hondo in seattle

I also agree with this. Great offensive line produce rushing yards, almost no matter who's toting the ball, and make their QBs better.

I'm sure there are guys who coach on the defensive side of the ball who understand defensive techniques and assignments but don't have a sophisticated understanding of offensive football. But to be a top-notch DC, you have to know the intricacies of offensive game planning. If you want to take away the things that work for your opponent, you need to understand what they are and why they work. Since we're making military references here, let me add this: "If you know yourself and know your enemy, you will win every battle. If you know yourself, but not your enemy, you will win one then lose one. If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will be imperiled in every battle." Sun Tzu

Pettine got the Bills defense up to #23 in the rankings and that accomplishment won him a HC job. Schwartz takes over, loses his Pro Bowl safety to free agency and his rookie phenom to injury, and moves the D up to #4 in the rankings. But he gets barely a sniff for a DC job. Something doesn't seem right.

You mean athletic but crappy accuracy throwing the ball?

What do we really know about Lee? Geno might have been worse with another QB coach. He might have been better. Who knows? Same with Fitz (who actually had his 2nd best passer rating and yardage totals in his one year working with Lee). It's not hard to go back and see the QBs that Lee has worked with and how they performed. What we don't know is what Lee actually contributed, or failed to contribute. There are too many other variables to consider: OC, scheme, WRs, protection, the health & effort of the QB himself, etc. Besides a couple short stints as OC and offensive quality control, Lee has been coaching QBs since 1975. I'm assuming he's learned a little something in all that time. Bill Parcells once hired Lee to coach QBs for the Fins. I think Parcells may know a little something about evaluating QB coaches. If Lee is good enough for Parcells and Rex, I'm thinking he's good enough for me.

It sure seems like Hackett wasn't ready for the NFL though I recall Freddy saying Hackett was "handcuffed" or something like that. Hackett is a human being and I have sympathy for (almost) all human beings. Hackett is also a smart, enthusiastic young guy. I think and hope he learns from this experience and eventually becomes a good OC in college or the NFL some day.

I'm reading "Collision Low Crossers" - the book written by a journalist who was imbedded in Jets organization for a full year with keys to the building and an office in the personnel department. He writes, "There are six basic fronts in football. Teams usually play one, typically either the 4-3 with four down lineman and three linebackers, or the 3-4. Rex featured all six fronts, each packaged with dozens of variations." (p.16) I imagine seeing a lot of scheme variations and personnel groupings next year. Didn't Rex once face Brady with 0 linebackers - only down linemen and DBs???

Kelly, I think you're right. I think that good OCs understand defenses very well and good DCs understand offenses very well. So why did Rex fail on offense? Here's my best guess: (1) He gave his OCs almost complete autonomy. He appreciated having autonomy when he was a DC and felt he owed the same to his OC. (2) Tannebaum and Idzik didn't acquire a lot of talent for the offense (or for the team in general) as you noted. (3) Rex has a passion for defense. Supposedly he has a notepad next to his bed and as new defensive ideas come to him, he writes them down. He doesn't have that same enthusiasm for offense.

It looks like Marrone won't be a HC this year. If Rex gets to the Bills to the playoffs, will that effect Marrone's chances next year? Will it look like he under-performed with a talented group of players? Will people question his decision to leave/quit what is turning out to be a good situation for Rex?

If Rex Ryan is ground-and-pound, and if Greg Roman is ground-and-pound, then Pete Carroll is ground-and-pound. Pete Carroll runs the ball more than either our new HC or new OC. In 2014, Pete Carroll & the Seahawks ran 51.4% of the time. Rex Ryan & the Jets ran 48.2% of the time. Greg Roman & the 49ers ran 46.6% of the time. Even when you take the QB carries out of the numbers, Seattle still runs more than our new ground-and-pound HC and OC Hawks... 40.8% Rex/NYJ... 40.1% Roman/9ers... 36.2%

I live in Seattle so I love this Super Bowl. When I first moved here, I didn't think it was much of a football town. But Pete Carroll has gotten the community engaged. You see about as much Seahawk stuff (flags, jerseys, bumper stickers, etc) around town now as you see Bills stuff in Buffalo. Even though I'm not a Hawks fan, I like being around the cheerful excitement the franchise brings here. And because the game is against the Pats, I will find it easy to join my fellow Seattleites and root for Wilson, Lynch, Sherman, etc in the SB.

