MMQB Review: The Not-Super Bowl Edition

Peter King bemoaned the fact the Super Bowl is associated with New York when the actual Super Bowl is taking place in New Jersey last week in MMQB. Now he knows how the rest of the United States feels when Peter hits us all with a little bit of his East Coast Bias, as he tends to do from time to time. Peter also told us that Broncos fans should be thanking Josh McDaniels, while not giving enough credit to Brian Xanders for the draft picks he made in conjunction with McDaniels. This week Peter talks about the worst Super Bowl since the Buccaneers blew out the Raiders a decade ago, talks about the Pro Football Hall of Fame vote, reveals he hasn't ever watched John Fox coach before, and brags about how much his lunch costs. 

An hour after the lopsided Super Bowl conquest no one east of Yakima saw coming, Pete Carroll was bounding across the MetLife Stadium turf, holding wife Glena’s hand, surrounded by four or five cameras and as many security people, going from one on-field interview to the next. I was in this you’d-better-get-out-of-the-way-or-you’ll-get-flattened pack, asking Carroll about his team and the beatdown.

But something stuck in my mind, and I had to ask this first.

"How precocious is Russell Wilson, coach?!"

Carroll’s Seahawks practice to the constant and very loud drone of music, hip-hop and rap mostly. Early in the week, Carroll will sneak in a James Brown or Earth, Wind and Fire tune from his youth, or maybe Michael Jackson. But by Friday, it was mostly unrecognizable to this 56-year-old Springsteen and U2 fan. Luckily, I had Shazam, that app that allows you to hold up your phone when a song is playing,

I can see Peter King smiling into the camera as he writes this, hoping they will send him some free shit he can pretend like he didn't really want nor expected to receive. I'm not sure how an app can send Peter King free stuff, but it won't stop him from trying.

Among what was played, I’m guessing at about 90 decibels, for the entirety of Friday’s practice: “Fast Lane,” by Bad Meets Evil, “More Bounce to the Ounce,” by Zapp, “We Own It,” by 2 Chainz, “Last of a Dying Breed,” by Ludacris, “We Ready,” by Archie Eversole, “Ambitionz Az a Ridah,” by Tupac, and “Hold Me Back,” by Rick Ross.

Pete Carroll can't deny it, he's a straight rider. 

For those who think music is counter-productive, that you need to have teaching moments at a football practice without having to shout over music, and that players switching jerseys for no good reason (Marshawn Lynch was swimming in tackle Breno Giacomini’s jersey Friday) is a distraction, I have one score to point out:
Seattle 43, Denver 8.

That's a great point, Peter. Maybe next year all NFL teams will listen to music and switch jerseys prior to a game and then every NFL team can win the Super Bowl next year. It's obviously the magic formula.

After that Super Bowl rout Sunday night, one of the Seahawks’ most respected players, fullback Michael Robinson, thought he had it figured out.

“Football is a game,” Robinson said in the bowels of Met Life Stadium.

Brilliant insight. And who said Joe Paterno's legacy is only that of an old man who covered up for a pedophile? He taught Michael Robinson such valuable insights like "football is a game."

What do you see when you see a team, running around practicing to music all week? They’re loose. They’re full of energy. And that’s what we are. I know it works for us.”

The analysis of this Super Bowl will center, rightfully, on a voracious defense . This was without a doubt one of the best defensive performances in Super Bowl history.

But what about the dancing and the precociousness of Seahawks players listening to rap music? This story can not be overlooked either.

In my 30 seasons covering the NFL, I can remember only three defensive performances that compare: the 1985 Bears’ stifling 46-10 rout of the Patriots, Baltimore’s 34-7 beat down of the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV and the Giants shocking New England—at that point the highest-scoring team in any single season—17-14 in Super Bowl XLII.

You know, if the Steelers had just not gotten screwed over by those officials who didn't allow the Chiefs another field goal attempt during Week 17 then Peter thinks we'd be talking about Ben Roethlisberger's legacy and the Browns would immediately fire Mike Pettine to hire Todd Haley. Alas, it wasn't to be.

Clearly, Denver offensive coordinator Adam Gase should have called some double moves, or more deep stuff to try to clear out the middle of the field.

