And yet this year the top two
teams have made it to the Super Bowl, somehow avoiding the random misfortune
that seems to strike at this time of year. How have the Seahawks and the
Broncos managed to survive to this point? I’ll get to that, but first I want to
take this chance to talk about the two teams that were eliminated this weekend.
So Close…
I’m not a fan of the Patriots or
the 49ers, so I can’t say for certain what they are thinking right now. But I
have to imagine that fans of these two teams are having very different
reactions to how this season went. It seems strange to say that about two teams
that came in with similar aspirations and went out at the same stage of the
season, but given everything that has happened I would imagine most Patriots
fans will eventually come to appreciate this season while fans of the 49ers
will remain devastated for years to come.
For both teams this was just
another devastating defeat to add to a recent trend. Ten years ago Patriots won
three Super Bowls over a span of four seasons, but since then they have
advanced to five AFC Championship Games without being able to get over the
hump. Four times they have been knocked out by a Manning brother, and last year
they fell to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Ravens. In a way Tom Brady is
fortunate (in a lot of ways, actually. He’s rich, talented, handsome, and has a
gorgeous wife) that he managed to win those Super Bowls early in his career.
Because since the 2004 season he has the sort of playoff résumé that would earn
any other quarterback the reputation of a postseason choke artist.
San Francisco’s run of disappointment doesn’t
go back as far, but they don’t have the recent Super Bowl success to fall back on
either. Two years ago they hosted the NFC Championship Game and outplayed their
opponents, only to lose in overtime thanks to a pair of fumbled punt returns by
their backup Kyle Williams. Last season they made the Super Bowl and came
within five yards of taking the lead in the final two minutes. And now this
year, against division rival Seattle, they came in and outplayed their opponent
only to be done in by three fourth quarter turnovers and a touchdown scored
on what was essentially a Hail Mary.
Both teams have every right to be
devastated based on recent history, but in New England
there are mitigating circumstances. Over the course of the season the Patriots
lost to injury their best defensive lineman, linebacker, and offensive lineman.
An offense that was designed around a pair of physically overwhelming tight
ends had to be restructured when one tight end was injured and the other was
arrested. They tried to transition to a run heavy offense, but their best
running back had to be taken out of the lineup due to fumbling issues. They
were starting a defense of rookies and practice squad players and an offense
made up of special teams contributors.
The lone constants in their team
were Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, and somehow that was enough to bring them to
the AFC Championship Game. Brady didn’t have his best season statistically, but
he made plays when they needed made and protected the ball when a punt was
acceptable. Belichick was masterful, and it’s unfortunate he won’t get many
votes for Coach of the Year. He got fantastic production from a pair of
Buccaneers castoffs in LeGarrette Blount and Aqib Talib. He scrapped together a
quality defense despite the pieces he was forced to deal with. It wasn’t enough
to get them over the top, but a spot among the last four teams alive has to be
considered a success.
The 49ers have no such means of
consolation, but they do have one upside to look to that the Patriots don’t: the
future. In New England they probably only have another three or four years of
Brady at most, and Belichick is old enough that he could choose to
retire once he no longer has an elite quarterback to work with. There is some
young talent on their roster to be excited about, but it is hard to see
anything resembling the core of a championship caliber team. Thanks to
Belichick and Brady they have had a very long championship window, but that
window won’t be open much longer. Even considering the mitigating
circumstances, their season has to feel like a wasted opportunity.
On the other hand, San Francisco is right at
the beginning of what could be a similarly extended championship window. Jim
Harbaugh is a brilliant coach just beginning a run of dominance. They have a
young core of talent in place, with Patrick Willis, Navarro Bowman, Joe Staley,
and Anthony Davis all locked up for multiple years on reasonable deals. And
most importantly, they have a talented young quarterback in Colin Kaepernick.
Let’s take a couple paragraphs to
discuss Colin Kaepernick. It is unfortunate that the lasting memories most
people will have of him from this game will be the three turnovers on the last
three possessions. Because for most of the game he carried the 49ers’ offense
on his own. San Francisco
had 308 yards on the day, 277 of them accounted for by Kaepernick’s arm and
legs. Against the best pass defense in the NFL the 49ers’ receivers were not
able to get any separation, but Kaepernick managed to fit throws into
incredibly tight windows. His touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin was one of the
most incredible displays of athleticism, accuracy, and arm strength I have ever
seen. Anyone who doesn’t believe that Kaepernick can be a long term answer at
quarterback was silenced yesterday.
