Its a tough call for the Superbowl.

[ass_face]

JIM FASSEL:
Mike Holmgren's friend and college roommate.
From the Miami Herald…
After taking on Pittsburgh's ferocious, zone blitz as the Ravens' offensive coordinator, the former Giants coach is picking the Seahawks to win Super Bowl XL.

"We didn't play real well all season and realistically, we should have beaten them twice," Fassel said by telephone this week. "They didn't hammer us. We should have beaten them twice. I think Seattle's a pretty hard-nosed, athletic group of guys that will match up pretty well."

'They're no different than anybody else. You can run on them if you have a good scheme. But you'd better have a plan in that pass protection," he said. "They do give you a number of looks and if you look at it in its entirety, you say, `Oh, this is confusing.' So you have to go back and make it not confusing to your guys. And that's not hard. You can do that."

'I remember telling our guys this," Fassel said. '`They're going to have some things they hit us with when their timing is right and they've got us in the wrong protection. Just minimize it. Instead of a 10-yard sack, make it a three-yard sack. And for God's sake don't throw it up for grabs.''

Fassel said that Hasselbeck is underrated in terms of his composure. "He doesn't do stupid things with the ball," he said. "Mike's system is pretty sound. They'll throw the ball fairly quick. They don't drop back with a lot of looks. He'll have a plan that will be very basic and his priority will be the quarterback. I think he'll handle the 3-4 pretty well. I really do."

The Ravens did handle the Zone Blitz pretty well, but since the Steelers play them 2-3 times a year, their o-line is very familiar with it. Seattle won't be. As for Hasslebeck not doing stupid things... not sure what he has been watching. In the Redskins game I saw him do two things not even a rookie QB would do. He got away with it, but he is sort of dumbfuck from what I have seen.

They haven't handled the 3-4 well all year, so I am not sure how all of sudden they are going to handle the best one in football.

 

[Spartacus]

I think Seattle will come out aggressively on offense.
With all those receivers -- Jackson, Engram, Jurevicious and a 6'7" tight end -- Holmgren can't afford to do the usual handing off to Alexander early and then suddenly look up, find himself down 13-0 because his quarterback would then be swallowed under a siege of Steelers for the rest of the evening. I'm playing the First Quarter and Halftime OVER

 

[Deterass]

what ???

That would only work if the payouts are 1/1 .

 

[angel]

That would only work if the payouts are 1/1 .

oh lol i thought you were talking about beers, hahahaha
no i know that but even so atleast i will still get some thing though

 

[ass_face]

I think Seattle will come out aggressively on offense.
With all those receivers -- Jackson, Engram, Jurevicious and a 6'7" tight end -- Holmgren can't afford to do the usual handing off to Alexander early and then suddenly look up, find himself down 13-0 because his quarterback would then be swallowed under a siege of Steelers for the rest of the evening. I'm playing the First Quarter and Halftime OVER

I totally agree... I look for them to go deep and try to torch Ike or Deshea. Or at least get a Pass Interference penalty. Seattle has to come out smoking to compete.

 

[Spartacus]

honestly, its not out of the question, they went 13-3 playing shit teams, i stilll think they would have made playoffs, but there is no way in hell they are the number one or 2 seed int he nfl.

salary caps have considerably tightened the talnet gap betw top and bottom
there are no fucking "weak" schedules in the NFL
everyone of those players on the field is playing for money,career,pension etc,etc
there is no fucking lay down in this leaque
it's not the NCAA

 

[Spartacus]

Fassel picked the Hawks. He says Holmgreen can play call against Pittsburcgh zone blitz.

Fassel said that Hasselbeck is underrated in terms of his composure. "He doesn't do stupid things with the ball," he said. "Mike's system is pretty sound. They'll throw the ball fairly quick. They don't drop back with a lot of looks. He'll have a plan that will be very basic and his priority will be the quarterback. I think he'll handle the 3-4 pretty well. I really do."

