and discipline, trust in who you are. We could be what they are we just need a legit running back to carry our ground and pound, they got Frank Gore we got Shonn Greene
The Colts defensive ranking was misleading because their best defender that year came back from injury for the playoffs in Bob Sanders
The packers got one call when the game was in doubt- the fumble. Eli had 2 inten tional groundings not called and they had an illagel helmet to helmet hit that would have kept another drive alive add in a hail mary and 10 drops by GB and the Ginats had a million lucky breaks that game.
It is not a question of how long it took a great QB to win a SB. He was great long before that. He had a crummy team around him. Sanchez is not a great QB in year 3. He probably will not be in year 8. There are a million QBs who did not win a SB in the same number of years it took Peyton, who then went on to not win a SB for the rest of their careers. I agree that teams can win SBs with mediocre, or even less than mediocre(Dilfer??) QBs. They need a superior defense and an ungodly Offensive line.
Yes, he's on to something. I'm already tired of the term "ground and pound." Rex knows that, and he busting my balls.
I agree about the rule setup for passing, but in the playoffs I have seen 1 illegal contact penalty. Defenders are playing physical, all over receivers, and the flags don't fly. There is regular season officiating and playoff officiating.
You also have to take into consideration where playoff games are played. As long as northern 'outdoor' teams are dominent (GB, Pats, Steelers, maybe Giants), then you have to have a good D and good running game to advance, true 'outdoor' smash mouth football. It's hard for high flying dome teams (see Saints) to go up north in the cold and beat teams like GB or Pats, especially northern teams that rely on solid D and solid run games. Looking at the landscape, i'd probably lean towards a top D and top running game team complimented by an avg QB who manages the game well AND can make the occasional brilliant throw when he absolutely has to. If someday high flying dome teams started having home filed through the playoffs then i'd have to change course.
which is why we have to build this team that way. We gotta get mark a stout O-Line, big TE's who can block and catch, a true workhorse at running back(Greene is not that), some receivers who run great routes more so than just fast. as for defense, we gotta get some safeties, yeah 2, pass rusher and inside linebacker we also have to stop turning the ball over on special teams
Because they do. And the last two seasons we made the AFCCG because of our stout defense and a very good running game. This season, our defense wasn't as good and our ground game was non-existent.
The problem that the Defense can't over come is the holding rule. The trend is CB have to be smaller and quicker to get their hips around without grabing. WR and TE are becoming bigger so they can screen the smaller DB's out completely or make the back shoulder or jump ball catch or set up interference on the D. This trend so favors the passing game long term that unless they push the hash marks back out and put the OL hands back inside their shoulder pads so the D-lines can compensate for the Offensive advantage in coverage this trend is going to get worse. The 4ers who are a defensive and running team passed the ball 42 times to advance.
They were facing Drew Brees and the Saints offense. They had to pass the ball 42 times. They didn't pass for 300 yards and they did have a hell of day on the ground in the 22 attempts there. If they had had a topflight pass defense instead of the #16 unit there they would have passed the ball a lot less and run it more. If things change the way I think they will the NFL is going to go to strong pass defenses and balanced offenses fairly shortly as the next evolution. That will be a mirror opposite of the mid 80's when it was strong rush defenses and balanced offenses that won the day.
Salary cap being what it may prevents most teams from bringing in superstar players on Defense, O-Line, QB, RB, TE, WR, and special teams. You gotta pic your poison. Most teams strive for 2 out of 3 or 3 out of 4. Rex pics strong D and leathal running game, leaving QB/WR high flying arial act as the red headed step child. edit: Rex 'could' trade Revis & Harris to the Colts for Peyton fucking Manning dropping our D to the bottom and bringing our Pass-O to the top. Again, 2 out of 3.
That's right they had to pass the ball effectively to win and they had to pass the ball a ton because of who they were playing. Does anyone think for a minute the Ravens don't have to throw the ball a ton more and depend on Flacco if Houston has a healthy Schaub instead of a 5th round rookie? The Ravens are going to get their doors blown off next week if Flacco doesn't put up some serious numbers.
Thing is it's much harder to defend the pass than it is to defend the run. Add the joke rules designed to inflate passing and it becomes even harder. As much as I am inclined to agree with the OP, I think a few things must be taken into consideration for this year: 1) The Pats advanced bc they had a home game against a team that was 8-8 with one of the worst statistical QBs in football, and despite a big rep, a middle of the road D. 2) The Saints lost bc they always lose outside of the dome. Run, pass, defense, offense, whatever. They stink on the road and have stunk on the road. 3) The Packers lost bc they looked like they hadn't played in 3 weeks....because, well, THEY HADNT PLAYED IN THREE WEEKS. Give NO home field and the Packers no bye week and it's a totally different playoff. What really wins Superbowls is: 1) an all time dominant defense (1985 Bears, 2000 Ravens, 2002 Bucs), that not only is stifling yardage and points wise, but also creates turnovers and scores points itself. OR 2) A balanced team with an above average O AND above average D AND excellent QB play. (this decade: Pats 01 03 04, Colts, Giants, Saints, Pack, Steelers)
I have to say watching the 49er game really opened my eyes to Alex Smith. The kid really has nice accuracy and ball placement in his throws. I see a lot of potential in him.
I think that's going to take a while. The simple fact is, competent offenses are getting rid of the ball too quickly for defenses to react the way they're currently. Every once in a while Rex gets a hit with no pressure and heavy coverages.... Now you've got safety mismatches with Tight Ends like Keller was supposed to be, but Gronkowski, Hernandez and Graham are. Teams are going to have find guys with Maybin's size/speed combo, that can actually cover down the field. Did you see the Graham TD in the Saints game? he went up there and got it, and no currrent CB/Safety not named Ed Reed is probably going to stop that play. in the Denver game, Gronkowski looked like the invisible man running around the secondary, until Brady lit him up with the ball. The problem for this team isn't so much Run 1st/Pass First. It's the WAY we try to be a running team. Think about how often we're in 22 personnel, and with Matt Mulligan no less. Why not just send a note to the other teams DC to bring in 6 lb's and one CB. You can just as effectively ground and pound from the 11 package, by forcing the defense to constantly be undersized and having linemen running downfield. Especially early.
