Here's Why I Was Pulling for Seattle.

[mouthofsouth]

To me, even though Seattle beat San Francisco, I account that largely to the home field and the loud fans. Actually, I believe on a neutral field, San Francisco is a better overall team than Seattle. I was more fearful of the Broncos playing SF than Seattle. The 49ers would have gone to New York a very, very hungry team, given their records the past three years. Two years ago, the Giants beat them in the NFC championship game, last year they got to the Super Bowl and Baltimore beat them. They would have been out for blood. Seattle is not as strong offensively as San Fran. They do have a good defense, but they have to go against Denver's great offense. And I also believe Denver will have more fans in the stands because I think they are going to be the nation's favorite in this game.

[DenBronx]

SF going back to the SB might not have been good for us. Last year stung against Balt and we were out to prove a point this year. I think SF was out to also prove a point. However they ran into Seattle at home. Had it been IN SF I think the 49ers could have beat them.

[pulse]

I agree with you on the intangibles you described about the 49ers. I also agree that, overall, they probably had the better offense than the Seahawks. However, you shouldn't call Seattle's defense a good defense; rather, you should call them a great defense. I don't know if they have the best secondary in NFL history, but it's certainly among the top two or three in modern times. Their front eight (and really, it is a front eight as they are all in constant rotation) is also very stout. This is going to be a challenge for Denver's offense, no doubt; however, I think Denver has an advantage. Even against the top defense in the NFL, Denver will score a lot of points. And with Denver's run defense playing so well up front, they have the ability to get Seattle off the field. If Denver can get a good lead, I don't know if Seattle will be able to overcome it. That said, Denver will have to continue playing their best football of the season to win. That means NO TURNOVERS and scoring TOUCHDOWNS, not fieldgoals.

[Joel]

Good points; I'd forgotten about their NFCCG loss two years ago, and was only thinking about their SB loss last year: The '9ers were even hungrier than I feared. Their receivers are much better than Seattles, too (Richard Shermans arrogant insulting comments to the contrary notwithstanding.) They're a lot more likely to wilt under the pressure of playing on live TV in front of billions of people all over the planet; SF wouldn't wilt under that pressure, because they faced it last year (and weathered it pretty well after a rocky start; the power outage gave them time to regroup and avoid an embarrassment.)

I'm not sure SFs offense is stronger overall, because Lynch>Gore, but stopping the run is our only consistent defensive strength, so I'd rather play a team with a better back and lesser receivers than one with a lesser back and better receivers. I'm confident in Champ and DRC on Baldwin and Tate (or Harvin if he's back, though I'm less confident on... Carter? vs. Tate/Baldwin.) I would NOT want to try to cover Crabtree, Boldin AND Davis while still making sure we contained Gore and Kaepernick.

What makes this game fascinating to contemplate is that just about everywhere one of us is strong/weak the other's equally so on the complementary side.

I don't think the Seattles fanbase travels well, because the Seahawks were total garbage EVERY SEASON OF THEIR EXISTENCE until last year. That's reduced the bulk of their very vocal fanbase to vain bandwagoners no one outside Seattle can stand; unless Paul Allen drops a bunch of M$ Money© and distributes 20,000 tickets in downtown Seattle, the Orange Crush and Mannings large long-standing fanbase should be well represented in NYC.

That said: We should dispense with the fallacy Seattle turns into cream puffs on the road. Seattle's 6-2 on the road, including wins against very good Carolina and Arizona teams. Their only road losses were against the SF team that led them most of the NFCCG in Seattle (and probably should've won; remember, this is the team we DIDN'T want to play) and a Colts team that needed 4 turnovers (including a blocked FG returned for a TD) to win by just 6 pts. Seattle's tough EVERYWHERE: They're just TOUGHER at home.

That said, they haven't been tougher the last two weeks; their offense has been pretty flat, while our D has really stepped up for the playoffs; the combination encourages me.

[Joel]

I agree with you on the intangibles you described about the 49ers. I also agree that, overall, they probably had the better offense than the Seahawks. However, you shouldn't call Seattle's defense a good defense; rather, you should call them a great defense. I don't know if they have the best secondary in NFL history, but it's certainly among the top two or three in modern times. Their front eight (and really, it is a front eight as they are all in constant rotation) is also very stout. This is going to be a challenge for Denver's offense, no doubt; however, I think Denver has an advantage. Even against the top defense in the NFL, Denver will score a lot of points. And with Denver's run defense playing so well up front, they have the ability to get Seattle off the field. If Denver can get a good lead, I don't know if Seattle will be able to overcome it. That said, Denver will have to continue playing their best football of the season to win. That means NO TURNOVERS and scoring TOUCHDOWNS, not fieldgoals.
Thought about some of that, too. The weather could be a factor; an ESPN article on the early spread said Vegas initially had Seattle slightly favored because cold favors defense and running. However, if either team jumps out to a large lead early, we're built to come back; Seattle isn't.