I live in Seattle and can tell you that Lynch is much beloved by the fans here. Pete Carroll seems to have a lot of respect for him too but who knows.

For the first time in a decade or so, I'm predicting the Bills make the playoffs. But Super Bowl? That stretches the imagination.

It's curious how we fans remember our successful prognostications and recommendations, but forget our failures. I saw Drew Brees play in college and predicted he'd be a good starter in the NFL. Then again, I'm a Boilermaker and may have said the same thing about Scott Campbell. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Not only does Quinn have a lot of talent in Seattle, he also has Pete Carroll who's a defensive mastermind. I just don't know how much Quinn himself brings to Seattle's defensive success. So I'd take Rex over Quinn.

If we resign both Hughes and Spikes, and get Kiko back, it will be a blast to see what Rex cooks up with all these defensive weapons.

It would be wonderful to have the talent to do that. Regarding the Bills, assuming EJ is the QB, things would look a little different. I imagine running a lot - Roman is said to be a mad scientist at creating space for backs - with EJ throwing deep once in a while and running it himself maybe 4 or 5 times a game to keep defenses on their heels a bit. It won't be great, but it could be better than the impotent offense we had this past year. Assuming a strong defense, we'd win some games. In a more perfect world, we'd add two Pro Bowl guards and a Pro Bowl QB.

Of course Seattle is going to take advantage of Wilson's unique skill set. But, then again, Lynch has been averaging about 300 carries per season over the past three years. Carroll clearly likes to pound it with Lynch. In 2014, The 'Hawks (supposedly not a ground-and-pound team) ran 51.4% of the time. Ground-and-pound Rex Ryan ran 48.2% of the time. (Smith/Vick ran 85 times). Ground-and -pound Greg Roman ran 46.6% of the time. (Kaep ran it 104 times). Even when you take the QB carries out of the numbers, Seattle still runs more than our new ground-and-pound HC and OC Hawks... 40.8% Rex/NYJ... 40.1% Roman/9ers... 36.2% Interestingly, Rex has mentioned he wants EJ to use his legs more. I'm guessing he's thinking of Wilson and Kaep.

Let's take it a step further... EJ will be 25 at the start of the season. All we have to do is wait five more years... and hope during those years he develops the skills to throw for 30 TDs.

I think some of the early posters nailed this. First of all, Rex is planning to be a ground-and-pound team because we don't currently have an answer at QB. Second, ground-and-pound can still win in the NFL. Seattle has been in the top five for rushing attempts for the past three years. Pete Carroll clearly believes in ground-and-pound and I believe in Pete Carroll.

One of the more intelligent discussions in a while. Thanks for starting it Beerball. So much depends on the fates of Spikes and Hughes that it's all guesswork right now. This will be interesting to watch because Rex is pretty flexible and will build the defense around the talent on the roster.

I agree with this, actually. Now I think a Head Coach or coordinator who gets to talk with and observe their position coaches on a daily basis can make an assessment much quicker. We fans, however, don't have that level of intimate knowledge of what the position coaches are doing - or failing to do.

Good post, though many of the same points have already been made in other threads. I will add this - which is also old news - Roman did a really good job with Alex Smith.

I sort of liked Ted Marchibroda when he was with the Bills. But with all that talent, couldn't he have done better?

True enough. But there are 32 WR coaches with jobs in the NFL. I'd rather have #1 than #32. Though I have no idea how good Lal is. Apparently Rex respects his skill set.