated, AS A TEAM I would quickly agree, their defense, their o line, their run game, all suspect.
That passing game was for real though, and that QB is one of the best to ever play.

The problem isn't that they were overrated, even though in some ways they probably were, it's that they ran into the one team in all of football PERFECTLY DESIGNED to beat them! They weren't overrated when it comes to beating teams they were designed to beat! They weren't overrated when it comes to doing what they were built to do. They just ran into a team designed to beat them!

We're specifically built to beat teams like the Broncos.
Just go back and look at what Seattle has done to teams like the Broncos.
Saints, Patriots, Packers, Cowboys(? Well they have a statistically terrific passing team), and of course Denver, are teams that are built around having a great QB. Seattle has made those passing teams look...pedestrian!

The NFL has geared their rules to the passing game, and GM all around the league have tried to find the next great QB, because of that... Pete Carroll went and built a team that is SPECIFICALLY designed to beat those types of teams. He and John have put together a team that WANTS opposing QB's to throw all over the place, because the defense keeps everything in front of them, giving QB's the underneath stuff INTENTIONALLY so that they have more opportunities to get third down stops, or better, turnovers.
They built a defense that HOPES opposing QB's throw and throw and throw because each pass is an opportunity to get a sack, make a third down stop or better yet, force a fumble, or get a pick.
Like that article I linked said, Pete has built himself an apex predator. A team that is specifically designed to feast on the fat, top of the food chain teams. He's done that by building completely counter to the popular trends, by going completely counter to what is popular, conventional wisdom.

In other words, teams built around terrific QB play are our FOOD our PREY, on purpose! Where those teams aren't balanced, because of all the money tied up in their passing games, we take advantage by being balanced in every way. Those teams will inherently have weaker defenses and run games, because of the salary cap, and the cost of putting together a high scoring passing offense.
Remember the principles of Moneyball? This is Pete and John's football version of that philosophy. Where other teams are putting a premium on the modern passers and modern passing games, we are going old school and finding value in running the ball and playing tough defense. Pete has focused on being balanced offensively and being terrific defensively, and especially in the secondary.
Moneyball. Finding value in areas that other GM and coaches are ignoring because it's such a copy cat league, and all the trends are pointing somewhere else.

Seattle Seahawks, the apex predator team.

[Zorn76]

In addition to what the Seahawks did during the regular season, what seals the deal for us being in that conversation was the complete domination in the Super Bowl.

It's key because the Broncos were favored in the SB, not some patsy that we were supposed to kill, like the 49ers did to Denver in XXIV or the Bears to the Pats in XX.

IMO, it's the strongest evidence in a convincing case to begin with.

EDIT: Re-watching the game right now on NFLN, and while I do remember it being loud on Sunday, I'm Really noticing it after the fact, now that I don't have to focus too hard on the outcome:)

[HumanCockroach]

Yeah Zorn I just texted that to my Brother in law, we all watched it and noticed it was louder than normal, but there are actual SEA-Hawks chants going on that are clear on the telecast, and the announcers are being drowned out. Kind of cool, certainly unique to the normal crypts that are SB's...

[RiverDog]

The problem isn't that they were overrated, even though in some ways they probably were, it's that they ran into the one team in all of football PERFECTLY DESIGNED to beat them! They weren't overrated when it comes to beating teams they were designed to beat! They weren't overrated when it comes to doing what they were built to do. They just ran into a team designed to beat them!

I'm going to ruin my reputation if I keep agreeing, but that's exactly how I feel, especially as it applies to our secondary and their receivers.