In terms of scoring TDs rather than FGs, I wholeheartedly agree, and was a bit concerned about that against NE. However, as bad as their D is GENERALLY, NE was #10 in PA this year; they gave up lots of yards, but far fewer points, so I don't feel as bad about settling for FGs. The big thing there is it still seems like our offense is more about big PLAYS than big DRIVES: We unleash bombs that either go incomplete and result in three-and-outs, or get us into the red zone only to peter out quickly when we can't follow up and punch it in for 6.

Our last score today was a good example: Yes, the huge pass play to get us in FG range was awesome—but it was ONE PLAY, and we did NOTHING afterward except run three desultory plays, kick a FG and give them ball back just TWO MINUTES after we got it. Fortunately, our D had shut them down all day and we'd finished a couple other TD drives well, so we got to sit back, play Prevent and wait for the last grains to trickle to the bottom of the hourglass. In a close game though, it could've hurt us badly; NE raced down for a quick TD and onside kick on their next drive.

Our offense has won games, but our defense is on the verge of winning a championship; they've really come together well in the postseason. Just 3 pts allowed in the first 3 full quarters of BOTH games; yeah, they gave up a couple 4th quarter TDs both times, but that was by playing Prevent with 3-score leads (though we DO go into Prevent too early for a team SO bad at it.)

[Canmore]

Seattle's tough EVERYWHERE: They're just TOUGHER at home.

That said, they haven't been tougher the last two weeks; their offense has been pretty flat, while our D has really stepped up for the playoffs; the combination encourages me.

Agreed. Seattle vs Denver. Best of the NFC vs the best of the AFC. Our defense has stepped up, no question about it. Only 320 yards to New England. If our defense puts on another exhibition like our two previous playoff games we will be Super Bowl Champions.

[Joel]

Agreed. Seattle vs Denver. Best of the NFC vs the best of the AFC. Our defense has stepped up, no question about it. Only 320 yards to New England. If our defense puts on another exhibition like our two previous playoff games we will be Super Bowl Champions.
Yup; as impressed by our D in the playoffs as I am surprised. It kinda reminds me of Mannings '06 Colts D: Garbage in the regular season; lethal in the playoffs.

Our prescription's really the same as the last two games:

Offense

1) Protect Manning,
2) Avoid turnovers,
3) Run at least well enough to keep the pass rush honest, ideally enough to draw extra defenders to the box so the coverage is thinner

Defense
1) Stop the run,
2) Pressure without blitzing,
3) Cover their slot WRs, TEs and RBs as well as Champ and DRC cover their primaries

The main difference is that the opposing RB is better and the opposing D MUCH better (especially in the seconary and pass rush,) but the opposing QB much worse. That, and the stakes. ;)

[Canmore]

Yup; as impressed by our D in the playoffs as I am surprised. It kinda reminds me of Mannings '06 Colts D: Garbage in the regular season; lethal in the playoffs.

Our prescription's really the same as the last two games:

Offense

1) Protect Manning,
2) Avoid turnovers,
3) Run at least well enough to keep the pass rush honest, ideally enough to draw extra defenders to the box so the coverage is thinner

Defense
1) Stop the run,
2) Pressure without blitzing,
3) Cover their slot WRs, TEs and RBs as well as Champ and DRC cover their primaries

The main difference is that the opposing RB is better and the opposing D MUCH better (especially in the seconary and pass rush,) but the opposing QB much worse. That, and the stakes. ;)

True enough. Lynch is a true beast. The Legion of Boom is just that. Russell Wilson I view as a wildcard. Still if we follow your outline we will win.

[OrangeHoof]

My favorite hangout has a pretty bartender (one of a few) who was wearing her Seahawks jersey. Before the Denver game, she agreed to root for the Broncos if I rooted for the Seahawks. I got a post-game kiss out of it so no regrets there.

Other than that, I didn't care but it did dawn on me that very few of these Seahawks have Super Bowl experience while SF went the year before. A lot of teams, particularly young ones, don't handle well the pressure and the media circus that is the Super Bowl, particularly the first NYC Super Bowl. Guys like Manning and Welker have been there before. So has Fox. We have some veterans who won't be phased by all the distractions.

[Joel]

Here's why everyone will be pulling for us: https://twitter.com/DanODradio/status/425102647662612480/photo/1