What would it take for the Seattle Seahawks to make the 2020 Super Bowl?

To answer this question I looked at two teams which made the Super Bowl and employed a similar offense to Brian Schottenheimer. I will look at similar defenses next week.The HogsJoe Gibbs worked as offensive coordinator for Don Coryell but like Brian Schottenheimer retained some of Coryell’s ideas without retaining Coryell’s pass-centric approach. Washington won three Super Bowls in four appearances. The Skins ran more frequently than they passed in every one of those seasons Earl Thomas Color Rush Jersey , combining a grind-it-out approach to rushing with a deep passing attack.Ted Marchibroda described Gibbs’ offense like this: “Joe did a great job focusing on the running game. He gave the ball to Riggins and let the Hogs do the dirty work. Then he’d set you up that way and get a big play on you through the air. It wasn’t anything fancy. They just played mistake-free football. They’d set you up with play action and crossing receivers. He’d give his quarterback maximum protection, and he always seemed to know when the offense was ready to hit one of those big plays downfield.”This could double as the most favorable possible review of Schotty’s Seahawks offense.How Seattle Could Emulate Gibbs’ SkinsThe Hogs, Washington’s famed offensive line, were not populated by high draft picks. Russ Grimm was the highest drafted among Washington’s first iteration, having been drafted 69th overall. Three members had been cut by another team prior to signing with Washington, two members were undrafted, one member was drafted in the seventh round, and one in the 11th. Instead they were defined by a mentality of toughness, and since that’s a bit airy, we might say they were defined by great coaching and the ability to attack through running the ball.Washington had a great offensive line coach throughout Gibbs’ tenure, Joe Bugel. Rather than throwing resources at the offensive line, for Seattle to duplicate the success of any one of Gibbs’ four Super Bowl contenders would likely require better coaching by Mike Solari. Solari is a very successful offensive line coach, but two things really differentiated Solari’s 2018 Seahawks from any of Bugel’s Washington teams: positional fit and penalties.In all four seasons in which Washington made the Super Bowl, Gibbs’ Skins never finished outside the top ten in fewest penalties charged against his team. Seattle improved in 2018. Previously the most penalized team in the NFL, the Seahawks finished 15th in 2018. Another such leap would allow Seattle to better play so-called “mistake free football,” completing their already impressive abilities to control the clock and field position, and avoid turnovers. Achieving that goal might require Seattle to move or replace Germain Ifedi. 63 of Seattle’s 115 penalties were charged against the offense, which was tied for fourth worst in the NFL. Ifedi (10), D.J. Fluker (9) and J.R. Sweezy (8) accounted for 27 of those penalties. Ifedi was assigned seven sacks allowed to Sweezy’s 3.5 and Fluker’s 0.5. That was a career worst for Ifedi, and pretty damning in light of how much Seattle worked to protect him.Ernie Zampese’s 1995 CowboysZampese is another coach who patterned his offense around the Air Coryell that coached in the Super Bowl, winning in 1995. He also served under Carroll in New England during Pete Carroll’s two seasons coaching the Patriots. Zampese took over something of a ready-made offense in Dallas, but that doesn’t stop us from looking at the nature of that offense and how it might provide a sort of blueprint for Seattle.The Cowboys regularly fielded one of the greatest offensive lines in NFL history throughout their run. Line play is often a sort of chicken or egg affair, in which successful offenses tend to be known for their good offensive lines, but whether those lines are the cause of that greatness, or whether the line is simply recognized when the offense is on the whole playing well, is often impossible to know. But, either way, Zampese’s Cowboys like Bugel’s Skins were known for their excellence in the trenches, that excellence was perhaps best appreciated through a seemingly unstoppable rushing attack, and those lines were not made up of high draft picks or splashy free agent signings but a mix of mid-round picks and castoffs.How Seattle Could Emulate Zampese’s Cowboys The Cowboys also had excellent talent at the skill positions, and the Seahawks really have no in-house equivalent to Michael Irvin, Jay Novacek or Daryl Johnston. Johnston was a fullback and it doesn’t seem likely Seattle is looking to add or develop a top fullback, as Tre Madden only played in 8% of offensive snaps in 2018. Instead the Seahawks are likely to target a smaller move tight end like Schottenheimer had in New York and St. Louis. Someone like Lance Kendricks or Dustin Keller, or J.R. Sweezy Color Rush Jersey , prospectively, Geoff Swaim or Tyler Kroft in free agency, or Ricky Seals-Jones should Arizona not retain him, or one of a host of interesting prospects in the draft could fill the position.Given the success of Tyler Lockett and the previous excellence of Doug Baldwin, finding a true number one like Irving may not be entirely necessary, but finding a tight end who is a major contributor as a receiver is almost imperative. Nick Vannett seems capped out as a yeoman do-everything tight end that will never be a major contributor as a receiver. Ed Dickson never really found his fit, and though he has or had the athletic profile to stretch the seam, turning 32 before the season starts, one shouldn’t expect him to contribute beyond his previous level. Will Dissly could possibly rise up to become a Novacek like player, but that’s probably wishcasting based on too little data. Dissly was not much of a receiver in college, receiving for nearly a quarter of his college receiving yards in one game against the Montana Grizzlies, an FCS team. He had that one really fun 66 yard reception in Week 1, but that reception represents nearly half of his total yards receiving, and by Weeks 2 and 3, Dissly was back to contributing at a level typical of a blocking tight end.Thinking abstractly, Seattle could achieve a similar kind of skill position excellence not by directly imitating Zampese’s Cowboys but by adding a receiving tight end. The winner among Vannett, Dickson and Dissly would then be Seattle’s Johnston, only a tight end. Which