Well, this worked really well with Saints fans, so I thought I might go to the well 1 last time and roll this idea now that the Big Game is upon us all.

I'm assuming that we will have quite a few Broncos Fans visiting us over the next few days, so I thought it would be cool to have an open invitational thread to Broncos Fans to share their insights/thoughts on the Broncos and this matchup... and of course vice versa for Seahawks fans as well.

Here's the ground rules once again (I'll repeat exactly what I wrote when I did this both times with the Saints-Seahawks Previews) -- I'd like for this thread to be a Q&A thread both for Broncos Fans ... and for Seahawks Fans. Above all, I want this to be a respectful discourse. Let me put my Dad hat on here for a second and say that I really want to stress respect here. No provoking comments, degrading jokes, smack talk, etc here. If you guys want to do that outside of this thread or in the Smack Shack -- fine. Whatever. Not here alright. Moderators (Radish and others) I'm really hoping for your support again on this, as I want this to be a clean Q&A friendly discourse here. We can disagree obviously, just do so in a respectful manner. I'd like for Saints Fans to feel welcome to honestly share ... because you get the best answers and best discourse that way. Let them see what I already know to be true -- that Seahawks.net is the best NFL fan forum out there bar none. OK?

So, Hawks fans, ask your questions about the Broncos ... and I'm hoping Broncos fans will feel free do the same and ask us about our team. The idea is to get more educated about each others' teams rather than simply preaching to the choir or talking past one another.

That said, let me be the first to start and I'll begin with a couple of general questions ...

Broncos fans, thanks for joining us here for the next 12 days or so. Would you be so kind as to answer the following intro questions ...

1) If you would be so kind, could you give us a scouting report/breakdown on your team (both offense and defense).

2) It's no secret that the Seahawks are one of the most (if not THE MOST) physical teams in the NFL. They are an "in your face" punishing team, both defensively and offensively actually. I'm curious to know, how has Denver done when they have faced those kinds of teams.

We love details around here, so feel free to go for it.

Alright, since no Broncos fans have graced us with their presence yet, let me go ahead and get things kicked off with a very brief preview on the Seahawks and what you're likely going to see.

If I'm a Broncos fan, honestly I come in to this game a bit worried about the Seahawks. And I don't say that as a homer. I say that as someone who has followed the Broncos some this year and what they like to do. From a match-up standpoint, I could very easily see the Seahawks being problematic. From what I understand, the formula that has worked to some extent on how to beat the Broncos this year is basically:

1) Do not blitz Peyton Manning (he'll generally torch teams that dial that up).

2) Be physical with the Broncos WR's and drop a lot of good cover guys back in to pass coverage.

3) Keep Peyton Manning off the field by establishing the run.

Well, I can virtually promise you that the game plan for the Seattle Seahawks will be to basically try to do all of that ... because those are the real strengths of this football team.

I’ll start by expounding on points 1 and 2 ...

On Defense, the Seattle Seahawks DON'T tend to blitz all that much for the simple fact that they don't have to. Last season, a major reason that the Seahawks lost to the Falcons in the playoffs was their inability to generate any kind of pass rush in that game. That was a big problem down the stretch -- and especially become a real issue once Chris Clemons went down in the Redskins playoff game. This past offseason, GM John Schneider made a concerted effort to address that -- and boy did he ever. Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett have really transformed Seattle's Front 4 in to a pretty scary beast. Neither are starters (Seattle tends to rotate guys through periodically and according to situation), but both cause a heck of a lot of problems when they're in there. Avril has a tendency to create a lot of strip sacks (where he causes the QB to fumble as he sacks him). That's a skill he's had ever since he was in Detroit and he did it yet again this past game against Kaepernick. Michael Bennett is a guy I was extremely excited to get, as he's someone who's unique in that he can play both interior lineman or out wide at either defensive end spot. He generates a lot of pressure as well. Both Bennett and Avril were among Pro Football Focus's top 10 defensive lineman in terms of generating pressure. And the Seahawks pass rush doesn't stop there. DT's Brandon Mebane and Tony McDaniel were not only two of the top run stuffers in the game (2nd and 4th best according to PFF) ... they were also two of the NFL's best pass rushing interior lineman as well. Seattle was one of the best pressure inducing teams in the NFL WITHOUT having to blitz much.

