Did Broncos - John Fox sabotage their chances of victory?

[sc85sis]

I won't say switching hotels hurt the Broncos, but it does show the difference in approach between Fox and Pete. The Broncos wanted to get away to an undisclosed location so they could focus; the Hawks weren't worried about it. That's the reason Pete plays loud music and pipes in crowd noise at practice. It's why he had open practices at USC. His players are used to ignoring distractions and being focused without any issues.

 

[sc85sis]

Uh, I thought I heard Seattle did the same thing actually. After the family came into town Friday night, they moved hotels.

They stayed at the Westin the entire time. The Broncos switched hotels on Saturday.

The Broncos switched hotels on Saturday, leaving behind guests and family members to be sequestered overnight at an undisclosed hotel.

“It’s what we do all the time, whether it’s on the road or at home,” Fox said.

The Seahawks, also unwilling to tinker with team routine at this crucial moment, remained in their hotel as they usually would the night before a game.

http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/de ... er-bowl-48

 

[plyka]

Coach John Fox said that players would do a brief walkthrough at MetLife Stadium on Saturday, but will otherwise spend the remaining hours before they face the Seahawks “reviewing and visualizing what their job is” on Sunday. To help them do that, the Broncos will move to a different hotel for Saturday night and try to remain in the “very focused” state that Fox said they’ve been in this week.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... o-perform/

I was talking to a close friend of mine before the game telling them that the Broncos were switching hotels the night before the game, I said it seemed like a bad idea to me. When you are on a trip and you get all your stuff unpacked and adjust to being in a new room for a few days it starts to feel normal to sleep in there. To pack your stuff up and go sleep on a new bed, with new sounds etc seemed odd to me.

I could only reason it was to be closer to the MetLife stadium as I knew the Broncos were using the Jets practice facility which I'd heard was about a half hour away from Metlife stadium, with our Seahawks using the Giants facility one that was right by the stadium.

I know pro athletes are used to life on the road but in this situation being in town for a week then moving the night before gameday seems like they were asking for their players not to get good rest, maybe it affected some of them as they came out flat and the rest is history.

When a team loses people go digging for reasons. How many long articles can you have containing the simple thought: Seattle is the better team, they are better at almost every position with exception to QB and WR. That's not a great article. So they go digging, maybe Denver was soft, maybe Denver didn't feel comfortable, maybe Denver changed hotels, etc. In the end, they were just outclassed. Play that game 10 times and I think the Seahawks win 10 times. Play it 100 times and I think Seattle wins 95.

 

[Njhawkboss]

Seahawks defense sabatoged there chances of winning!

 

[Northhawk]

Ya, the change of hotels did them in. I heard that the new hotel served Hunts versus Heinz ketchup in the cafeteria that upset their stomachs. The towels in the rooms were also blue not white which, you know, throws off the d-line timing. Plus, after the team left for the game, it stunk from what one housecleaner strangely called the smell of fear.

 

[CPHawk]

It's not like the players had to do anything, they have people who did the packing and moving. Not sure how moving from one 5* hotel to another 5* hotel, without having to do a thing but ride in a car, would hurt anyone.

 

[SuperFreak]

Let's say for the sake of argument they stay in their hotel and sleep better maybe they never snap the ball over Peyton's head ( I think the 12s in attendance made that happen more than anything ) it's possible Denver doesn't get rattled right off the bat, It would have been a different game. I still think the Seahawks win no matter if Denver moves hotels or not, but I'll always think it was a small factor in our favor.

Just like I believe the game being outdoors in somewhat cold weather helped too vs playing in a dome etc. The Broncos missing five starters on defense helped us too. I felt really calm before the game much more so than the NFC Championship against S.F. it seemed to me all things were pointing to the Seahawks winning the game.

When I read Fox was moving his team I thought that favored us too. So although it probably did not cost them the game I believe it hurt their chances. If the Seahawks win 95 times out of 100 maybe that drops to 93 times out of 100 if Denver has a good nights rest.

That's a cool link sc85sis shared that Denver always does this, but even if that is what they always do I think the Seahawks do it better not shifting around the night before a game.

Anyone wanting to laugh about sleep or think it cannot factor in performance is fooling themselves, the Seahawks have their players wear bracelets to help monitor if they are getting enough sleep.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/95819 ... n-magazine

I think it's brilliant and one of many reasons the Seahawks were able to have success this year.