Did the Super Bowl show us what the future holds?

[pstall]

While it was a strange game the ebb and flow was odd. It seemed it was all about West Coast offense and who could limit the other teams possesion of the football.

The running game seems to be more about when you run as opposed to how much you gain.

What other trends tendencies did you see?

[Davidson Deac II]

I learned that things change every year and they don't always make sense. In 2008, New Orleans led the league in offensive numbers, didn't make the playoffs. Steelers won the superbowl by being tops in defense, and running the ball quite a bit. Their passing game was ok, but nothing special.

NO won it this year with a more balanced offense and an opportunistic defense. Every season is different.

[ThaJackal]

The only trend that I saw was if ESPN and the rest of the jacklegs of the media like your team (and the NFL deems the story worthy), balls tend to bounce your way.

[Matt Foley]

The one trend that continues through the years is that Super Bowls are lost more than they are won.

[magnus]

both teams used a lot of the same, simple routes - all-curls, all-go, all-slant - in the expectation that no matter the coverage, something would be open. Actually fairly rudimentary stuff. What you saw in that game was relatively useless for "this is how the league is going to be" - two longball offenses who sat there all night working the under zones.

[tarheelblue89]

The away team continues to win.

[mountainpantherfan]

The NFL is driven by offense and more and more the rules being put in place are negating pass defenses. This in turn forces defenses to try and stop the run as much as possible, which in turn forces of offenses to throw more.

I think that in all honesty the powers that be would actually like to see the NFL look more like the Arena league, as far as offensive output. And it's only a matter of time before it's going to be that way.

[Matt Foley]

The NFL is driven by offense and more and more the rules being put in place are negating pass defenses. This in turn forces defenses to try and stop the run as much as possible, which in turn forces of offenses to throw more.

I think that in all honesty the powers that be would actually like to see the NFL look more like the Arena league, as far as offensive output. And it's only a matter of time before it's going to be that way.

It always ebbs and flows. The pass-happy 49ers gave way to the run-first Giants, Bears and Redskins. Who gave way to the pass-happy Packers. Who gave way to the run-happy Broncos. Who gave way to the pass-happy Rams. And on, and on, and on....

One defense figures out a way to stop the run, everyone copies their blueprint, and that gives way to a weakness in pass defense that someone can exploit.

[mountainpantherfan]

It always ebbs and flows. The pass-happy 49ers gave way to the run-first Giants, Bears and Redskins. Who gave way to the pass-happy Packers. Who gave way to the run-happy Broncos. Who gave way to the pass-happy Rams. And on, and on, and on....

One defense figures out a way to stop the run, everyone copies their blueprint, and that gives way to a weakness in pass defense that someone can exploit.

I agree that there has always been an ebb and flow but that was based on schemes being developed. What we have been seeing the past couple of years is rule changes. Thats a different creature with what I think will be a different result.

[pstall]

both teams used a lot of the same, simple routes - all-curls, all-go, all-slant - in the expectation that no matter the coverage, something would be open. Actually fairly rudimentary stuff. What you saw in that game was relatively useless for "this is how the league is going to be" - two longball offenses who sat there all night working the under zones.[/QUOTE]

isn't that the calling card of the WCO? Paralyze the pass rush with quick underneaths and find the iso that best fits you.

Defenses simply can NOT shut teams down right now enough to make up for a lack of a very good offense.

[Snake]

The big rule of you dont always have to sack the QB to get pressure and cause turnovers.

Also if you dont have a Good QB your screwed.

[Superadiabatic]

The one trend that continues through the years is that Super Bowls are lost more than they are won.

To a point, this seems to be true. Usually, the two SB teams are two teams that are on paper the top 5 or so in the league and are playing at their best when it matters. It seems that in the SB the two teams in the game play very well, but the difference is one or more critical mistakes ... like Manning's interception or Kasay's kick out of bounds ... that is the difference in the game. To me, it seems that the team that doesn't make those one or two critical mistakes is the team that wins.

[magnus]

isn't that the calling card of the WCO? Paralyze the pass rush with quick underneaths and find the iso that best fits you.

Defenses simply can NOT shut teams down right now enough to make up for a lack of a very good offense.

sure, but these aren't WCO teams. That's the point of what you bolded meant - they're longball offenses. Sure, they spread so there's always the underneath stuff, but they make a living downfield and there were hardly any long throws. Indy played soft zones out of their c2 comfort zone to stop the deep pass, letting Brees have the underneath. New Orleans played deep because they were blitzing and wanted to be able to give up the short to not get hit long.

There wasn't any real offensive or defensive schematic to what happened in the Super Bowl. Two offenses playing out of their comfort zone versus two defenses who altered heavily to the deep end. That one blitzed and one didn't is largely coincidental as well.

And I'm fine with that outcome. I don't want it to suddenly be that we're not "x" when team "x" won. No one needs to learn major lessons from a game like this. We're too deep rooted in what we do to become a copycat.

[PanthersFanInGA]

What I hate the most is how nowadays everything revolves around the passing game. Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass and etc. It gets old and sort of cheap in my honest opinion. I mean come on, run the ball here and there and stop playing such a one dimensional football game based around the QB.