Because of that, Seattle has a major advantage when it comes to pass coverage. They will often drop their LB's in to coverage and those guys are very good at it. Most times, putting a linebacker on a tight end is the kiss of death for a defense -- especially against really good TE's. But Seattle's linebacking corps is a whole different breed of animal. They are big, fast, and aggressive. K.J. Wright has been kind of like a secret weapon when it comes to opposing TE's. He's a big, long (6'4" 246 pounds) and can run. His backup (who'll rotate in there too), Malcolm Smith, is in the words of LB's coach Ken Norton Jr. "weapon's grade fast" -- he runs a legitimate 4.4 and always seems to be around the ball. Both of those guys helped to really shut out guys like Jimmy Graham and Vernon Davis -- two of the best TE's in the game. Last season, Luke Kuechly in Carolina walked away with Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. Well let me tell you, though not much attention was paid to him, MLB Bobby Wagner absolutely deserved to be in that DROY discussion. He's fast (runs about a 4.46 IIRC), hard hitting, and very instinctual -- he always seems to be around the ball. Though Kuechly is going to continue to get his recongition nationally as being the best MLB in the game ... Bobby Wagner is right there with him. Last year, Bruce Irvin led all NFL rookies in sacks (8.0) from the LEO position (a hybrid pass rusher that Carroll employs in his defenses). This year, he was moved to LB to take advantage of his overall speed there. Though I was extremely skeptical at first, Irvin has been very solid both in terms of run and pass coverage.

When healthy, San Francisco's linebacking corps is the best in the league I'd say bar none. However, I'd honestly have to honestly put Seattle's in the top 3 or 4 in the NFL -- they're that good.

There is no such debate when it comes to Seattle's secondary though. Without a doubt, fans throughout the nation are going to be seeing Peyton Manning facing the best in the league come February 2nd. Their nickname, Legion of Boom, really says it all about these guys and what they are all about. They are all big, fast, and nasty defenders. Richard Sherman has gotten a whole lot of attention with his self promotion of "I'm the best corner in the game" kind of thing. But in all honesty, he's completely right (Sherman is the brutally honest type who will call a spade a spade, regardless of who it offends). Sherman, a one time 5th round draft choice out of Stanford, played WR in college. That experience has really translated well to the NFL for him. He studies film like crazy and because of that can often run the route as well as the receiver he is facing. He is not only quick, but often positions himself so incredibly well in a way that only he can make the play. Sherman not only led the league in interceptions (8) -- he had a passer rating against of only 47.3 (best in the NFL). Opposite Sherman, Broncos fans will see a very underrated Byron Maxwell. There was a lot of hand wringing when Brandon Browner went down first with a groin injury and then was lost due to his drug suspension for the remainder of the season. However, the secondary has actually performed even BETTER since Byron Maxwell has been in there. Maxwell is big, very physical corner as well. Since taking over as a starter, Maxwell has 4 interceptions and has been a shut down corner in his own right. He had a passer rating against of 47.8 (2nd in the NFL) in limited duty. The matchup that’s going to be particularly interesting in this game is going to be in the slot -- how Walter Thurmond does against Wes Welker. Thurmond has been a very good nickel corner this season, as he has a passer rating against of just 67.4 (13th in the NFL -- that was better than either Dominque Rogers-Cromartie or the Patriot’s Aqib Talib). And Seattle has good depth all the way down in terms of its DB’s, as Jeremy Lane and DeShawn Shead are very much in that same mold. Both are capable corners that you’ll undoubtedly be seeing more of next year.

Seattle safeties are also elite. What really makes the Seahawks secondary click is the play of FS Earl Thomas. Thomas has sideline to sideline speed -- blazing fast (runs a 4.43). He is also a very physical, punishing hitter with great instincts and a nose for the football. Teams think twice about throwing deep often because Earl is back there. He changes the game, as he plays center field and does a phenomenal job of it. Thomas is an All Pro that Manning is going to have to be cognizant of where he is at on the football field t all times. At the Strong Safety position is enforcer Kam Chancellor. Chancellor (who has the nickname “Bam-Bam”), is as big as a linebacker (6’3 232 Lbs), has good speed (4.6), and hits like a Mack Truck. If you like big hits, that shot that he put on Vernon Davis in the NFCCG was a thing of beauty. He is also very good in coverage and was a big reason why TE’s Jimmy Graham and Vernon Davis got shut down for the most part. He’s a 2 time Pro Bowler himself and was named All Pro this year as well.

Seattle has been very good at shutting down even elite quarterbacks this year. Back in Week 13 when the Seahawks faced the Saints up in Seattle, Drew Brees had a ton of problems. At a few points in that game, you could see him trying to go through his progressions … and he couldn’t find anyone open.