That's flattering to call Adam Gase the Broncos offensive coordinator. It's been a bad couple of days for him, I think we should let him keep up the charade for a few more weeks. Yes, Adam Gase should have called different plays or at least handed better plays to Peyton Manning so he could choose which one he wanted to run.

But one of the reasons it would have been difficult for Manning to do anything deep consistently was because he couldn’t breathe.

What's funny is getting to the quarterback and protecting the quarterback are proven time and time again to be the best way to score points and to stop the other team from scoring points. Yet, I still feel like this knowledge doesn't get the respect it deserves. Want to stop Peyton Manning? Rush him well with four guys. It's how a Panthers team with a horrendous secondary won 12 games. It's how the Giants beat the Patriots twice in the Super Bowl and it's how the Seahawks stopped the highest scoring offense in NFL history. It's not easy to find quality pass rushers, but the Seahawks are proof a team can never have enough quality pass rushers.

But there were so many unstoppable rushers for Seattle, but none more than Cliff Avril, the former Lion. He had just a so-so first season with the Seahawks, but he made an amateur out of Denver right tackle Orlando Franklin. He had three big plays in the first half, including two heavy pressures on Manning that aided both interceptions. I was one of the 16 voters for the MVP last night. I voted for Avril.

This guy Avril lasted until March 29 in free agency, getting a one year deal, after having 20.5 sacks over the prior two seasons. I don't know how much he wanted, but he earned himself a longer and more lucrative contract now.

Scary thought for the rest of the NFL. A young quarterback who is afraid of nothing and a young defense that just played a game like the ’85 Bears. Indeed, Seattle is not done.

Cue the "Is this the beginning of a dynasty" articles, because the Seahawks certainly aren't going to have to pay any of these great young players over the next few seasons and there isn't a salary cap in the NFL. Parity rules and a dynasties don't always exist and when they do I'm not sure the media is capable of recognizing them. The Patriots are a modern dynasty and they aren't always treated as such.

Smith’s ascent from 2011 seventh-round draft pick to Super Bowl MVP is remarkable.

Gregg Easterbrook is going to have a field day with a 7th round pick being named Super Bowl MVP, all while ignoring Smith went to a football factory school, the same kind of school Gregg routinely talks negatively about.

Doctors diagnosed Malcolm, then a junior at Southern California, with an extremely rare esophagus disorder called achalasia, which affects just one in 100,000 people. He underwent surgery in 2010, and afterward weighed just 200 pounds (he’s listed at 226 now). It’s one of the reasons he wasn’t invited to the combine, and why he fell to the 242nd pick in 2011.

On Sunday Malcolm returned a second-quarter interception 69 yards for a touchdown and became the first defensive player to win the Super Bowl MVP in 11 years. “MVP? Of the Super Bowl?” Malcolm said. “I was sure they were kidding me. I said, ‘I want someone official to tell me I am the Super Bowl MVP.”
Just read the papers this morning. You’re all over them.

Come on Peter, you know you want to call this precocious. Just do it, so I can mock you for it.

A bitter disappointment for Peyton Manning, obviously. And when Manning looks back on the tape from this game, he’ll be sick. The unforced errors, starting with the first snap of the game. The mistakes he made in identifying the open receivers. The forced throws. 

Manning had a choice: forcing the ball to Julius Thomas—bracketed by safeties Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas, or throwing to an open Wes Welker at the 15. That would have been a first down. But he tried Thomas, and it wasn’t close. Incomplete. Meanwhile, Welker, who rarely shows emotion after a pass, threw his arms in the air.

Gisele says Welker would have probably dropped the pass anyway. 

Four plays later, on 4th-and-2, Manning bypassed a more open Julius Thomas, in first-down territory, to try to hit Demaryius Thomas. Ball was tipped. Incomplete. There are many times you watched a big moment Sunday night, and every time, seemingly, was to Seattle’s advantage. Manning just looked uneasy.

This is what getting early pressure on a quarterback does. It puts footsteps in his ear and he starts to make decisions quicker with the concern he could get hit at any point. If this were any quarterback other than maybe one or two others then I think Peter would start questioning that quarterback's ability to read defenses and make decisions. God knows Peter would lay into Philip Rivers if he made the type of decisions that Manning made and turn it into something more than just a bad game and make the Super Bowl a referendum on that quarterback's overall skill.