All that said, he still has a lot
of work to do on his game. People have interpreted Joe Montana’s comments as criticisms of Kaepernick, but they could better be
described as accurate suggestions for improvement. Kaepernick still struggles
some in making reads from the pocket, as evidenced by the first interception he
threw yesterday. He has to be more aware when he scrambles in order to avoid plays like
the sack-fumble by Cliff Avril. But at the end of the game, he made the play he
needed to make. I’ve heard discussion about the pass that was ultimately
intercepted after the tip by Richard Sherman, but I believe it was an excellent
decision and an excellent throw. He saw his best wide receiver matched up
against single coverage, and he took a necessary chance needing a touchdown
late in the game. He threw it on a line to the back shoulder in the hope that
his receiver would make a play on the ball. And if Richard Sherman hadn’t made
one of the best defensive plays I have ever seen, it would have been a
touchdown. If he had mistimed his jump, if he had missed with his lunge for the
ball, it would have hit Crabtree right in the hands and given him the chance to
get both feet down in the endzone. He made a throw that was so good that only
an elite defensive play could stop the 49ers from winning the game. It is just
unfortunate that he was going after one of the five players in the league
capable of making that play.
Which brings me to my next topic:
Richard Sherman
The controversy surrounding
Richard Sherman and his antics after the game doesn’t interest me as much as the games themselves,
but I’ll address it briefly anyway. I have no issue with how Sherman carried himself in the interview
after the game. I have no problem with him declaring, “I’m the best corner in
the game.” Because he is, and he just made one of the best defensive plays I
have ever seen to send his team to the Super Bowl. He deserves all the praise
given to him as well as all the praise he gives to himself.
I found this interview both
amusing and refreshing. The Fox Network knew what they were
getting when they decided to interview Sherman.
His reputation is well known across the league, and no one could have expected
him to say anything other than what he did. And he shouldn’t have to. I’ve grown
tired of these monotonous, repetitive post game interviews. I’ve grown tired of
these players having to work to cultivate a public perception of humility. Some
say it sincerely, but many players simply spew the “I would like to thank my
parents, my teammates, and God” line as a way of trying to appear humble. These
players have worked their entire lives to be the best in the world at what they
do, and they shouldn’t have to pretend to not be proud of what they have
accomplished.
That said, I do have a problem
with the way Sherman
behaved immediately following his interception. For those who didn’t see, Sherman made a choking
gesture towards Kaepernick then went out of his way to slap Crabtree’s butt and
taunt him to his face. He later referred to Crabtree as a “sorry receiver.” I
don’t take issue with a player celebrating their own greatness, but I think
it’s another matter entirely to belittle an opponent.
Sherman is a great figure to the NFL because, despite what he claims,
he is a villain. Villains make things more interesting and more fun. I have been
openly supporting the Broncos since the Vikings and the Steelers were
eliminated, and the emergence of Sherman
as a villain gives me even more reason to hope for them to win. Football is
much more interesting when you can get emotionally invested in a game, and
because of Sherman’s
actions there are a great number of people who will watch the Super Bowl with a
rooting interest who would have been indifferent otherwise.
Now, on to the football.
The Final Two
The narrative of a team
overcoming adversity and winning a championship is the heart of every great
sports story. Last season the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl despite
losing four of their final five regular season games and changing offensive
coordinators. Two years ago the Giants came from the Wild Card Round after
having to win their final two games just to make the playoffs. In 2010 the
Packers suffered major injuries across their team, and in 2009 the Saints
managed to win the Super Bowl despite ending the regular season on a three game
losing streak.
You can probably see what I’m
getting at. It seems like every year there is some great adversity that strikes
the team that ultimately goes on to win the Super Bowl. Sports writers fall
over themselves exploiting these perfectly scripted stories. Fans give special
appreciation to teams that fought so hard through so much difficulty. And there
are always those who celebrate the adversity itself and give it credit for
helping the team develop the toughness it needed to win the championship.
The truth is, every team faces
adversity. This season the Broncos overcame injuries to major players at every
level of their defense and a medical emergency that left them without their
head coach for a month. The Seahawks lost three defensive contributors to
suspensions and have suffered a series of injuries at wide receiver and
on the offensive line. Whichever of these teams emerges victorious,
expect to hear how these troubles gave them the strength and willpower
necessary to win the championship.
While it makes a good story,
there is no reason to draw a connection between adversity and success. The
Tampa Bay Buccaneers had to deal with two separate lawsuits from the NFLPA this
season, and they finished 4-12. The Houston Texans faced medical crisis with
their head coach just as the Broncos did, and they finished with the worst
record in the league. The owner of the Tennessee Titans died during the season,
but this didn’t give them the motivation to summon a late season playoff push.
Every team faces adversity. Teams
like the Broncos and the Seahawks succeed because they are better suited to
handle adversity. These teams are the last two remaining because they are the
best and deepest rosters in the NFL. They do a number of things very well, and
even if something happens to hurt them in one of these areas they have other
capabilities to fall back on. Adaptability is the key to survival in the wild,
and it is the key to success in the NFL.
