Where Do The L.O.B. Rank All Time For Greatest NFL Secondary

Where would the L.O.B. rank in the nfl all time secondary amongst all teams. You can choose any of the seasons since the L.O.B. came into existence and compare it to other great secondary of the past in the NFL...



Please discuss....

1st

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Although this sounds "homeristic"', I objectively think there is strong evidence that we may be the best ever. Very hard to say though

I think you can't go wrong with Haynes and Hayes in Oakland and the 1995 Dallas Cowboys with CB Deion Sanders, SS Darren Woodson, FS Brock Marion, CB Kevin Smith aren't too shabby either.

In terms of sheer dominance? Absolutely on par with the old Raiders backs.

But remember they are also one of the fastest, biggest, strongest groups to play effectively in the secondary period. Physically, they outmatch most of the DB groups you could compare them to.

And they are forced to play with the field tilted in favor of the offense.

Easily one of the best of all time and only the limited amount of years keeps me from calling it the best of all time.

I will put the Seahawks in their prime against any other secondary in their prime and feel confident it wouldn't be much contest.

The Chiefs had some crazy secondary talent back in the day too.

But statistically, adjusted for era, the 2013 Hawks ranked in the top 4 secondaries of all time.

Guess who was a secondary coach for two of those other teams? (IIRC)

The Niners and Cowboys both had great secondaries at times, along with the great Raiders secondaries.

The Seahawks had a great secondary at one point, weren't we one of the highest ranked for getting the most turnovers on of our mid 80's teams ?

All that being said though, the LOB is ranked 1st in my book for a few reasons:

1. They statistically rank near the top, in an era where all the rules favor the offense, even without adjustments. It's hard to precisely adjust exactly how we would've looked 15 years ago as a secondary, but our raw stats are still historic.

2. The are literally the largest, most athletic secondary in NFL history. There's never been a secondary that went 6'4", 6'3", 6'3". Thomas is one of the fastest FS's to play the game, ever. If you let these guys blatantly grab like older secondaries used to, we would literally see sub 100 yard games from offenses. Not every game, but the bottom half of the league wouldn't crack 100 yards on us.

3. Kam Chancellor. I've watched Atwater play. Cherry laid some decent hits. I've watched Ronnie Lott and Kenny Easley is still probably my favorite Seahawk. But if Kam were allowed to head hunt, and the rules that protect players were lifted, Chancellor would literally be killing people. He intimidates entire WR corps right now, I can't imagine how guys would feel going over the middle knowing they could literally be paralyzed by #31.

Add in our physical CB's and Thomas's range and it honestly wouldn't be fair. It's hard to quantify what the LOB's stats would be back in the day, but I KNOW what they could and would do if they played with favorable rules on their side, like teams did 20 years ago.

Scottemojo":2efstwcv said:

The Chiefs had some crazy secondary talent back in the day too.

But statistically, adjusted for era, the 2013 Hawks ranked in the top 4 secondaries of all time.

Guess who was a secondary coach for two of those other teams? (IIRC)

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Link Scotte?

There's lots to debate about how our secondary stacks up with historical ones and you can make arguments for or against based on passing numbers, but what separates our secondary by a long way from other great ones is our secondary's effectiveness in the running game.

Many teams stack the box, many have safeties who can play run, but how many have corners willing to take on running backs and make effective tackles? Does anyone recall seeing Deion Sanders making an effective tackle on a back? Or anyone else for that matter? Man could cover, but was an unwilling tackler at best.

We have an aggressive, swarming defense filled with guys who can make a 1-on-1 tackle, and who are not afraid to do so. That means we stuff running backs and virtually eliminate yards-after-catch.

You guys know I am about as unhomeristic as anyone, but they're the best ever, and it really isn't close. No other team has had the best free safety, best strong safety, and best corner in the NFL all on the field at the same time.

I also had the 49ers, Raiders and Chiefs in the coversation, and maybe the Night Train Lions, but that was too far before my time.

We're the best. Earl might be the second best free safety in history behind Lott. Sherman is starting to enter best corner ever conversations. He's not capable of catching Deion, but there really haven't been that many true shutdown corners in the history of the game.

I would rank LOB #2 behind Oakland. People forget how scary and good Mike Haynes and Lester Hayes were. Mike Davis was a big hitter and McElroy was a beast of a free safety.

I'd say #1, mostly because of how pass orientated the league is right now. They get a lot more work than all the great secondaries of the past.

SacHawk2.0":19k23l52 said:

1st

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Tical21":2daluzvc said:

You guys know I am about as unhomeristic as anyone, but they're the best ever, and it really isn't close. No other team has had the best free safety, best strong safety, and best corner in the NFL all on the field at the same time.

I also had the 49ers, Raiders and Chiefs in the coversation, and maybe the Night Train Lions, but that was too far before my time.

We're the best. Earl might be the second best free safety in history behind Lott. Sherman is starting to enter best corner ever conversations. He's not capable of catching Deion, but there really haven't been that many true shutdown corners in the history of the game.

Click to expand...

You know whats even crazy...we quite possibly have the best linebacker too in Wagner for his position. Potentially 4 players on our defense the best at their respective position.

What's impressive too is that the LOB play in an era where the defensive and defensive backs in particular are so handicapped compared to the ol' days. Back in the day you could just mug a receiver, head hunt, etc.

The modern DB has to play with a new set of rules.

#1 for sure ! Especially in this era football I really don't think there is any other secondary that even comes close to the LOB . A few more years of dominance and that will be concreted in legendary status