is to say: run blocker, pass blocker in max protect, and least importantly, receiver. Conclusions The Greatest Show on Turf Rams ran a version of the Air Coryell but one which bears little resemblance to the scheme of Schottenheimer. The Super Bowl winning Baltimore Ravens ran an Air Coryell in 2012, and Schottenheimer worked under Cam Cameron, the designer of that offense, with the Chargers in the mid-2000s. But Cameron was fired mid-season. His replacement, Jim Caldwell, also ran a version of the Air Coryell, but like Mike Martz in St. Louis, Caldwell’s scheme was much more pass-centric, much more of a direct offshoot of Don Coryell’s work, and not very similar to anything Schottenheimer is ever likely to run in Seattle. The same could be said about Bruce Arians and his work for the Steelers in 2008. Similar origins but very different interpretation and not very instructive for decoding how the Seahawks’ offense might be able to make the jump from good to great.The Seahawks have some holes. Despite their excellence, Baldwin and Lockett are a shaky foundation for a reliable receiving corps. Finding a tight end who is neither Jimmy Graham nor Nick Vannett, but some combination of the better parts of both, is very possible and would represent a sizable improvement at a potentially vital position. But most likely the Seahawks make the Super Bowl in 2020 because of the quiet process of development. Those many months of study and practice which make serviceable players good and good player great. Which is to say, the Super Bowl bound Seahawks of 2020 would be the one and done Seahawks of 2019 Quinton Jefferson Color Rush Jersey , only better. Not saved by some rookie or free agent acquisition, but made through a tireless commitment to improving. RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Once Pete Carroll was finished answering for the shortcomings of a disappointing playoff loss, the oldest coach in the NFL started articulating why he's so excited about what the future holds for the Seattle Seahawks.After listening to his enthusiasm it's no wonder Carroll signed a contract extension to stick around Seattle a few more years to see if this group of Seahawks can develop into another championship team."That connection they have to what we are asking them to do, and the willingness to practice that on a regular basis, to bring their attitude and bring their energy all the time, that's rare. It's special," Carroll said on Monday. "And that's what gives me the thought; I can go back a few years, I said the same thing four, five, six years ago, whatever it was now, you know? You can tell that the nucleus and the core of the team that you need to have a championship club is here."Carroll's feeling about the direction of the Seahawks after an unexpected 10-6 regular season and opening-round playoff loss to Dallas mirrors that of many of his veterans who believe Seattle is on a similar track to its 2012 team that unexpectedly made the playoffs with a mix of young talent and important veterans, and a year later won a Super Bowl.No one is going as far as to expect Seattle is going to be playing for a championship a year from now, but the Seahawks overhaul last offseason ended up being a quicker rebuild than most expected and has them in a place with fewer question marks headed into 2019.Instead of continuing a rebuild, the Seahawks could be more supplementing with the belief they are a contender."We're pleased with the progress that we've made with the guys we have, so we know we're adding to. We don't feel like there's big voids and big holes, so we're going to add," Carroll said."To make this roster more competitive across the board is really the intent and make guys have to work harder to hold their spots and have to get better to do that. That's right at the heart of what we're all about, so we're really looking forward to that."In the short term there was still disappointment about last Saturday's 24-22 loss to Dallas that ended Seattle's season.Much of the frustration about Seattle's loss centered on the offense and a game plan that seemed conservative and slow to adjust.Carroll tried to deflect criticism being thrown at offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, pointing out the success the offense had during the season both developing the top running offense in the NFL and having one of the best scoring teams in franchise history.Seattle was held to just 73 yards rushing by the Cowboys and was 2 of 13 on third-down conversions."For somebody to look at this game and (say) somebody didn't do this or didn't do that, and try to hold that against them or whatever, is really unfair. Hold it against me, I'm the guy that's in charge of this thing," Carroll said."There's nowhere to look at an individual guy, it's a team thing. But I'm on top of it and I'm the one to be pointed at. We couldn't have been more committed to being an aggressive football team than we were this year."Carroll did note that perhaps they were asking too much for starting offensive guards J.R. Sweezy and D.J. Fluker to play against a top defensive line after missing time with injuries. Fluker had not played in three of the final four regular-season games because of a hamstring injury, and Sweezy played against the Cowboys with a chipped bone in his foot."They hadn't been able to practice full speed for some time. (Fluker) had some plays a couple weeks ago, but no preparation for that and no preparation (last) week to speak of," Carroll said. "They were very limited in the prep. That's why I felt like it was a lot to ask of them but we went for it, and that's the way we decided to do it."Eventually Carroll is hoping the playoff disappointment against Dallas is the same kind of catalyst as the playoff loss to Atlanta in January 2013. That Seahawks team felt they let a chance slip away and it became a driving motivation in their championship run a year later."It was a blast," Carroll said of the season. "I love that game (vs. Dallas). I know it was ugly and hard at times and all that, but I loved that we were in it fighting and clawing and scratching up and down the sidelines seeing guys find their belief and again rediscover that belief and why we should keep believing."Sure enough, Russell hits Tyler (Lockett) and here we go. We're coming back. It's an exciting part of it. This season was just kind of the tip of it with so much more. There's so much more out there."