Like Chris Christie and his bridgegate, or Obama and his whatevergate of the day, this is a question that will probably never be answered for sure. Many will (and already have) rant, speculate, claim to have inside information, and even draw conclusions. But in reality, they don't know whether the Seahawks were privy to Peyton Manning's hand signals and audibles in the Super Bowl any more than you or I do.
Certainly, the Seahawks played terrific defense throughout the game against Denver's #1 ranked offense. But Seattle was the #1 defense across the board in the entire NFL all year. The proverbial irresistible force versus the immovable object. Something had to give. Turns out the force wasn't so irresistible after all.
But to assume Seattle knew what play Denver was going to run before they ran it would seem to be quite a stretch. If that were so, every Denver offensive play would have been immediately stuffed -- and that didn't happen. Yes, the Seattle defense was dominant indeed, but it looked more like a very well coached, talented, physical, highly motivated cohesive unit that had done their homework (film study), and remained disciplined throughout. Just because Peyton Manning and his offensive juggernaut didn't rack up their usual yardage and point total doesn't necessarily mean the other guys were "cheating". Yours truly would submit that Seattle's defense, from the front 4 bringing the heat, to the linebackers roaming sideline to sideline in the short zones, to the superb cover ability of their corners and safeties making life difficult for Denver's wide receivers, was just.... that.... good. And if these same two teams played again -- Seattle would win again. Maybe not 43-8, but they'd still win, because they're that much better.
What's interesting is that Seattle supposedly having decoded Peyton Manning's audibles seems to have come from none other than Seahawk cornerback Richard Sherman himself. You know, Richard of the infamous post-game rant when a dopey female on-field reporter stuck a microphone in his face while he was still geeked up in combat mode.
But did Sherman and his teammates really know what Peyton was about to do before it happened? Or might this be just a bit of psychological warfare, to rub a little salt in the wound?
Thing is, even if Sherman knew, it still doesn't make sense. Sherman's a cornerback, so before Manning started calling his audibles at the line of scrimmage, Sherman was already out on an "island" preparing to cover a Denver wide receiver. Sherman likely being the best corner in the game these days -- Manning didn't even throw a ball his way until well into the second half. Nevertheless, the crowd noise being what is was, there was no way Sherman could have communicated such information to his teammates. Further, throughout the game when Sherman was out there on his island, he was totally focused on the receiver standing just a couple yards away from him. No hand signals, and certainly no yelling at his teammates. Just total focus on the dude in front of him.
So if we're to believe Seattle actually had some inside information, it certainly wasn't apparent by how their defense conducted itself on the field during the Super Bowl. Sure, they made adjustments when various Denver offensive players would go in motion to change their look just prior to the snap, but every defense (at least the good ones) does that. It's called discipline and knowing your assignments.
However, perhaps Sir Charles Barkley put it best on the Tonight show. When Leno asked him whether Sherman could have figured out Denver's complex offense -- Barkley replied -- hey, Sherman went to Stanford. People at Stanford are smart and they can decode a lot of things. I went to Auburn -- and at Auburn we couldn't figure out anything. Yuk, yuk.
I hope Sir Charles, golf swing and all, stays around forever. Ya gotta love him....
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