Published: Saturday, February 4, 2012, 7:49 p.m.
Do you need an elite quarterback to get to the Super Bowl and win it?
History would suggest "Yes"
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Associated Press
Quarterback tom Brady leads the New England Patriots against the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.
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SEATTLE -- At one point this past season, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said he wasn't too interested in being normal by NFL standards. That he isn't too concerned with what the trends say about the way the game is played.
Carroll, you see, firmly believes that he can build a championship-caliber team that wins by playing defense, by running the ball and by being solid on special teams. Sure, he wants to throw the ball and get good play from his quarterback, but Carroll has said time and time again that he doesn't believe in the quarterback having to be the whole show.
"To me that's an old, classic style and the most fundamental way to win in football -- run the ball, play great defense and have good special teams," Carroll said at his year-end press conference. "If you get a great quarterback, OK that's great. If you get a guy that's a Hall of Famer, that's great. But you don't need that. That's not what's necessary."
Only time will tell if Carroll is right about this. Last season's second-half turnaround, which coincided with the improvement of the running game, shows that the Seahawks can have success playing Carroll's style.
Today's Super Bowl, however, serves as a reminder that Carroll is indeed going against the grain in what is a pass-happy NFL.
The Giants and Patriots got this far for a number of reasons, but the biggest similarity between the two teams is that they won by relying heavily on the passing game and the Pro Bowl quarterbacks who lead those offenses. Neither team was particularly good at stopping opponents this season -- the Patriots ranked 31st in total defense and the Giants were 27th. Nor did they spend a lot of time focused on the run game -- New England was 20th in rushing yards and the Giants were dead last.
Yet, here these two teams stand, one win away from a championship. And it should come as no surprise that this season produced a Super Bowl matchup between prolific passing offenses. That has been the trend for a while now, and this year more than ever showed how valuable a good passing attack can be.
In 2011, 10 quarterbacks passed for more than 4,000 yards. Seven of those 10 made the playoffs, including Tom Brady and Eli Manning. Drew Brees (5,476 yards) and Brady (5,235) both eclipsed Dan Marino's 27-year-old record for passing yards in a season, and with Matthew Stafford (5,038) and Manning (4,993) also putting up huge numbers, four of the top six single-season passing yard totals happened in 2011.
This year's Super Bowl will be won either by a team led by a quarterback who is already a surefire Hall of Famer, or by one with a QB who will eventually have a Hall-worthy resume if his career stays on its current trajectory. The past 10 Super Bowl-winning teams were led by these quarterbacks: Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Roethlisberger, Brady, Brady, Brad Johnson and Brady. Other than Johnson, every quarterback on that list is considered one of the top quarterbacks in the league.
If we go further back on that list, we'll find a lot more names like Montana, Elway and Aikman than we will the occasional Trent Dilfers or Jeff Hostetlers of the world.
Which brings us back to the Seahawks. Teams like the 2001 Ravens, who won a championship with defense more than Dilfer, show that exceptional quarterback play isn't an absolute requirement to win a Super Bowl, but history shows that a top-flight gunslinger certainly makes winning a heck of a lot easier.
Do the Seahawks have that type of quarterback in Tarvaris Jackson? Nothing he has done so far in his career would indicate that they do.
Jackson, if he is the starter next season, should be better. He toughed it out admirably in 2011 with a partially torn pectoral muscle, and like the rest of the offense struggled to get going after the lockout cost teams a full offseason worth of workouts. But it is hard to imagine Jackson, in his seventh season, suddenly turning into the type of quarterback who can put a team on his back the way Brees, Rodgers and Brady have done in the past.
But again, that's not what Carroll wants out of his quarterback.
"I've been pretty consistent for a long time about this that we don't want the quarterback to have to be the whole show," Carroll said. "We don't emphasize that we have to throw the ball to win. We want balance in our offense."
So even in an era of unprecedented passing offense, Carroll wants to win with an old-school approach. And again, his track record at USC, as well as the improvement the Seahawks showed in 2011, shows that Carroll seems to know what he's doing.
It is also worth noting that, if not for a couple of big plays two weekends ago, the Super Bowl matchup might validate Carroll's methods. Had Baltimore's Billy Cudiff made a 32-yard field goal against New England, and had San Francisco's Kyle Williams not fumbled in overtime against the Giants, we might be getting ready to watch a Harbaugh Bowl between two teams that, just like the Seahawks, try to win games by running the ball and playing defense.
The 49ers' and Ravens' successes this season show that teams can contend the way Carroll envisions. And based off their second-half turnaround, the Seahawks look like a team that can contend for a playoff spot next season with Jackson at quarterback. But ultimately, the game that is every team's goal is once again a showcase for pass-happy offenses.
Which is why, in what has become an annual offseason tradition for Seahawks fans, the debate is on. Do the Seahawks draft a quarterback in the first round, possibly trading up to do so? Do they sign promising Packers backup Matt Flynn? Do they try to sign Peyton Manning if he becomes available and is healthy? Or do they stick with Jackson as their starter?
