Could we have beaten these Broncos?

With our OL I dont think there is a definitive answer. I think you play that game 10 times, we win 5 maybe 6. Hell of a pass rush they have against our weakest link.

Am I wrong here?

With a healthy Rawls and Graham, I think we do.

Without them? Very very difficult.

Then thing is, as good as the Broncos Defense was, their offense was inept and I'm not sure they score a point on us.

The difference between us and every other team is Russel's ability to scamble. Unlike Brady and Cam who barely got their shirts dirty this year, Russ faces pressure basically every game and his ability to break it is an x-factor that is hard to predict. I just think Russ matches up better against the Broncos than either Cam or Brady. Our game plan would have needed lots of protected roll outs and 5 wide quick passing. Not sure if the brass would have been up to it.

But we lost to the Rams twice this year - who basically is a poor man's Broncos so I suspect we may have come up short with the team we would have fielded.

Our offense is great, unless we play a top rushing defense. Seems like the teams that can get to russ easy really got us, and we waited to long to make adjustments. If every play russ has 2 guys in his face after 1 second, doesnt allow for much offense. The panthers OL are no slouches, and they got lit up.

The Raiders beat them, so yeah we could have beaten them. But our OL is a major issue, and has to be addressed this off season. With a upgrade at OL, and if injuries are at a minimum we will be SB 51 champs.

No because of the O-line combined with playcalling

Up-tempo style with quick hits and moving the pocket

Yes

TDOTSEAHAWK":1g68jpx9 said:

The difference between us and every other team is Russel's ability to scamble. Unlike Brady and Cam who barely got their shirts dirty this year, Russ faces pressure basically every game and his ability to break it is an x-factor that is hard to predict. I just think Russ matches up better against the Broncos than either Cam or Brady. Our game plan would have needed lots of protected roll outs and 5 wide quick passing. Not sure if the brass would have been up to it.

But we lost to the Rams twice this year - who basically is a poor man's Broncos so I suspect we may have come up short with the team we would have fielded.

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Ah man, just imagine in a couple years. Russ having all this practice. He'll be dodging pressure with the 5Ds (Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge) like a ninja.

I've seen enough improbable wins by the Seahawks in the PC era to know that they can beat any team.

Would it be pretty? God no. But we could beat them.

Yes.

I don't know. That pass rush is legit and our O Line struggled mightily this year and is much worse than Carolina's.

My guess would be that Russ would be running for his life and our running game would not work very well with those two huge DT's in there. I don't see how we beat that Denver team this time around. Their CB's are better than our receivers also.

I think the Hawks would win 50% of the matchups. Both defenses would kill the opposing offenses. The team that got the most short fields off of turnovers would probably win each game. Most would be low scoring.

Goodness, those 2 Ds going up against each other? Would have been 7-6.

I think it would come down to, does Russ turn it over 3 times like Cam did.

I believe the Seahawks could have beaten anyone on a neutral field. It would have been a competitive game.

We definitely could have, not sure if we would have though.

I predicted Carolina would be held to 13 points and lose, they ended up being held to 10 and losing badly. By that same token, I would have probably predicted Seattle to score less than 20 and probably lose a very close game. There's just something about historically elite defenses come playoff time, never pick against them.

It's a reminder of the kind of rewards that come with having a very special defense. I hope Pete was watching closely.

kearly":3ncv2qrq said:

I predicted Carolina would be held to 13 points and lose, they ended up being held to 10 and losing badly. By that same token, I would have probably predicted Seattle to score less than 20 and probably lose a very close game. There's just something about historically elite defenses come playoff time, never pick against them.

It's a reminder of the kind of rewards that come with having a very special defense. I hope Pete was watching closely.

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That's where I stand, too. We could've competed. We would've been close enough at the end where I'd feel good about the ball is Russell's hands . . . but I think Denver's defensive front would've eaten us alive.

Actually Kip, you called this in the draft forum when you talked about Carolina's OL. They're strong up the middle and their Tackles are weak.

Denver has the best 1-2 punch on the edges in the league. The knock on Cam is that if you make him move off of his first read, he'll pull it down and look to run. He's gotten better about that, but you revert to old habits under duress. Coupled with the pressure of the Super Bowl, and I'm not surprised by the outcome.

I think I would give Denver 60/40 odds on beating us. Their defense was up for it, and I'm not sure how really crushing ours would've been. Manning wouldn't have been able to pick us apart, except with Daniels, and our defense this year hasn't feasted on the short passes like we did against Denver the last time.

I think we would've been closer than Carolina, but I'd give the slight edge to Denver. Now, like someone said, with Rawls and Graham, probably.

In the playoffs this year the Panthers played 3 very good defenses. By halftime against the first one they had dropped 31 point on 'em, and by halftime of the second one they dropped 24 points on 'em. Then they went up against Denver and just got manhandled.

Meanwhile the Broncos played 3 very good offenses in the playoffs this year, and made them all look like hot crap.

The Broncos D has been the best in the NFL all year, but they were also red hot at the exact right time. I don't think anyone was getting past that front seven this season.

The Hawks this year were also much closer to "good team" than "great team" in the regular season, and even closer to just "good" once the playoffs started.

All things being equal, with the way both the Broncos and Hawks were playing in the playoffs, if the Hawks had made it out of the divisional round and also made it out of the championship round I think Broncos front 7 would have done the same thing to them that they did to everyone else.

NOTE: This is my honest answer to the question. If you disagree with my characterization of the Hawks this year please feel free to PM me, as I'm not going to respond to those disagreements in this thread as it will just derail it (I also haven't really said anything that hasnt already been said in here)

About midway through the third quarter I told my family of 12s I was watching the game with that I was glad we didn't play these broncos in the superbowl.

Don't take that as me being a lousy negative fan, but that defense would've taken all of our strength away. Incredible pass rush. Could you imagine Gilliam going against von miller? Me either. The Broncos would've defeated our team yesterday. That being said, I can't see many teams that could've beat that bronco team yesterday