“To finish this way is very disappointing,” Manning said. “It’s not an easy pill to swallow, but eventually we have to. I don’t know if you ever really get over it.” Only once in the seven-minute session did Manning betray any emotion beyond grim resignation. He was asked whether this was an embarrassing loss, and you could see the blood begin to boil. “It’s not embarrassing at all,” he said. “I would never use that word. There’s a lot of professional football players in that locker room, who put a lot of hard work and effort into being here and into playing in that game. The word ‘embarrassing’ is an insulting word to me, in truth.”

But the fact those professional players put in all that hard work and effort only to get beaten by 30+ points in the biggest game of the year made it embarrassing. It's not insulting, but a mere statement of the truth. I was embarrassed for the Broncos and it was an embarrassing way to end the year. It's not an insult, it's the truth.

Weirdest moment of the night: A 9/11 “truther,” Matthew Mills, 30, of Brooklyn, walked up to the side of the podium where Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith had just begun to live his moment in the sun.

I don't think this was the weirdest moment of the night any more than it was the most dangerous moment of the night. The guy got to walk right up to the podium and stand beside Smith. It's not a far leap to think someone with bad intentions could have injured Smith in some way.

Mills’ stunt happened so fast it fit on a six-second Vine video, as you can see. Truthers are people who believe a massive cover-up is at play and hides what really happened in Lower Manhattan that caused nearly 3,000 people to die in the collapse of the World Trade Center.

Thanks for the update on what "Truthers" are, but I'm more concerned about the security situation that allowed him to walk up to the microphone.

Ten things you need to know about the Hall of Fame vote.

There are really only two or three things I need to know about the Hall of Fame vote, but since the Pro Football Hall of Fame does all the voting in a quiet, secure room and don't allow anyone to know which writer voted for which player I probably would have 10 things I need to know. 

1. Finally, I supported Ray Guy. Big upset. It even surprised me a little bit.

"My own thoughts shocked me! What a strange turn of events that my opinion surprised me!"

4. So, so happy for Aeneas Williams. I always loved the way Mike Martz—who is all offense, all the time—just worshiped the guy and thought he was a huge difference maker on defense for the great Rams teams early this century. Watching Williams, he wasn’t the shutdown corner Deion Sanders was. But he was close—

Peter buries the real reason he voted for Aeneas Williams. I'm sure Peter isn't aware of why his opinion is what it is, so his real reason for voting for Williams may surprise him too.

He intercepted Brett Favre twice in the 2001 playoffs, taking both in for touchdowns. I love the fact the committee found an excellent player who played mostly for a losing Arizona team, and rewarded him.

You intercept Brett Favre twice in the playoffs and you are getting a Hall of Fame vote from Peter King. It's that simple.

5. I think Jerome Bettis, 3.9 yards per carry and all, belongs. I believe he’s the best big back of the last 25 years. I saw him outrun Bucs defensive backs once on a long run in Tampa; I saw him steamroll an in-his-prime Brian Urlacher—and I mean steamroll—in a snow bowl must-win game for the Steelers late in the Bus’ career, when he gained 100 yards in the second half against the league’s number two rush defense. He made the final 10 this year, and I hope he goes farther next year.

Well at least Peter isn't using anecdotal evidence to support the Hall of Fame candidacy of Jerome Bettis. One time I saw Craig Heyward hit a guy really hard and the guy's head fell off and so he should definitely be in the Hall of Fame too. That's how he got the nickname "Iron Head." I have to think if Bettis didn't play for the Steelers and WIN A SUPER BOWL IN HIS HOMETOWN then he wouldn't have even made the final 10. Just my opinion.

6. Now for the case of Charles Haley. I strongly believe in him, because I think he’s the most violent pass-rusher I have covered. By that I mean he had some of the Deacon Jones viciousness to him, a fearsome combination of moves, and he has the five Super Bowl rings, which is significant, of course.

So basically Charles Haley will get Peter King's vote because he sacked the quarterback with flair and authority. Just don't be a quiet pass rusher and Peter will vote for you to enter the Hall of Fame.