The Seahawks secondary as a whole is very physical. They will jam receivers off the line of scrimmage and tend to play a lot of man to man coverage. Now here is where the Broncos may have a bit of an edge, as they may be forced to play some zone -- where they are not as adept. In terms of the WR/DB play, this will be a knock down, drag out fight. I’ve seen a lot of defenses throughout the years and I don’t think it’s at all a stretch to put these guys right up there with defenses like the 2000 Ravens or the 1985 Bears. It’ll be very interesting to see how one of the best OFFENSES we’ve seen in a long, long time does against these guys.


Now in terms of Point 3 (Keep Peyton Manning off the field), it’s no secret that’s going to be the game plan for Carroll and the rest of the coaching staff. And that starts with trying to slow down Beast Mode -- Marshawn Lynch.

Here is how the numbers for the Seahawks offense broke down this year ...



Don’t let those numbers fool you though -- Russell Wilson is an extremely good playmaker and a heck of a passer. He had 320 yards passing back in Week 1 … and 385 yards passing and 2 TD’s against the Falcons last year in the playoffs. So, he is the kind of quarterback that CAN put a team on his back and carry them to victory if necessary. Anyone who saw that Seahawks-Bears game last year has no doubt about that one.

No, Seattle makes running the ball its #1 priority simply because Pete Carroll firmly believes that the running game (first and foremost) and good, tough, hard physical defense is what makes championships. Ball control, limiting turnovers on offense, and controlling the time of possession is what Carroll is all about.

In horrible conditions at Century Link Field (40 mile an hour winds and driving rain that made passing very difficult) against the Saints in the Divisional Round, Marshawn Lynch virtually willed the Seattle Seahawks to victory, running for 140 yards on 28 carries (5.0 yards/carry) and 2 touchdowns. Lynch broke an amazing 13 tackles in that game. In fact, on the season, Lynch has broken 99 tackles -- which was 22 more than the 2nd running back on the list, LeSean McCoy. To put it in perspective of how dominant Lynch has been this season, from 2008-2012, the most missed tackles that any running back had was 64.

The 49ers (one of the best run defenses in all of the league) made no bones about it that stopping Lynch was going to be priority #1. The Seahawks responded by making a commitment to the run and Lynch went off, rumbling for 109 yards (5.0 yards/carry) and a key touchdown. And Seattle won the time of possession in the process (31:28 to 28:32). In this game especially, with how potent Denver’s offense is, I see Carroll and the Seahawks committing to the run more than ever.
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So, all of that said, here are a few questions that I would have for Broncos fans ...

1) How do you envision Peyton Manning and the Broncos attacking Seattle's defense in this game?

2) On defense, what do you envision being Denver's game plan against the Seahawks ... and how effective do you believe they can be at shutting down Marshawn Lynch?

3) Related question to #2 -- given the overall health of Denver's defense at this point of the season, do the Broncos have the horses to be able to effectively slow down Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, and the Seattle Offense?

Thanks for doing this again.

Hope it works out as well as the last time.

If it gets overweight we can simply go to a new string.

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The SuperB owl ladys have left the building with our thanks.

Thanks for the invite! Class act man. I'm not able to go into such detailed info as you may hope for, but I certainly will be chiming into this PM thread.
I'm revamping my resume and references at the moment as the Wine business is simply burning me out.... Not to mention trying to buy a new car tonight so I will have to chime
in at a later point here and there throughout the next 2 weeks. Thanks again for the invite, I plan on posting here when I know it can be respected and disagreed with!

1. Manning will have some surprises up his sleeve using Jacob Tamme and Virgil Green... L. Ball will be used here and there, but Tamme and Green will be used for slot passes, blocks, the dirty work...
2. Our run stoppage is not to shabby, but I still see Beast going for 120 and a TD.... He's all business in the playoffs and he has a stiff arm like nobody's business. I think we hold Wilson to Alex Smith type numbers with
a very basic 3-4 zone. Almost daring him to beat us with his arm. This works out great for Wilson because when he decides to leave the pocket, I see him NOT throwing the ball and running for the 7 or 8 yeards. Taking
what we give to him. Wilson finishes with 50 yards rushing.... But those 50 yards are on key plays during the Hawks drives.... Daggers (if you will)
3. I think we have it in us to play 60 minutes with the Hawks. Details later....

Thanks Again!

Hello, My name is John and i have been a Bronco fan since the Floyd Little days.
I know we are both super excited to be here and I first want to say congrats on getting here this far. It's an amazing feat in this league just to get to the big game.

