What the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots Represent About the Modern NFL
In a season that saw two franchises rise from the ashes back to NFL glory in record time, both the Seahawks and Patriots defied and defined many things surrounding the modern-day NFL. Here is what the success of both of these franchises this year embodies most about today’s league.
Rebuilds Don’t Have To Last Forever
How many franchises can you think of that seem to fluctuate between being a contending state and a rebuilding one? Or the ones whose rebuild seems to be endless? There are many teams to choose from, and both the Patriots and Seahawks proved that rebuilds can be short and painful instead of long and arduous. Both teams went through a short period of pain, with the Patriots finishing 4-13 the previous two seasons, while the Seahawks missed the playoffs in 3 of the last 4 seasons.
The primary factor for each team in quickly escaping the basement of the NFL was their commitment to balancing their respective rosters with both young and developing talent alongside veteran players. There is perhaps no better example of that approach than the Seahawks, who went out and acquired key players like Sam Darnold, Leonard Williams, DeMarcus Lawrence, and even Cooper Kupp.
Each player not only fits into the Seahawks system on their side of the ball, but their veteran leadership also allowed the younger players on the roster to grow their games exponentially.
Defensive Coaches Can Win Just as Much As Offensive Coaches
When examining the Super Bowl winners of the past decade, it becomes evident that offensive-minded coaches have dominated this current era. Coaches such as Andy Reid, Nick Sirianni, and Sean McVay have served as the template for success, and that trend may be coming to an end with the two current head coaches in this season’s Super Bowl. Both Seahawks Head Coach Mike Macdonald and Patriots Head Coach Mike Vrabel have built their championship teams on the backs of fantastic defenses.
This is more of a return of the old guard for the NFL rather than an evolution, as defensive-centric coaches dominated much of the early 21st century. Coaches like Bill Belichick, Mike Tomlin, and Pete Carroll were the biggest and most successful ones from that era, with Belichick in particular spearheading the greatest dynasty in NFL history with the Patriots. The old saying of “defense wins championships” may finally be back, and that is for the better.
The Head Coach Is Just As Important As the Star Quarterback
The argument of whether the head coach or star quarterback should receive the bulk of the praise for success has raged on among NFL fans for years. That argument could finally be nearing a conclusive answer. The Patriots were coached by former Patriots great Jerod Mayo during Drake Maye’s rookie year last season. The team looked disjointed, and Maye’s performance did not live up to expectations.
Vrabel took a similar roster from last year and returned the franchise to prominence in record time. The Seahawks boast the best road record in the NFL since Macdonald took over. The head coach position is starting to look like the biggest difference maker for a team’s potential success.
Regular Season Rankings and Schedule Matter Little In the Postseason
Even though both the Patriots and Seahawks had fantastic seasons, there were plenty of questions surrounding their championship viability, especially as it pertained to some perceived flaws each team had. These questions included things such as, can the Patriots’ defense hold up in a tough AFC playoff field, or can the Seahawks’ inconsistency on offense be fixed enough to lift them to the Super Bowl? Both of these questions were rooted in both teams’ regular-season rankings in those departments.
New England’s defense ranked in the top 10 in total defense, but with the Patriots’ soft schedule, it was easy for people to look past their defensive rankings. New England proved those doubts were ill-founded. The team allowed only 10+ points once during the postseason. For the Seahawks, they ranked third in the NFL in points per game at 28.4 and 7th in yards per game, but had fallen into a rough patch on offense in the second half of the season.
That question plagued the Seahawks heading into the NFC Championship against the Los Angeles Rams, who sported the No. 1 offense led by MVP frontrunner Matthew Stafford. After Darnold outdueled the likely league MVP on Sunday, the concerns on offense for the Seahawks can finally be put to rest.
Final Thoughts
While the current NFL has been haunted by an ongoing dynasty in the Kansas City Chiefs, it has also seen its fair share of parity. This year’s Super Bowl will feature the third different Super Bowl winner in the last six seasons. That alone should make for an entertaining game, and one that will surely be cherished by NFL fans all over the nation.
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