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Forums - Sports Discussion - The NFL Thread 2015: Denver Broncos win Super Bowl 50

 

Who will win Super Bowl 50?

Patriots 116 25.00%
 
Seahawks 41 8.84%
 
Colts 7 1.51%
 
Packers 42 9.05%
 
Broncos 85 18.32%
 
Ravens 8 1.72%
 
Cowboys 18 3.88%
 
Panthers 56 12.07%
 
Other 74 15.95%
 
Scoreboard 17 3.66%
 
Total:464
Arkaign said:
chocoloco said:
Defense wins championships in most sports Arkaign. Pretty much proven time and time again.

That may be true on the average, but last year's SB put the top-tier defensive team Seahawks against a middle-of-the-road defense in the Patriots. But while the Seahawks offense was merely adequate, the Patriots offense was excellent. It still came down to the wire of course, a ridiculously improbable long-ball catch near the goal line for Seattle, then an improbable horrendous throw/call for the INT.

Obviously good offenses can win sometime, but I am just pointing out that really good offeses more often lose to really good defenses. Seattle-2013 , and Raven-2012 are two recent examples. And teams like the Steelers won a lot of rings because they destroyed others with good defense. Hell, Peyton Manning's only Super Bowl win happened because his defense had a really great game. 



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noname2200 said:
chocoloco said:
Defense wins championships in most sports Arkaign. Pretty much proven time and time again.

Not recently in the NFL though. When you keep cooking up rules to hamstring the defense, it inevitably shifts the emphasis to the other side of the ball. Recent champions have had decent defenses, but save for the Seahawks I wouldn't say that was their strength.

I am too lazy to look up the stats, but I disagree. 

 

How about them Raiders?



chocoloco said:

Obviously good offenses can win sometime, but I am just pointing out that really good offeses more often lose to really good defenses. Seattle-2013 , and Raven-2012 are two recent examples.


Ravens 2012 are not a good example. They were the 17th ranked defense in yards allowed, and 12th in points allowed. They won because Flacco went on fire that postseason, a five game span that led to him getting wildly overpaid and contributed to the Ravens' subsequent decline.



chocoloco said:

How about them Raiders?

I thought they could be better than the Chefs this year. It's the Chargers that disgust me.



noname2200 said:
chocoloco said:

How about them Raiders?

I thought they could be better than the Chefs this year. It's the Chargers that disgust me.

There are a LOT of disgustingly disappointing/terrible teams this year, lol.

Awesome teams so far imho : Patriots, Packers, Cardinals.

Good but flawed teams so far : Broncos, Falcons, Bengals, Seahawks.

And then a whole bunch of meh to bleh from there on out.

Honestly if the Superbowl isn't either Patriots vs. Packers or Patriots vs. Cardinals it will be incredible. It's not a question of other teams having off games or anything so simple, it's either a cavalcade of injuries, poor coaching, or just plain gigantic missing pieces that preclude even the faintest idea that they are capable of any real run to a SB.



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Arkaign said:
noname2200 said:
chocoloco said:

How about them Raiders?

I thought they could be better than the Chefs this year. It's the Chargers that disgust me.

There are a LOT of disgustingly disappointing/terrible teams this year, lol.

Awesome teams so far imho : Patriots, Packers, Cardinals.

Good but flawed teams so far : Broncos, Falcons, Bengals, Seahawks.

And then a whole bunch of meh to bleh from there on out.

Honestly if the Superbowl isn't either Patriots vs. Packers or Patriots vs. Cardinals it will be incredible. It's not a question of other teams having off games or anything so simple, it's either a cavalcade of injuries, poor coaching, or just plain gigantic missing pieces that preclude even the faintest idea that they are capable of any real run to a SB.

I haven't seen any Bengals games so far, but the news has been pretty positive. What's their achilles heel?