I will try to answer your questions
1) How do you envision Peyton Manning and the Broncos attacking Seattle's defense in this game?
Peyton's plan will be similar to what they have been doing all year. Peyton loves to spread out his passes to multiple recievers and multiple lengths of passes. He is usually not a long bomb passer but if he finds a good target, he will do the longer plays.
The Broncos are very good at using screen plays where they will set it up to have blockers that lead the way for the recievers. DT has recieved his best TDs and Yards after carries on simple screen plays.
And im sure you have heard the Billicheck contriversy on the welker/DT pick play. (By the way, Welker was not trying to "Get" or hurt anyone) We will definitely use pick plays to isolate receivers for short to mid range yardage.
Peyton is good at finding out what your defense is giving away.
I will not be suprised, for example, if you try to shut down DT. If you do, then Peyton will find other targets such as Welker, Decker and Julius. All of them have at least 10 TDS each regular season.
Don't forget our run game. Moreno got over 1000 yards rushing and 500 yards passing and 12TDs i think. Ball has a couple TDs too. I expect that team will get over 100-150 yards in the game.
OUr plan is to simply dink and dunk and methodically get down the field. A key thing we need to make sure is to not let Seattle stop us in the Red Zone, forcing field goals instead of TD's.
Peyton will try to get your team to go offsides and is good at it. Didn't happen much in the NE game, but SD he got 5 penalties for nuetral zone infractions. He loves to test the defense to see what coverage you will take.
2) We have done very well this year at shutting down the run. (with exception of a game or two).
We usually will put a spy on a QB or an option type system to slow down any runs that way.
Many of the games we have, run hasn't been an issue because the opposing team has been behind, they are trying to pass to catch up. (im really not trying to be cocky here, just stating a fact).
We are not perfect with the run, but i feel that we have handled players harder than Lynch in this area. I would say keeping Lynch to 50-75 yards would be our goal.
I really don't have the knowledge/experience to tell you what my concerns are with passing ability of Russel Wilson. I will take your word there that he should not be underestimated.
I think sometimes people look at our stats and see that our passing defense is suspect.
I would say early on in the year, it was MAJOR suspect. Especially the Dallas game, where Romo was passing at will.
But, they seem to be peaking now right at the right time. Ever since week 15 of the SD game, we have really have been playing good defense!
3) Champ Bailey is one CB that played very well for us last game. He has been limited with a foot injury and has been gone most of the season. We lost Chris Harris which is big, but Tony Carter has filled in. DRC has done an amazing job this year.
We seem to be doing amazing the first 3 quarters of a game, and then give up plays in trash time. I'm real excited how we are playing.
Players like Knighton and Shaun Phillips have come thru to help us. its been an amazing season, and i am proud of them no matter what the results are in 11 days.

question for you. Out of our recieving threat, who are you most concerned about and what tactics will you employ to slow down Peyton's drives? Will you try to eliminate/slow down a certain part of it?

Thanks for this...this is fun!

I hope the Broncos commit to #2. Wilson will straight up murder the Bronco's D.

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Super Bowl Champions XVLIII

Thanks for your write-up. To answer your question, I'm concerned about all of them. If we focus on solely on one, the other three horsemen will punish us. Manning is great at exploiting matchups; he's possibly the best ever at the QB position as far as throwing receivers open and exploiting weaknesses. That said, I still think the Hawks win.

The first key will be to disrupt Manning's rhythm through pressure from the D-line and physical play against the receivers. We need to bump the receivers at the line of scrimmage and be ultra-physical to disrupt their timing. Its the test of the season for sure for our defense, but I think we are up to it.

Obviously, and I'm sure you hear this with every game, the best defense against Manning is keeping him off the field with sustained drives from our offense. Earlier in the year, the Seahawks were very good at sustained drives lasting 6+ minutes. We need to do this again and again to keep Manning off the field.

Finally, its important to get an early lead playing Manning. If there's a weakness in Manning that I've noticed over his career, its that he's not as good at playing from behind. The pressure gets to him and he tries to do too much. He's not the most patient QB, which is different from Russell Wilson who plays conservatively to a fault sometimes.

aawolf thanks,
you mention the "keep manning off the field" mantra, so i will expound upon that. The only team that has had success with that was San Diego at our home on a Thursday. They kept Rivers mostly at check and tried to run alot and control the clock. they used up much more game time than we did and beat us 27-20. But, earlier in the year they tried the same thing and chewed up game time, but we beat them 28-20 i think. In the playoffs, their plan was totally foiled and we ended up chewing the clock on them.