If you asked a casual fan to
explain what made these two teams great, they would likely tell you about the
Broncos’ pass offense and the Seahawks’ pass defense. And they would be very
justified in doing so. Behind Peyton Manning’s MVP performance the Broncos flew
past the record for most points in a single season. They set the records for
passing yards and passing touchdowns this season. Seattle was similarly impressive as a pass
defense. It is hard to set defensive records in this offensive era, but when
adjusted for the year the Seahawks were one of the five best pass defenses
since the merger. They did this despite starting four different cornerbacks and
despite missing two of their top pass rushers early in the season.
These two units alone would have
made them playoff teams, but they are not the reason these teams are in the
Super Bowl. Smart coaches can design gameplans to attack one dimensional teams,
and many of the great pass offenses and defenses in history have failed to
advance deep in the playoffs. These two teams have versatility most football
fans don’t realize, and it is because of this versatility that they are still
alive.
As goods as Denver’s passing
attack has been, it is easy to look past the productive season Knowshon Moreno
just put together. He had a career high 4.3 yards per attempt on his way to his
first career 1000 yard season. He was fourth in the league with ten rushing
touchdowns. This was behind an offensive line that suffered a number of serious
injuries on an offense that gave the quarterback the opportunity to throw the
ball whenever he desired. While Moreno
certainly benefited from defenses aligned to stop the pass, he still deserves
plenty of credit for the team’s offensive success.
Denver’s defense doesn’t receive a lot of
attention. Their best known player is Von Miller, who only played in nine games
this year due to a suspension and a torn ACL. During his suspension for the
first six games of the season the Broncos struggled with a pass rush, but they
were dominant against the run thanks to a stacked defensive front of Derek
Wolfe, Terrance Knighton, and Kevin Vickerson. They would probably have gone
back to that after Miller’s injury, except they are now without Wolfe and
Vickerson for the rest of the year. With all the losses to their defense
(including Rahim Moore and Chris Harris in the secondary) most people expected
they would have to win games on the strength of their offense this postseason.
Instead, their offense has been satisfied with fewer than 30 points in each
game while their defense stepped up their performance. In the first three
quarters of their two playoff games they have allowed a total of three points.
Defensive linemen Terrance Knighton and Shaun Phillips—both free agents last
offseason—are playing at an elite level, stuffing the line against the run and
getting after the quarterback on pass plays. They are without five defensive
starters, yet because of their depth and versatility their defense is playing
as well as it has all season.
But if we’re going to talk about
depth on defense, Seattle
deserves to be at the front of that conversation. Most know them for their
“Legion of Boom” secondary, specifically the best safety and cornerback in the
league in Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman. Because of how great their secondary
is, their front seven often gets overlooked. Their middle linebacker Bobby
Wagner is a fantastic player who has made multiple spectacular, game
altering plays this postseason. Brandon Mebane and Red Bryant are the two
unsung heroes of the defense up front. Their pass rushing trio of Chris
Clemons, Michael Bennett, and Cliff Avril is so formidable that they moved
talented pass rusher Bruce Irvin to a more traditional linebacker role. They
have been inconsistent against the run this year, but there have been several games
in which they have absolutely shut down the opposition on the ground.
Seattle’s offense is as multi-dimensional as
their defense. The two most notable players are Marshawn Lynch and mobile
quarterback Russell Wilson, but they were just as good passing the ball this
year as they were running it. Wilson
has struggled over the past month, but for most of the year he played as a
dynamic pocket passer who had the ability to escape if the situation dictated
it. He uses his legs more like Aaron Rodgers than Colin Kaepernick, as a backup
option rather than a fundamental part of his game. If the defense contains him
well and forces him to play the entire game from the pocket, he is still
capable of producing at a high level. He’s been hindered somewhat by the mediocre
talent in his receiving corps, but every player on Seattle’s offense has shown up at critical
moments in the year. Doug Baldwin is routinely in the right place at the right
time. Golden Tate is the most physically gifted of their healthy receivers. Jermaine
Kearse caught a huge touchdown pass on fourth down last week against the 49ers.
Their weapons aren’t anywhere near the caliber of Denver’s, but they are capable of making big
plays to aid their quarterback.
These two teams have survived
adversity not because they are ‘mentally tough’ or ‘teams of destiny’ but
because they have the ability to adapt to the situations they are put into. The
Super Bowl is being celebrated as the matchup of Denver’s pass offense against Seattle’s pass defense (and that part is going to be a lot of fun) but this game won’t be
decided based on strength against
strength.
Even if Denver
struggles to score the ball, their run game and defense can help them win a low
scoring game. Even if Peyton Manning has a game for the ages, Seattle’s offense is capable of keeping up in
a shootout. The Seahawks and the Broncos are the final two teams alive because
they are capable of winning games in multiple ways. Don't be surprised when one of their lesser known players comes through big in the Super Bowl.
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