As offensive line coach Tom Cable pointed out a couple months ago, "Not everybody has a Tom Brady or a Peyton Manning." Finding one, however, appears to be the easiest way to be the last team standing in February.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.
Carroll, you see, firmly believes that he can build a championship-caliber team that wins by playing defense, by running the ball and by being solid on special teams. Sure, he wants to throw the ball and get good play from his quarterback, but Carroll has said time and time again that he doesn't believe in the quarterback having to be the whole show.
"To me that's an old, classic style and the most fundamental way to win in football -- run the ball, play great defense and have good special teams," Carroll said at his year-end press conference. "If you get a great quarterback, OK that's great. If you get a guy that's a Hall of Famer, that's great. But you don't need that. That's not what's necessary."
Only time will tell if Carroll is right about this. Last season's second-half turnaround, which coincided with the improvement of the running game, shows that the Seahawks can have success playing Carroll's style.
Today's Super Bowl, however, serves as a reminder that Carroll is indeed going against the grain in what is a pass-happy NFL.
The Giants and Patriots got this far for a number of reasons, but the biggest similarity between the two teams is that they won by relying heavily on the passing game and the Pro Bowl quarterbacks who lead those offenses. Neither team was particularly good at stopping opponents this season -- the Patriots ranked 31st in total defense and the Giants were 27th. Nor did they spend a lot of time focused on the run game -- New England was 20th in rushing yards and the Giants were dead last.
Yet, here these two teams stand, one win away from a championship. And it should come as no surprise that this season produced a Super Bowl matchup between prolific passing offenses. That has been the trend for a while now, and this year more than ever showed how valuable a good passing attack can be.
In 2011, 10 quarterbacks passed for more than 4,000 yards. Seven of those 10 made the playoffs, including Tom Brady and Eli Manning. Drew Brees (5,476 yards) and Brady (5,235) both eclipsed Dan Marino's 27-year-old record for passing yards in a season, and with Matthew Stafford (5,038) and Manning (4,993) also putting up huge numbers, four of the top six single-season passing yard totals happened in 2011.
This year's Super Bowl will be won either by a team led by a quarterback who is already a surefire Hall of Famer, or by one with a QB who will eventually have a Hall-worthy resume if his career stays on its current trajectory. The past 10 Super Bowl-winning teams were led by these quarterbacks: Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Roethlisberger, Brady, Brady, Brad Johnson and Brady. Other than Johnson, every quarterback on that list is considered one of the top quarterbacks in the league.
If we go further back on that list, we'll find a lot more names like Montana, Elway and Aikman than we will the occasional Trent Dilfers or Jeff Hostetlers of the world.
Which brings us back to the Seahawks. Teams like the 2001 Ravens, who won a championship with defense more than Dilfer, show that exceptional quarterback play isn't an absolute requirement to win a Super Bowl, but history shows that a top-flight gunslinger certainly makes winning a heck of a lot easier.
Do the Seahawks have that type of quarterback in Tarvaris Jackson? Nothing he has done so far in his career would indicate that they do.
Jackson, if he is the starter next season, should be better. He toughed it out admirably in 2011 with a partially torn pectoral muscle, and like the rest of the offense struggled to get going after the lockout cost teams a full offseason worth of workouts. But it is hard to imagine Jackson, in his seventh season, suddenly turning into the type of quarterback who can put a team on his back the way Brees, Rodgers and Brady have done in the past.
But again, that's not what Carroll wants out of his quarterback.
"I've been pretty consistent for a long time about this that we don't want the quarterback to have to be the whole show," Carroll said. "We don't emphasize that we have to throw the ball to win. We want balance in our offense."
So even in an era of unprecedented passing offense, Carroll wants to win with an old-school approach. And again, his track record at USC, as well as the improvement the Seahawks showed in 2011, shows that Carroll seems to know what he's doing.
It is also worth noting that, if not for a couple of big plays two weekends ago, the Super Bowl matchup might validate Carroll's methods. Had Baltimore's Billy Cudiff made a 32-yard field goal against New England, and had San Francisco's Kyle Williams not fumbled in overtime against the Giants, we might be getting ready to watch a Harbaugh Bowl between two teams that, just like the Seahawks, try to win games by running the ball and playing defense.
The 49ers' and Ravens' successes this season show that teams can contend the way Carroll envisions. And based off their second-half turnaround, the Seahawks look like a team that can contend for a playoff spot next season with Jackson at quarterback. But ultimately, the game that is every team's goal is once again a showcase for pass-happy offenses.
Which is why, in what has become an annual offseason tradition for Seahawks fans, the debate is on. Do the Seahawks draft a quarterback in the first round, possibly trading up to do so? Do they sign promising Packers backup Matt Flynn? Do they try to sign Peyton Manning if he becomes available and is healthy? Or do they stick with Jackson as their starter?
As offensive line coach Tom Cable pointed out a couple months ago, "Not everybody has a Tom Brady or a Peyton Manning." Finding one, however, appears to be the easiest way to be the last team standing in February.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.
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