I agree that Peyton like a rhythim and what you mentioned about changing that rhythm is key.
I don't necessarily agree that Manning is not good from playing behind. He has a couple of comebacks this year and has many in his carreer. I think if we were way down, i think you are right.

I'm very curious how this game will end up. This is not like any typical game we have had before, but i feel we will end up winning it and my useless prediction will be Denver 24- SEa-21. Either way it won't sway 4 points one way or other. Usually, i would predict at least 30 points for any other team.

Don't forget we had 44 sacks, which essentially translates to 464 pass attempts (47.7% of 973 total plays)

Wilson additionally had 96 of those rushing attempts. A good percentage of those would have been called pass plays that Wilson has decided to gain yards from (at >5 YPC) but so often Wilson has his eyes downfield and throws a pass when it looks like he's going to run. We DO run the ball more than we pass, but that doesn't mean the threat isn't there, if you think for one moment you have Wilson stopped dead in his tracks and leave your WR, he will punish you

for comparison
2013 Seahawks (Regular Season Stats)
Rushing Attempts …509 (54.8% of Offense) 2188 yards 14TDs
Passing Attempts … 420 (45.2% of Offense) 3235 yards 27 TDs
Total Attempts … 929

2013 Broncos (Regular Season Stats)
Rushing Attempts …461 (40.5% of Offense) 1873 yards 16TDs
Passing Attempts … 675 (59.5% of Offense) 5444 yards 55 TDs
Total Attempts … 1136

Looks like we have more offense just in passing than you have offense in total.

Something to bear in mind when comparing offenses is that Seattle doesn't *need* the offense that Denver does. Seattle's defense gives up (regular season) an average of 14.4 pts per game. What that means is if Seattle can score more than 15pts (by any means), they win. If Seattle gets to 20pts by any means, they almost certainly win. That's not been true for Denver. I also note that when teams play Seattle, they score less than their normal averages. A lot less.

Just my opinion, but highly doubt you are going to keep Denver from scoring a minimum of 23-24 points.

Our lowest point scoring game was the SD game with 20 points and that I will chalk up to one of those wierd divisional Thurs games.

I would rethink this after looking at Seattle's defense this year. Seattle doesn't give up very many points to ANYONE. Just saying.

Except 34 points to Indy?

My opinion which is biased somewhat is that we can keep Denver from 21pts just because of our line(s)
play..Denver has not played a defense like ours..KC ? please..I saw enough of Peyton here to know he can
get rattled if you pressure him and disrupt his timing which everything to him..With 2 weeks to prepare I really like our chances..Denver is a great team and it should be a great game..

You can't make a proof from exceptions. You aren't Indy. Heck Indy (of the post-season) wasn't even Indy in September when they were playing their absolute best ball.

I seem to recall the Broncos had their own problems with Indy.

Very true! we lost to Indy too! I was just trying to make a point earlier.
There are two good teams here and somethins gotta give.

Agreed, but superbowl history suggests (doesn't demand mind but does suggest) that given a head on head class between an epic offense (which Denver most certainly has) and an epic defense (which Seattle has), the edge tends to go to the defense. I note that even against the Pats (who don't have anywhere close to Seattle's defense) at home, Denver scored what? 26 points? More than enough to win and even dominate the game true, but not a track meet.

The 24-26 point mark will lose you the game, and quite frankly, you're unlikely to get there. Here's why:

First, Seattle opponents average about 65% of their customary scoring output. That puts Denver at around 21 points. Now you're thinking that Denver has the best offense ever, so there's no way. (Hence your 20 point disclaimer.) This is where I can draw from experience and tell you why your optimism is misguided.

I'm a Ducks fan. Oregon is well known for it's record setting offense, the QBs and the many offensive weapons and running backs. Great offensive line that gets its members drafted into the NFL. Impossible to stop.

Until they come up against Stanford and LSU. Big, fast, physical defenses that stop the blur offense cold. Destroy passing lanes and running lanes and cutbacks. By the end, the Oregon offense is so out of rhythm, we just want the game to end. This is your team against the Seattle defense. You think the AFC can bring it, but they can't. You might see the SF-Sea game and think your team plays that fast and hard. They don't.

This is your reality, and when it's happening on the field, remember what the Ducks' fan told you. Receivers will drop passes, Manning will dump off passes that kill your RB, and Seattle will make your fans curse their offense for beating up on bad teams and showing poorly against real ones.

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Super Bowl Champions XVLIII

Very well put