hawksfansinceday1":2netwavf said:This is why the spread went from Hawks favored by 2 to Donkeys favored by 3 in very short order. The average and below average and casual football fans focus entirely on offense and QBs.amill87":2netwavf said:...........The point I was getting at is outside of Seahawk fans, not many know much about the team. They don't know how good this defense is. They get on NFL.com and compare Wilson vs Manning and think no way we can win.
We all know the media doesn't help this because they do the same thing. Trey Wingo was on 710 today and said that it is unlikely that our offense can score 29 points vs the Broncos when we just scored 23 vs the #3 and #4 defenses.
Offense is sexy. People automatically give the team with better offenses the edge. Everyone is a slave to the moment, noone remembers all the times the defensive teams win the Super Bowl (like the last time the QB who broke the TD record played in a super bowl). I think defensive teams have a reputation of being lucky or flukey. Just like Kearly said, defensive teams specialize in making games ugly.
They're not even doing that because if they did, they'd know that Russell is one of the top rated passers in the game.
I think it's more along the lines of hearing the local radio station or reading their local sports writer(s). They'll understand soon enough.
I had a few misconceptions about Denver until yesterday. It just comes from a lack of experience with them. I saw some games and a lot of highlights but yesterday I went and watched their games against NE and SD.
Manning will throw a LOT of very short yardage passes. They utilize bunch formations and trips to one side to get guys open. They went with 5 wide (4 left) just to throw a little smoke screen underneath and pick up 5 yards. Bunch left, three guys go vertical with a perfectly timed break back into the middle of 3 defenders for a 1st down.
It's likely to be frustrating to watch at times but if our defense stays disciplined, Manning will be forced to make throws that he doesn't want to. I saw it in the SD game. Manning does not want to take sacks and if you can get pressure, he'll force throws. Thing is, he's comfortable throwing into tight coverage so hopefully our guys can make a play or two to get the ball going the other direction.
SD tried press/man and they tried zone. He can throw at both but SD's corners aren't nearly as physical as our guys. They didn't disrupt routes, they just lined up, put hands on the receiver, turned and ran with them. No real push or shove inside of 5yds.