SB Opponents Discussion: 2014 Seahawks vs. 2016 Falcons vs. 2017 Eagles

[dannydyn]

So I'm sitting here, trying to come up with how I feel about this match up, comparing it to the previous 2.

2014 Seahawks had the Legion of Boom, and a very fast, 'punch in your mouth' defense, a mobile QB that can sneak out of the pocket and make great throws on the move, and Beast Mode running back.

2016 Falcons were very balanced on both sides, and appeared to also feature, a very fast front 7 that was causing some major problems in the first 3 quarters until they gassed out, an MVP QB with great stats, and a great receiving corp.

Where does everyone put this Eagles team (and especially the defense) compared to the previous 2? Would you consider this year's match up harder or easier compared to 2014 & 2016?


Discuss....

 

[chasa]

i think the seahawks were the scarriest team that we had faced going into the game.

they had the experience(won the SB the year before), the skill(LOB, Russell Wilson, Lynch) and the coaching.

The falcons were young and inexperienced in big game situations, i think the eagles are similar. Young group, fast, but high probability they flame out in the 2nd half.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Seahawks had a few injuries in the secondary in the SB - sherman’s arm, chancellor’s knee, and jeremy lane’s arm/knee in the actual game.

 

[RobertWeathers]

2014 Hawks. Better D. Better O. They knew how to win.

Only the GOAT, Avril concussion and the most colossal brain fart in NFL history prevented them from winning.

 

[Guts]

2014 Hawks. Better D. Better O. They knew how to win.

Only the GOAT, Avril concussion and the most colossal brain fart in NFL history prevented them from winning.

Or maybe the greatest defensive play in NFL history?? There was no guarantee that Marshawn would score

 

[sean10mm]

What makes it complicated is none of the Patriots teams are equal either. 2014 Seahawks vs. the 2014 Patriots were the best Patriots team top to bottom in a long time vs. IMO the toughest Super Bowl opponent from start to finish.

2016 was middle of the road on both fronts. Pats were less talented on paper than in 2014, but were running like a really well oiled machine all year, Falcons were explosive but just weren't intimidating on the level the Seahawks were, and simply fell off a cliff at the end.

2017 feels like it's kind of a mixed bag. I don't trust the defense nearly as much, but the offense has Gronk back plus Cooks, Lewis, White and Amendola all looking good and the OL has been solid against tough competition. The Eagles are darn good overall, but don't have a defense on par with the Jaguars (no matter how much people want to hype it up) and it's hard to trust Foles.

 

[maust]

I think there are some similarities to both previous opponents. While the quality of Philly's D makes you think of the 'Hawks, their real strength is in the front vs Seattle's which was in the back. I think the Eagles balance in all 3 phases of the game makes them more akin to Atlanta although much tougher physically. But while there's more power to Philly's game, no one should confuse Foles with Ryan. In fact 'confuse' is the operative word when it comes to how I think the Pats will approach dealing with Foles. In considering the similarities we shouldn't discount the most glaring of differences between them and the Eagles though. Both Atlanta & Seattle had defensive minded HC's. Pederson made his bones on the other side of the ball and he did it by being aggressive. Look no further than the NFCCG to see no matter what happens he is unlikely to suddenly get conservative. Of course aggressive play calling can be a double edged sword...

 

[dannydyn]

I think the one thing that concerns me the most about this Eagles team is their RPO stuff.... I'm concerned our D will get dazzled too much.

 

[neuronet]

Vikings D was very good. Foles seems to step it up in big situations. This is going to be a good game. That said I put them below our previous two SB opponents.

 

[mosslost]

Discuss....

ask nicer

 

[mosslost]

i think the seahawks were the scarriest team that we had faced going into the game.

they had the experience(won the SB the year before), the skill(LOB, Russell Wilson, Lynch) and the coaching.

The falcons were young and inexperienced in big game situations, i think the eagles are similar. Young group, fast, but high probability they flame out in the 2nd half.

not sure why.. but I thought the Pats were going to blow out both the Seahawks and Falcons going into those games (at least it would be obvious we were going to win.) At both 7-0 and 14-7 in 49 I still felt that way.

This one against the Eagles has me thinking close game but hopefully I will be wrong and Pats roll 35-14.

 

[Redman443]

01 rams, 03 panthers, 04 eagles, 14 seahawks, 16 falcons all showed up to play. none of those games were a blowout. that's why i have no reason to believe this game will be a blowout. The eagles are bigger on defense than the falcons were but not as fast. Foles is killing opponents in the playoffs with RPO's. Defense needs to be ready for that. Foles has completed a ridiculous 91% of his passes on RPO's. Bortles gave us fits with the RPO 2 weeks ago

 

[dannydyn]

ask nicer

and yet to bothered to 'chime in' without me asking nicer....

 

[dannydyn]

01 rams, 03 panthers, 04 eagles, 14 seahawks, 16 falcons all showed up to play. none of those games were a blowout. that's why i have no reason to believe this game will be a blowout. The eagles are bigger on defense than the falcons were but not as fast. Foles is killing opponents in the playoffs with RPO's. Defense needs to be ready for that. Foles has completed a ridiculous 91% of his passes on RPO's. Bortles gave us fits with the RPO 2 weeks ago

Bortles relies more on play-action pass than RPO, but nevertheless.... those types of gimmick calls never bode well for our defense.

 

[luuked]

Nothing of what came before has any relevance at all for the game on Sunday.

 

[Redman443]

Nothing of what came before has any relevance at all for the game on Sunday.

True but for some reason, for the past few super bowls dating back to SB 42, our offensive line has not played its best game. Im not sure if that's simply because its been against good D lines or what.

 

[luuked]

True but for some reason, for the past few super bowls dating back to SB 42, our offensive line has not played its best game. Im not sure if that's simply because its been against good D lines or what.

I honestly dont have much to complain about the OL in the past 2 SBs. Did they win all 1v1s ? Nope. Did they hold up when it counted the most ? Absolutely..

 

[Uptown]

Honestly, I respect the Eagles but I do feel that they are being overrated in order to “even the playing field” so to speak in regards to the Patriots. If Brady has 2-3 seconds, he will pick ANY defense apart. The Eagles’ defense is based around their DL, NOT their LB & Secondary. They can/will be had. Remember, the media always needs a narrative in order to develop storylines. We’re about to do something special AGAIN!!! (But what else is new? ) This is the second time that we can achieve 3SBs within a 4 year span. That’s a HUUUGE deal. I don’t think we miss out on that chance.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I think the one thing that concerns me the most about this Eagles team is their RPO stuff.... I'm concerned our D will get dazzled too much.

We can’t get into a speed matchup with them. We just don’t have quickness on D.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Honestly, I respect the Eagles but I do feel that they are being overrated in order to “even the playing field” so to speak in regards to the Patriots. If Brady has 2-3 seconds, he will pick ANY defense apart. The Eagles’ defense is based around their DL, NOT their LB & Secondary. They can/will be had. Remember, the media always needs a narrative in order to develop storylines. We’re about to do something special AGAIN!!! (But what else is new? ) This is the second time that we can achieve 3SBs within a 4 year span. That’s a HUUUGE deal. I don’t think we miss out on that chance.

All week long it’s been eagles D this, eagles D that. NO ONE is talking about our defense or our offensive line.