Waiting on the Super and Pro Bowl

Adam Schefter just tweeted the following.

"RSherman_25 texted this to Edwerdespn: "I apologize for attacking an individual and taking the attention away from the fantastic game by my teammates... That was not my intent."

 

No, after two full seasons of watching Carroll's circus in Seattle, plus his lying, cheating and selling the 'SC program to the highest bidder and then bailing just as the NCAA sanctions were about to come down. He also defended that utterly incompetent officiating crew that ruled Golden Tate took the ball away from the Packers' M.J. Manning in the end zone to end a Monday Night Football game in 2012, even though I'm certain had the circumstances been reversed he would have gone ballistic. He lied to officials in the Atlanta playoff game a year ago, claiming he didn't call a time-out just before Scott Norwood missed a 49-yard field goal, and then lied again when he told the post-game news conference he wasn't trying to disavow the time-out but complaining that he was told kickers couldn't follow through on the kick in that circumstance without a penalty. His lying, cheating and arrogance has rubbed off on his players, as evidence by Sherman's rant and total lack of remorse. His fans are following his lead now, which means they are going to very hard to live with right up to the point that Carroll fails them like he failed 'SC. Sherman, et al will be left hanging high and dry, being the childish arrogant prima donnas Carroll is turning them into, and will have a hard time adjusting to whoever has to bail Seattle out when the house of cards comes crashing down.

Sure, he tweeted -- 20 hours later, after getting "hate tweets" from a million fans. Gimme a break.

 

Ok, so you don't believe Sherman's apology. After spending some time reading about him this morning, I tend to think it was sincere. You've already decided what the truth is, so it's unlikely that I'm going to sway you.

Do you know what kind of tweets Sherman received? Do you think he deserved them?

I think that as talented as those players in Seattle are, they're going to continue to compete at a high level for quite some time.

 

Seattle fans threw food at injured 49er.

Some members — or perhaps one member — of the Seattle Seahawks’ famed 12th Man took things too far during the fourth quarter of the Hawks’ 23-17 NFC Championship Game victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

It started when San Francisco linebacker NaVorro Bowman went down with a cringe-inducing knee injury after Seattle wideout Jermaine Kearse landed on his leg while attempting to catch a Russell Wilson pass.

But things turned ugly as he was being carted off the field, as video shows him getting pelted with food being thrown or dropped from the stands.

http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2014/0...ow-food-at-injured-49ers-star-navorro-bowman/

 

I don't believe any man's apology when they appear to be motivated by sudden unpopularity, rather than sincere remorse. No, I don't think Sherman showed any. Both he and his coach will begin doing a lot of backpedaling today or tomorrow trying to institute damage control, because they're both too into themselves to realize 1) the player was grossly out of line, and 2) the coach is clueless.

Regardless of the tone of the tweets, as I said, the apology came out of remorse at a drop in popularity, not true remorse. He reacted like a politician whose poll numbers dropped overnight.

I'm sure they will. Barry Switzer's Sooners and Cowboys did the same thing -- right up to the point that Switzer's "I'm your best friend and I've got your back no matter how stupid you act" approach to coaching got more than a half-dozen players arrested on drug or other criminal charges. Lack of discipline leads to stupidty. It happened in Norman and in north Dallas with Switzer, it happened at USC with Carroll. It's just a matter of time. As ITL posted, look at the attitude that has developed among Seattle fans because of this in-your-face gangsta, us-against-the-world act Carroll has encouraged.

Seattle was a great town with great fans for 35 years. In two years, it's turned into a ghetto, a place that isn't safe for other fans or players. The fans' idiocy when Bowman was hurt, and Sherman's antics are just the latest example. I see this morning that Sherman "scolded" Seahawks fans for throwing food at Bowman. Now that's rich! He goes off on national TV, revealing the moral corruption at the center of Carroll's reign, and then "scolds fans"? On what grounds? That they took away attention from his rant?

 

Regardless of whether you believe it or not, Sherman has apologized. Carroll said he addressed it with Sherman. What more do you need from them? I'm truly baffled by the outrage and how you've judged Sherman, Carroll and an entire fanbase as being horrible human beings over this relatively minor thing.

He scolded them yesterday, as he should have. Those fans were stupid.

Here's a newsflash. You ready for this? Every fanbase has stupid fans. I could say the same, exact thing about Kansas City Chiefs fans that you say about Seattle fans. But, I don't have an axe to grind and I don't tar every Chiefs fan, Bears fan, or Packers fan over the actions of a few stupid people.

 

OTOH, Philadelphia's fan base has three decent fans.

 

So has the Great Pretender, for healthcare. I didn't believe him, either.

 

Agreed. This was completely wrong and Sherman called it what it was. Somehow, that's not good enough for you.

I can't find any example of KC Chiefs fans being stupid? You sure about that?

Let's do some quick searching and find out.

What about cheering that your player was hurt? Nothing thuggish about that, right?

How about this fun-loving Chiefs fan? No thuggery to be found here.

Then there were the Texans fans who were in town last October for the game. Not thuggish at all, no sirree.

Oh no, Chiefs fans have lost their moral compass!

Please be careful when throwing your stones.

 

Bad, yes, but not the same thing. As Randy Covitz wrote in The Kansas City Star the next week:

Seattle fans, on the other hand, are being encouraged to become thugs to help their team win. What's next? Fans leaping over the wall in the end zone to tackle Devin Hester should he be so "ungracious" as to run back a kickoff on them?