RolStoppable said:
dongo8 said:
I was actually thinking that the AFC east would be difficult this year with the upgrades that the Bills and Dolphins made, but man having no good QB makes a huge difference

That was the revelation of the day.


I will say this: I went to Patriots training camp this year, and watching Garropolo run the offense was awesome he was really good. But then when Brady came in and started running things, even though it was just training camp you could see he was a much much better QB. He was on point, crisp, and always hit his man, this similarity can be drawn to other teams in the NFL. I think Garropolo, even as he is now would be starting on another NFL team, and he'd be good, but then you are competing against guys like Brady and Rodgers, who are next level better and it becomes obvious that it's not a fair fight. Luck was supposed to be the next up and coming amazing QB but he looks to have taken a few steps back so far this year with some of the best receivers in the NFL working for him. Case in point, if you're without a great QB, you're without a great team in this league.



NNID: Dongo8                              XBL Gamertag: Dongos Revenge

The Bengals are actually a lot like the Falcons, a QB capable of good to great numbers, a great WR1 target, and a mediocre defense. Where they fall apart a bit is the intangibles, which may not be totally fair, but they don't have a wealth of playmakers outside of QB1/WR1, and Dalton has a history of making egregious errors down the stretch.

It's a team I wouldn't mind being wrong about, it's nice to see a team rise up after many many years of poor to mediocre levels of success, and Dalton is still pretty young.

But as yet, I've seen nothing that tells me that their team is deserving to be looked at as an elite-level team.



dongo8 said:
RolStoppable said:

That was the revelation of the day.


I will say this: I went to Patriots training camp this year, and watching Garropolo run the offense was awesome he was really good. But then when Brady came in and started running things, even though it was just training camp you could see he was a much much better QB. He was on point, crisp, and always hit his man, this similarity can be drawn to other teams in the NFL. I think Garropolo, even as he is now would be starting on another NFL team, and he'd be good, but then you are competing against guys like Brady and Rodgers, who are next level better and it becomes obvious that it's not a fair fight. Luck was supposed to be the next up and coming amazing QB but he looks to have taken a few steps back so far this year with some of the best receivers in the NFL working for him. Case in point, if you're without a great QB, you're without a great team in this league.

To be fair, I don't think Luck has a top-10 WR, or a top-25 offensive line to work with. His OL might be in the running for worst in the NFL.

EDIT : The Seahawks are another interesting one. With Kam back, their defense should easily be top 5 with a chance at top-2ish levels. But they would be 0-3 if their QB wasn't so mobile, because their OL is god freaking awful this year, and they also totally lack a top-tier WR corps. Their O line utterly fails at both pass AND run blocking at all levels. And that's why I think they will fail this year, even with an above-average QB. Wilson is kind of tailor-made for a bad O line by extending plays and escaping trouble. Peyton, Brady, Rodgers, they would all eventually get murdered behind that group of cardboard cutouts.

Balance is the key.



 

noname2200 said:
chocoloco said:

How about them Raiders?

I thought they could be better than the Chefs this year. It's the Chargers that disgust me.

You mean because the Chargers O-line is so beaten up? The whole line is made of glass and Phillip Rivers was hit and sacked continously  by the Vikings? the Chargers look in trouble to me . 

 

 

Also, the stats I was talking about: wins the chi 

If anything this does show that having a better than average defense and offense is what really decides who becomes football's world champions each year. 

Average Defensive Rank

Category

Since 1978

Since 2004

Since 2009

Playoff Teams

11.1

12.4

13.2

Super Bowl Teams

9.3

12.3

14.8

Super Bowl Champions

7.7

12.9

18.5

 

Average Offensive Rank

Category

Since 1978

Since 2004

Since 2009

Playoff Teams

10.5

11.2

11.6

Super Bowl Teams

7.8

9.1

8.8

Super Bowl Champions

8.5

10.8

8.5

http://www.sportingcharts.com/articles/nfl/does-offense-or-defense-win-super-bowl-championships.aspx

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