MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACKING

What The Seahawks Knew about Denver

This should have been obvious to us all, but for some reason that borders on the athletic equivalent of Political Correctness no one has said out loud.

So let your Ostrich Killer say it here:  the Seahawks knew that the entire Denver offensive scheme was built from the ground up to protect - literally - Payton Manning's neck.

Yes, his neck.  Remember that he had 4 neck surgeries after an injury a few years back.  He missed an entire playing season to have that injury surgically corrected.  He sat out an entire playing season to have these surgeries and give his neck time to heal.

Enter the Denver Broncos looking for a 'franchise' type quarterback.  With his doctor sternly warning him that he must protect himself, and must gain medical approval periodically to continue playing, he offers his help to the Broncos.

The Broncos want to protect his neck too, so they designed an offensive scheme to help do that.  They came up with some pretty good solutions:  very quick pass releases after the snap, for example.  Staying in the pocket - no scrambling - and making quick target decisions, for another.  Strong offensive line that nearly eliminated quarterback hits and sacks.

That worked during the regular season.  No one talked about it, other than occasionally remarking that he'd had 4 neck operations.  No one said that the Denver offensive scheme is "protect Manning's neck."

Along come the irreverent Seahawks, taking advantage of Manning's unwillingness to risk his neck by scrambling.  Manning is limited in what he can do: if his receivers are covered he has to take unfamiliar risks.  That means turnovers.

It didn't work.

How good would Denver be if they had a scrambling quarterback like Kapernick or Luck?  These guys can hit receivers too.  And they can protect their own necks with their legs.    

In the end, an offense lacking a running game and built to protect a fragile neck proved to be just too limited to survive a determined pass rush and smothering defensive secondary.  The pass rush in particular understood that if a quarterback is not going to scramble, then they can tighten the focus of their rushes.

On an unrelated note, let your Ostrich Killer be the first to suggest that the citizens of East Rutherford, New Jersey be awarded Honorary 12th Man status.  From all the noise and weather, the Seahawks can be forgiven for wondering if they were playing a home game.  Ditto for the Broncos, who might have wondered if they were in Seattle.  Bravo to you!