 

[Spartacus]

Interesting analysis from another board:

FACT: Pittsburgh lost 5 games while Seattle lost 3. BUT...only 2 with Ben healthy. Maddox lost 2 and they lost to Indy after Ben returned from 4 games off. If Ben were healthy, Steelers beat Jacksonville and Baltimore, finish 13-3, win the north and are probably the #2 seed.

FACT: Steelers ended the season with the 5th ranked Strength of Schedule. Seattle finished with the 30th ranked SOS. Only the Bears and Packers faced teams with fewer wins. Seattle has not beaten a team with a winning record since Nov. 27 (gotta subtract the Colts since they rested most of their team)

FACT: Steelers beat the #1, #2 and #3 seeds....on the road. Seattle beat the #5 and #6 seeds....at home. The Seahawks have not played a team as good as the Steelers all year. The Steelers have beaten two teams in the past two weeks who are arguably both better than the Seahawks.

FACT: Seattle has one victory against a team that went on to win its division. (Colts don't count. They rested most of their starters). Steelers have beaten 3 in the past 3 weeks...and have 5 wins this season against teams who would win their division.

FACT: Shaun Alexander has 40 post season carries.....23 for no game or loss. Now he faces one of the NFL's most overpowering run defenses.

FACT: Steelers have held its last 3 opponets to WELL below their rushing averages. Cincy averaged 119.4 for the year. They got 84 vs. Pitts. Colts averaged 106.4 for the year. They got 58 vs. Pitt. Broncos entered the game with the 2nd ranked rushing offense in the NFL with 158.7 for year. They got 97.

FACT: Steelers have not allowed more than 105 yards rushing in any of its past 7 games....and are allowing only 76.5 yards/game during this 7-0 win streak.

Seattle is a good team, no doubt. But if you want to predict a victory, try doing it with logical facts that are not so easily picked apart!

Seattle has 4 sacks over its past 2 games. Steelers have 12 over its past three. The Steelers front 7 are a much more imposing group. The Seahawks have gone 15-32 on 3rd down conversions over the past 2 games. The key to Seattle's success during the playoffs has been the ability to keep the opponents from converting 3rd downs. Washington and Carolina went a combined 6 for 28. The Steelers have converted 22 of its 41 3rd down conversions. The problem for Seattle is that the Steelers will convert 3rd downs. They have done it regularly during this 7-0 win streak. If Seattle cannot hold the Steelers to 30% or so on 3rd downs (and they don't have the secondary to do this), then they are in a world of trouble. There are FAR more reasons to why the Steelers should win this game than there are why the Seahawks should.

so fucking what
that's what amatuers do who have little understanding of the game
they get out their calculators and punch numbers
how often do you hear Parcells for example say
"well they have been averaging 106.4 yards per game on the ground and our 88.9 yards per game ground defense can handle that"

 

[ass_face]

salary caps have considerably tightened the talnet gap betw top and bottom
there are no fucking "weak" schedules in the NFL
everyone of those players on the field is playing for money,career,pension etc,etc
there is no fucking lay down in this leaque
it's not the NCAA

I agree with you to a point, but it certainly helps to not play any division winners and then get 6 games against the Cards. 49ers and a slumping Rams team. Alexander this season got 820 of his yards playing those teams.

Against Dallas, the only good 3-4 they played he had 61. It makes a difference.

The Salary cap has definitely effected depth. I mean, Steve Young sat the freaking bench and everyone knew he was a stud... that will not happen today.

 

[ass_face]

so fucking what
that's what amatuers do who have little understanding of the game
they get out their calculators and punch numbers
how often do you hear Parcells for example say
"well they have been averaging 106.4 yards per game on the ground and our 88.9 yards per game ground defense can handle that"

I did not write it... just thought it was interesting. "So fucking what" is usually what people say when they have no logical retort or anything intelligent to retort...