I have always felt what hurts his candidacy is as good a rusher as he was, he only averaged 8.4 sacks per regular-season. I believe he tilted the field when he played, and sometimes it didn’t result in sacks for him; it resulted in sacks for others, like Jim Jeffcoat when Haley was in Dallas.

So I guess, what, Jerome Bettis helped other running backs gain yardage on the ground and that's why his career yards per carry average is so low?

9. We met for 8 hours, 59 minutes. That’s an hour or so longer than usual. Longest debates were on Dungy (47 minutes), Guy (44), Humphrey (40), Williams (32) and Strahan (30). I liked the debate. Spirited and passionate. I don’t think the limited time the cameras were in the room limited or bothered anyone.

I think it's safe to say which way Peter voted in regard to Tony Dungy. He's gotta help his friends like Bettis and Dungy out. I will know Peter is up to some shenanigans when Rodney Harrison gets Peter's Hall of Fame vote.

It’s the day after the Super Bowl and all, and I understand everyone’s in a football frame of mind. But the death of 46-year-old Philip Seymour Hoffman deserves your attention. He was found in his Manhattan apartment Sunday morning, expired from a suspected drug overdose.

I mean...I liked Philip Seymour Hoffman's acting and all. He pretended to be someone else very well and it's sad he died from a drug overdose. I feel sympathy for his family. While I get that America is a celebrity-adoring culture, Hoffman killed himself by using drugs which happens everyday to people in much worse social and personal situations than Hoffman was in. I feel sympathy, but I find it hard to find him different from other people who have died from drug overdoses who aren't famous. Not trying to be callous and it's fair to eulogize him by celebrating his career, but he killed himself with drugs. That's the bottom line. I just don't think because he's famous I should treat his death like a grander tragedy than a non-celebrity. Perhaps this makes me evil and mean.

I think he was the greatest American actor we had today.

Let's pump the brakes a little bit. And also, with all of Peter's talk about how great Meryl Streep is and Peter's occasional thought about great actors at the end of MMQB, why didn't he talk about how he thinks Hoffman is the greatest American actor we had today BEFORE Hoffman died? Where was this statement then? I'm just asking, because it seems like a little after-death hyperbole that happens from time-to-time.

His three kids will miss their father. Just a sin what drug abuse is doing to so many people in this country.

It's just a sin that a celebrity has to die for our star-fucking culture to give a shit about drug abuse for a day or so and then totally forget about it again. I think it's sad it takes the death of a celebrity to bring addiction into focus until it's forgotten again, but Hoffman was an actor and had the ability and financial tools to clean up and didn't do it. I wish more focus would be on those who don't have the ability and financial tools to clean up. These same people aren't found in a penthouse with 50 heroin bags stored for future drug use, but are found in dilapidated houses after having stolen money or items from their family to sell for drugs and even put their children in harm's way. So yes, drug abuse is terrible, but Hoffman is a bad example of what drug addiction does to so many people in this country.

My five favorite Hoffman films follow. Keep in mind I haven’t seen all of his movies (Along Came Polly is one I must see):

But he sharted...

Fine Fifteen

Oh, it's back.

4. New England (13-5). This is not just because I shared a podium with him Saturday night in Manhattan, but the Patriots need to sign free-agent wide receiver Julian Edelman.

Yes, it is completely because Peter shared a podium with Julian Edelman. The Patriots should re-sign him if his asking price is where it should be, but otherwise it's impossible to say the Patriots "need" to sign Edelman without knowing what his market price may be.

7. New Orleans (12-6). My guess is the Saints franchise Jimmy Graham. I don’t see how they reach a deal if he keeps his demand in the stratosphere, and I’d have serious questions about him as a stratospheric player after the no-show he put on this postseason, even despite the plantar fascia.

This is ridiculous. The same Seahawks defense that shut down Peyton Manning and the Broncos offense shut down Jimmy Graham, but for some reason Peter has questions about Graham as a franchise player? Does Peter have questions about Eric Decker being a valuable free agent or does he think Julius Thomas is a bum? Both players were essentially shut down by the Seahawks defense too. Graham has 15 catches for 208 yards and three touchdowns in the playoffs over his career if you don't count the Seahawks game this year. It's silly for Peter to question Graham because he got shut down by the best defense in the NFL.

