They are the Super Bowl champs. They had one of the great defensive performances in the history of the game. Their coaches understand scheme, and they develop their players into NFLers. They have one of the loudest fan bases in the NFL, giving them a significant home field advantage. But Seattle has a formula other teams can use for winning.
Seattle drafted a gang of players out of the Pac-12. Pete Carroll understood through his USC experience the Pac-12 has NFL players galore, because they emphasize speed and play pro style ball at a high level. You aren’t going to see Pac-12 teams running the wishbone. They are going to get the ball downfield and score points. They have a weird hybrid style where they can run the ball almost exclusively, but can also get the ball downfield. Here’s another goodie: I think Tavaris Jackson is a better fit for their offense, but we’ll never know because they’ll go with Russell Wilson. And I’m a Russell Wilson fan.
Seattle’s cap management is the best. By bringing in Russell Wilson and anointing him starter, they save millions off the cap. Don’t be surprised if Wilson wants too much money … and he won’t … the Seahawks move on. They will eventually start transitioning players out of their in favor of draft picks they can keep, while avoiding moving out their core. It’s the only way a team can remain superior in the salary cap era without having a dominating QB.
After last night’s game, their players were incredible. Richard Sherman was classy. Russell Wilson was classy, Earl Thomas was classy. Pete Carroll wasn’t a super douche. No one on that team showed their azz. I didn’t see Golden Tate. I can no longer ask “are you tired of the Seahawks yet?”
Unfortunately, Seattle also is very good in something else: PED use. I heard someone today say the Seahawks have had nine players suspended for PED use during Carroll’s four-year tenure. The Seahawks had NONE suspended prior to his arrival. It’s obvious Carroll doesn’t care; I wonder if the long-term effects of their drug use is going to come back on those players.
But the Seahawks won. And they’re not done yet. I’ll be interested to see how well they do, and what teams do to work up a solution for them.
One last thing and we’re done talking about the Big Bowl Game: If it was the Broncos running up and down the field scoring points, winning 43-8, this would have been an “awesome” Super Bowl. I’m sick of the biased homers in sports media.
