A Return to Dominate Defensive Football in the NFL?

Will the success of the Seahawk's defense transform the NFL back into a defense dominated league similar to the 70's?

The evolution of the NFL into the offense dominated game it is today began in the 70's in part because of the dominance of the Steeler defense of that era. More specifically, because of Mel Blount, a 6' 3" 205 lb corner for the Steelers. Blount used to commit aggravated assault against an opposing wide receiver on virtually every play.

Fast forward to the current Seahawk defense and Pete Carroll who put a Mel Blount, at least size wise, at both corners (Sherman and Browner) and told them and the rest of the corners to grab and hold until the referees quit calling it. And guess what? IT WORKED!! Turns out that the NFL would rather let a defense hold like crazy than have the game bog down because of a bunch of defensive holding penalties. My guess is that this is especially true in the Super Bowl, which is why I think it will be a long and frustrating evening for Manning and the Bronco offense.

The rest of the league may be complaining about it, but they're also seeing that it works. My guess is the next big trend in the NFL is big corners who get up-close and personal with receivers at the line of scrimmage. I also don't see anything Goodell can do about it other than force the officials to throw more flags. So far he hasn't been willing to do that.

P.S. I'm not being critical of the team. If fact I think this is a brilliant example of Pete Carroll's creativity and ability to think outside the box. Beside's, I love smash mouth defensive football, so this is great!

Only if we win.

Just look at the Sr Bowl rosters full of "big CBs" this year and you'll see. Also Gus Bradley coached one of the Sr Bowl teams today. Weather or not its a true paradigm shift or not remains to be seen though. If teams like Seattle and SF continue the success they've had recently then in a copy cat league teams will start to shift towards their mold. It'll be interesting to see what Bradley does in Jacksonville for this reason, if he starts to have success w/ that roster and Pete's "system" you'll see a lot more converts.

Navyhawkfan187":jsx5syu3 said:

Just look at the Sr Bowl rosters full of "big CBs" this year and you'll see. Also Gus Bradley coached one of the Sr Bowl teams today.

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I saw that 6-3 kid today. Would love to see him fall to us.

I think it compares more to the Raiders (gasp! I know :229031_shrug: ) with Haynes and Lester Hayes shutting down the outside. Tough, unrelenting play by both sides of the ball and good special teams. Solid power running with opportunistic passing. People laughed when they drafted a punter (Ray Guy) in the first round, but he used to win 2-3 games a year for them, it seemed, with his power and accuracy.

I used to hate them for their last minute histrionics and miracle 2 minute drills, but then it struck me. One of their things is they actually played for 60 minutes. No lip service. If there was a second on the clock, they were still playing football, and if the other team didn'tt, they would get creamed and defeated.

Another thing. That was early in the FA era and in many ways, Al Davis was a genius and a master of finding talent. The Raiders for most of the 70's was a team of castoffs and renegades cut or traded by other teams. They always had a nasty streak and a chip on their shoulder and played tough, hard-nosed football.

I don't much like the comparison, but I acknowledge it.

I mentioned this before, if the NFL wants any semblance of defense they need to let corners be more physical in the first 5 yards and even during the play. Used to be DB's and safety's timed hitting the receivers as they caught the ball. Cant do that anymore, defenseless receiver is the call now. The NFL doesn't want the NBA's model of scoring so letting DB's get grabby is the only way to slow down scoring.

Pete's philosophy is big corners on big receivers. That will be copied, no doubt. I watched the senior bowl also and noticed the big DB's. Where there's money / opportunity the players will follow and they are.

BTW, great defense isn't only the mantra of the Hawks and niners, Rams and Cards are doing the same thing. It was the Stealers and Ravens before that.