9. Philadelphia (10-7). Ran into a lot of Eagles fans in Super Bowl week. I think they love Chip Kelly as much in year one as they loved Andy Reid in any of his 14 years.

It's called a "honeymoon period" Peter, and every coach gets one, especially after a playoff appearance. The fact Eagles fans like Chip Kelly after his first year means very, very little.

12. Arizona (10-6). High on Bruce Arians’ to-do list this offseason: Fix the running game. The Cards had one back rush for 100 yards in a game in 2013 (Andre Ellington, Week 8). Not good.

How about trying to get Andre Ellington more carries per game? Or is that too easy to do?

Carroll becomes the third coach to win an NCAA national title and a Super Bowl (Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer), and he does it on the same property where he got his first NFL shot, the Meadowlands, as a one-and-done Jets coach in 1994.

I BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT PETE CARROLL COACHED THE JETS!

Goats of the Week
 
Peyton Manning, quarterback, Denver.

Yes, Manning was inundated, and his receivers had little room to breathe all night. But he played poorly too. And at 38 on opening day next year, he will still be stuck on one Super Bowl win.

Dan Marino wishes he were stuck on one Super Bowl win. What about Brett Favre? He's only got one Super Bowl win, yet I don't feel like that's thrown in his face like Manning's single Super Bowl win is thrown in his face. Perhaps that's because Manning is considered to be a better all-time quarterback than Favre is, that's the reason I guess.

John Fox, head coach, Denver. With 10:46 left in the third quarter, and Denver trailing 29-0 at the Seattle 39-yard line facing a 4th-and-11, John Fox sent out the punt team. I realize the Broncos were not winning anything by that point, but throwing the white flag with 26 minutes left in a four-score game with Peyton Manning your quarterback? Wow. I thought that was a terrible call.

As I said on Twitter during the game, if a sportswriter is really shocked that John Fox punted in this situation then he clearly hasn't paid attention to John Fox throughout his coaching career (I probably said something more severe on Twitter actually). John Fox is famous for saying "A punt is not a bad play" and he is the one who ran the clock out rather than allow Manning to go down the field and try to score against the Ravens with less than a minute left in last year's playoffs. He's conservative to a fault.

“It’s just a big horse off my back. I was finally able to give my team something for four quarters.”

—Seattle’s Percy Harvin, who, for the first time in 15 months, finished a game he started Sunday. He contributed 137 all-purpose yards and a touchdown to the 43-8 victory. You can see his comments to the right.

And now supposedly Percy Harvin is totally worth the price the Seahawks paid to get him from the Vikings. It's obvious the skills that Harvin has, but his punt return just put the game further out of reach, and I still find it hard to reconcile how Peter harped on the Vikings giving $2 million to Josh Freeman to not play, but didn't talk at all during the season about Harvin not earning his money the Seahawks signed him for after trading for him.

MetLife Stadium and the Westin Hotel Jersey City have been very, very good to the Seattle Seahawks.

Three times in the last three seasons—before playing the Giants in 2011, before playing the Giants again in 2013, and before playing this Super Bowl—the Seahawks stayed in the relatively new hotel eight miles from MetLife Stadium. Seattle won the three games, 36-25, 23-0 and 43-8.

I'm sure it is the hotel and the stadium that helped the Seahawks win these games.

Political Bedfellows of the Week:

Mitt Romney and Dick Cheney watched the Super Bowl in Jets owner Woody Johnson’s suite.

It's like a conservative conspiracy! Barack Obama needs to call George Clooney so he can get together all of Hollywood for a benefit to defeat these terrible Republicans who gather together to watch sports!

So Saturday was our Hall of Fame voting day in Manhattan. We cast our ballots in a ballroom on the second floor of the media hotel, the Sheraton Times Square. Lunch was brought in midway through the proceedings. Specifically, box lunches for the 46 voters and Hall officials. A description of my lunch:

What goes through Peter's head when he writes stuff like this?

"Boy, I bet my readers give a shit what I have for lunch AND I bet they want to know exactly how much it cost!"

• Chicken breast on focaccia.
•  Apple.
•  Lays Classic chips (small bag).
•  Brownie.
The cost: $102, including tip.

