hondo in seattle

I live in Seattle so I love this Super Bowl. When I first moved here, I didn't think it was much of a football town. But Pete Carroll has gotten the community engaged. You see about as much Seahawk stuff (flags, jerseys, bumper stickers, etc) around town now as you see Bills stuff in Buffalo. Even though I'm not a Hawks fan, I like being around the cheerful excitement the franchise brings here. And because the game is against the Pats, I will find it easy to join my fellow Seattleites and root for Wilson, Lynch, Sherman, etc in the SB.

I live in Seattle and can tell you that Lynch is much beloved by the fans here. Pete Carroll seems to have a lot of respect for him too but who knows.

For the first time in a decade or so, I'm predicting the Bills make the playoffs. But Super Bowl? That stretches the imagination.

It's curious how we fans remember our successful prognostications and recommendations, but forget our failures. I saw Drew Brees play in college and predicted he'd be a good starter in the NFL. Then again, I'm a Boilermaker and may have said the same thing about Scott Campbell. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Not only does Quinn have a lot of talent in Seattle, he also has Pete Carroll who's a defensive mastermind. I just don't know how much Quinn himself brings to Seattle's defensive success. So I'd take Rex over Quinn.

If we resign both Hughes and Spikes, and get Kiko back, it will be a blast to see what Rex cooks up with all these defensive weapons.

It would be wonderful to have the talent to do that. Regarding the Bills, assuming EJ is the QB, things would look a little different. I imagine running a lot - Roman is said to be a mad scientist at creating space for backs - with EJ throwing deep once in a while and running it himself maybe 4 or 5 times a game to keep defenses on their heels a bit. It won't be great, but it could be better than the impotent offense we had this past year. Assuming a strong defense, we'd win some games. In a more perfect world, we'd add two Pro Bowl guards and a Pro Bowl QB.

Of course Seattle is going to take advantage of Wilson's unique skill set. But, then again, Lynch has been averaging about 300 carries per season over the past three years. Carroll clearly likes to pound it with Lynch. In 2014, The 'Hawks (supposedly not a ground-and-pound team) ran 51.4% of the time. Ground-and-pound Rex Ryan ran 48.2% of the time. (Smith/Vick ran 85 times). Ground-and -pound Greg Roman ran 46.6% of the time. (Kaep ran it 104 times). Even when you take the QB carries out of the numbers, Seattle still runs more than our new ground-and-pound HC and OC Hawks... 40.8% Rex/NYJ... 40.1% Roman/9ers... 36.2% Interestingly, Rex has mentioned he wants EJ to use his legs more. I'm guessing he's thinking of Wilson and Kaep.

Let's take it a step further... EJ will be 25 at the start of the season. All we have to do is wait five more years... and hope during those years he develops the skills to throw for 30 TDs.

I think some of the early posters nailed this. First of all, Rex is planning to be a ground-and-pound team because we don't currently have an answer at QB. Second, ground-and-pound can still win in the NFL. Seattle has been in the top five for rushing attempts for the past three years. Pete Carroll clearly believes in ground-and-pound and I believe in Pete Carroll.

One of the more intelligent discussions in a while. Thanks for starting it Beerball. So much depends on the fates of Spikes and Hughes that it's all guesswork right now. This will be interesting to watch because Rex is pretty flexible and will build the defense around the talent on the roster.

I agree with this, actually. Now I think a Head Coach or coordinator who gets to talk with and observe their position coaches on a daily basis can make an assessment much quicker. We fans, however, don't have that level of intimate knowledge of what the position coaches are doing - or failing to do.

Good post, though many of the same points have already been made in other threads. I will add this - which is also old news - Roman did a really good job with Alex Smith.

I sort of liked Ted Marchibroda when he was with the Bills. But with all that talent, couldn't he have done better?

True enough. But there are 32 WR coaches with jobs in the NFL. I'd rather have #1 than #32. Though I have no idea how good Lal is. Apparently Rex respects his skill set.

Based on that, Danny Crossman was a horrible hire. Going back further, you'd have to question the hiring of Marv Levy too. He went 2-5 in his first partial year with the Bills, after going 3-6 in his last (partial) year with KC. Maybe you need more than a year?

I agree but I'll add that Roman is supposed to be a mad scientist at designing running planes that create lanes for the backs. In other words, he doesn't necessarily need offensive linemen who can maul people.

This is a great post. Ideally, you look at what the position coach achieved with the hand he was dealt. But this is hard for a couple reasons. First, we Bills fans are usually not great talent evaluators when it comes to other teams. I know I'm not. Second, position coaches work for coordinators who devise/implement schemes that might make the position coaches look better - or worse - than they really are. To get past these two problems, I try to look at the coach's achievements over the years with different teams. When a guy is successful where ever he goes, you start to believe it's not the players beneath him or the coaches above him. It's him. I also tend to get encouraged when a position coach keeps getting hired by top-flight coordinators and HCs. It suggests he's got a good reputation in the coaching community. If a guy has a long tenure as a position coach, but always works for losers, it gives me pause.

"Kromer, per Biggs' report, denied saying anything to Rapoport about the remorse part of the report but did tell the assembled players — including Cutler — that he did express frustration with the quarterback to the reporter. Cutler, Biggs wrote, just shook his head. Reached by Biggs, Kromer said: 'I said what I had to say to the players.' Read more: http://www.nationalledger.com/pop-culture-news/aaron-kromer-tearful-apology-201921.shtml#ixzz3P38sBi3B “I made a very poor decision talking about things outside the building,” Kromer said. “I admit that and can’t take that back. But I recognize I made a mistake and when I did, I instantly went right to the offensive unit, our group, and apologized to the offense, as well as apologized to Jay in front of the offense that he was singled out in the situation. I wish I wouldn’t have made that mistake.” http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/12/12/aaron-kromer-i-made-a-mistake/

I agree. The best was either him or Jim Brown. I don't think anyone else deserves to be in the conversation. But it's hard to vote for OJ when he committed such vile acts later on. Brian - good luck with you film.

If Defenses truly win games, then we need a good Offense to defeat the opponent's Defense. If Offenses truly win games, then we need a good Defense to defeat the opponent's Offense.

And Latin is the language of the Romans and Greg Roman is our new offensive coordinator. This all can't just be a coincidence, can it?

Yep. When I was an army officer, I was told to simply implement the decisions made by the chain of command, never add my own personal take. If my commander and I argued and I lost, I simply got done whatever he wanted me to do. Likewise, I run my current business the same way. We disagree sometimes when the leadership team meets. But once the final decision has been made, we all go out and execute as if it was our idea. When you share the disagreements with subordinates, they start to questions and doubt the decision and execution becomes poor. Even bad decisions can work when executed with passion. So our business leaders always present a united, enthusiastic front. We don't lie to anyone - we simply don't advertise the details of the disagreement and hit the plan hard.

Rex's defensive scheme is not "predicated on disguised blitzes." Disguised blitzes are part of his repertoire but hardly the whole package. The more tools in the woodshed, the better off you are - and Rex has a big woodshed. I'm too lazy to look it up, but I think that in Rex's 10 or so years as a DC for the Ravens and HC for the Jets, his defense has never ranked lower than 6th despite a variety of personnel coming and going. I'm confident Rex's defensive ideas will work here as well.

If Spiller wanted to go to NY to work with Chan, it would be hard to blame him. Chan used CJ intelligently and got 6.0 yards per carry and 1244 yard from CJ in 2012 behind a questionable offensive line. It was a whole season of high productivity - not just "moments." But I hope CJ stays and finds out what Roman can do for his career.