Show me where the team directed them to be idiots? For that matter, show me where the whole stadium was involved. Find me an NFL game some fan doesn't get arrested for being drunk and stupid. That's the difference. Seattle is encouraging thuggery, whereas in the booing incident with Cassel, the team was upset, from cleanup crew to team owner Clark Hunt. Those don't prove your argument, CCR. Doesn't discredit mine, either.

 

Yes, I'm quite sure that the Seattle ownership wanted the fans to throw food at Navorro Bowman.

What the fans did directly contradicts the code of fan behavior that the Seahawks have posted on their website.

It's an example of stupid fandom. That's the point I'm making. All teams have fans that do stupid things. My favorite team is the Chicago Bears. I have no problem whatsoever saying that the Bears have fans who do stupid things. That doesn't mean I'm tarring every fan like you are.

I'm not the one saying that the Seahawks directed fans to be idiots. I'm not the one tarring the entire fanbase by the actions of a few. This is what you are saying, so the burden of proof is not on me, but on you. So, please show me where the Seattle Seahawks directed their fans to act like idiots. You don't get to say that it's because the Seahawks wanted this when they hired Pete Carroll. That is not proof. Your opinion is not proof.

How? Proof, please.

 

Ok, Salty, the Pro Bowl was 4 days ago and you haven't told us why you couldn't wait for these games to be played. I've been wondering all season why, so give up the goods. :wavey:

 

That is awesome. Thank you for your service.

 

Which would you like to have, the Denver offense or the Seattle defense? Like most other fans, I would probably say the Seattle defense, but then I saw the piece last week that showed that the Broncos offense is the best in the history of the game. For the math inclined, the Broncos offense was 3.3 standard deviations above the mean than anybody else. That's phenomenal and gives me pause to think that perhaps the Denver offense is the better choice.

But defense wins championships! I know it does and there are at least 4 Super Bowls where great defense won the game (Bears/Patriots 1985, Giants/Bills 1990, Giants/Patriots 2007, and Ravens/Giants 2000). However, there are examples of great offenses winning, such as 49ers/Broncos 1989. Perhaps it's an obvious point, but I'm getting the sentiment (not here, just in general) that just plug in the great defense and declare Seattle is going to win. I don't think it's quite that simple.

This Seattle team is a bad matchup for the Broncos. Denver has a historically great passing game. Seattle has a historically great pass defense. Denver has 3 exception WR's and a very talented TE. Seattle has the best pair of safeties in the game, 1 of the best CB's in the game, and 1 of the best LB's in the game. Denver has a very good O-line that has allowed just 18 sacks all year and just 1 knockdown of Manning in the postseason. Seattle has a good defensive line, but they're not going to overwhelm the Broncos Oline.

You can run some on Seattle, but running the ball is not going to beat them. For example, Kaepernick ran all over Seattle in the first half, but that was taken away in the second half. Moreno might be able to make some hay in the first half, but when it comes time to win the game, the Broncos aren't riding Moreno to victory. I think Denver can, and will, score against Seattle, but I think they're going to have to sustain "Death by a Thousand Cuts" drives to do it.

You always hear that the offense opposing Peyton needs to keep him off the field. Ironically, Denver needs to go on those long, sustained drives in order to keep Russell Wilson off the field. I don't think Seattle marches up and down the field scoring TD's at will, but they are going to score. This is the worst defense that Seattle has faced since they pummeled the Saints in December and it will show. DangeRuss is going to have a big game.

The only reason I want Denver to win is because I'm tired of hearing Peyton Manning constantly being beat up about what he hasn't done. But, I fear that the flaws of this Denver team are going to be exposed on Sunday and Peyton's greatness isn't going to be enough to overcome them.

I picked Seattle over Denver in the preseason and I just don't see enough to make me change that pick.

How close the final score is will not be indicative of the game itself. I think Seattle will have a relatively comfortable 10 or 11 point lead throughout the 4th quarter until Peyton leads the Broncos on a desperation TD drive to score with 30 seconds to go, followed by a failed offsides kick and Seattle lining up in the victory formation to seal it.

Seattle 34 Denver 29

 

Good post. I think Denver wins this game because the offense is SO good. I have a feeling this could be a 33-20 game or thereabouts. Percy Harvin is a real wild card for Seattle. If Bevell can find a way to exploit him, and he sure did when they were both with the Vikings, it will be a lot closer. Denver has scant film to analyze with Harvin having played only 1 1/2 games this year for Seattle.

I will have to point out that defenses no longer wins championships. In fact, they rarely win games nowadays (Seattle is a notable exception.) The NFL has set league scoring records the past 3 years. The game has changed. It's all about elite QBs and WRs. Three of of the last five Super Bowl winners gave up 100 more yards than the team they beat. Last year the Ravens allowed 468 yards and won the game.

Should be interesting...

 

Denver 31, Seattle 24

Why? Five reasons.

Manning to ...

D. Thomas: 107 catches, 1,618 yards, 16 TDs
Decker: 94, 1,393, 11
Welker: 83, 854, 11
J. Thomas: 79, 949, 12

That's why.

 

OK, so that prediction fell "a bit short." Broncos played like a last-place high school team, Seattle played like an NFL number one defense. I have to admit, I didn't see a lot of their thuggery being displayed, and with Sherman in the locker room getting X-rays, he didn't have another chance to embarrass his team and his city after the game -- not that any of them would have had the good taste to be embarrassed.

Worst Super Bowl ever played, at least from the standpoint of expectations vs. reality. Our Sunday school class partiers were mostly engaged in small talk by the middle of the second quarter.