So basically Peter paid (or someone else paid more likely) $102 for a meal you can get at Panera Bread for $8.99, plus another dollar spent on a dessert to go with your meal of course.

Again, I must ask what the point of conveying this information must have been. For Peter to tell his readers how much the meal cost? I guess some people may care. To brag about how expensive his meal was? That seems silly. To kill space and tickle Peter's fancy in believing his readers truly care about what happens to him during the week? Most likely.

Per box lunch.

Peter only makes seven figures per year. How could he ever afford this?

Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think we know now why GM John Schneider committed so many resources and so much money to deal for Percy Harvin. Harvin and the Jet Sweep. Harvin and the kickoff return. Harvin and being healthy. His speed is a revelation.

No, I do agree that Harvin's speed is game-changing, but he also has to be on the field to change the game with his speed. He's only played in 55 of his 80 possible career games and that's mostly due to being limited to 10 games over the last two seasons. I just think it's a little premature to state the Seahawks made a good deal, that's all.

2. I think the poise of Russell Wilson is something to behold. Did you see him once get tight?

His first three passes were overthrown, though one was caught by the intended receiver who made a pretty good catch.

He had two early overthrows. 

Okay...Peter just said "Did you see him once get tight?" and then says Russell Wilson had two early overthrows. So he answered his own question.

I loved his early roll to the left and throw across his body to Golden Tate, lasered to the sideline for a gain of 10 and a first down.

Wilson is very, very good at throwing across his body like that. It's surprising to see Wisconsin, who isn't known for producing great quarterbacks, push out such a great quarterback. I guess it goes to show that Russell Wilson, the quarterback who played in the Wisconsin football program just prior to being drafted and therefore that's where he's considered to have played college football, is turning into a good player.

(N.C. State fans start to yell loudly that Wilson is from their school, not Wisconsin)

5. I think the best candidates for the road team against Seattle in the NFL season-opener Sept. 4 are:

Nothing is more exciting than speculating on which game will open the upcoming season when it is early February.

6. I think the first thing I look at, when a team in a baseball city wins the Super Bowl, is the baseball schedule. Especially when stadiums are next door to each other. That wrecked the home opener for Baltimore last year. Good news, ’Hawk fans: Mariners at Rangers, 5:05 p.m. Pacific Time, on Sept. 4.

It completely wrecked the opener for the Ravens this year. That game being played on the road, as well as trading Anquan Boldin, is why the Ravens didn't repeat.

9. I think next year will be Charles Haley’s year.

He's so vicious and sacks the quarterback with such authority!

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

b. I still cannot believe the Philip Seymour Hoffman news.

It's just absolutely shocking that a person who had tried before to beat a drug addiction ended up relapsing and then OD'ing. Has this ever happened before?

c. Dying to see Gravity.

That's real fucking insensitive Peter.

"I still not believe Philip Seymour Hoffman is dead of a drug overdose, but I'm dying to see 'Gravity.' You could almost say I am jonesing for it, like a junkie needs his fix."

f. New York/New Jersey swallowed the Super Bowl. If you live on the East Side of Manhattan, as I do, there was no indication anything different was up on Sunday.

Because New York is so big! This is an observation no one else has ever made before!

g. Coffeenerdness: Gregory’s Coffee … brought a few media guys there for a quick booster during the week in Manhattan. Very good lattes.

Were you dying for another one of their lattes?

i. The MMQB doesn’t go into hibernation now just because the football season is over. We’ll be daily throughout the offseason. Only shorter, thank God.

Yes, thank God, because we all know Peter King can't control the amount of content he writes in MMQB every week. He doesn't write the weekly column nor controls how much he writes, it's all decided by someone else. Because God knows Peter HAS to include Tweets and Quotes of the Week, as well as give a travel note, a fact that interests him, a haiku and an entire page of his very own thoughts that may or may not have anything to do with football. This is all very important content that can not be shortened or removed entirely.

The Adieu Haiku
Goodbye to football.
It was a very good year.
And Seattle reigns.

Thank God Peter didn't write "And Seattle rains." Maybe in the shorter MMQB the Adieu Haiku will go away and never come back.