Interview – Marshall Faulk talks about Super Bowl XLVIII – part 2
Marshall Faulk – Hall of Famer and NFL Network analyst who will be part of NFL GameDay Morning Super Bowl Sunday beginning at 9:00 AM ET on NFL Network. This was an opportunity with SAP that came about to interview Marshall Faulk regarding Super Bowl XLVIII. Here is part 2 of the interview.
NFL Network commentator Marshall Faulk. Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
What kind of game are you expecting to see on Sunday?
"I think there’s two ways to this game. One where it’s a very close game that Peyton Manning is going to have an opportunity to bring his team back at the end. Or the Seahawks will get blown out. That’s the two ways I see this game in the fourth quarter. Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY SportsOther than that, um It’s kind of been Denver’s M.O. that when teams have run the football well against them, they’ve had trouble. And anytime you put Peyton in a situation to where you have to score while my defense isn’t playing well and I have to put points on the board, they’re sure to fall behind. They struggle on offense when he doesn’t have the option to, OK I’m going to throw this football away on third and five, punt the ball and our defense will be able to get it back. When he knows they’re not going to get it back without 7 or 3 going up, it puts pressure on them. Pressure on any quarterback really. And Seattle, they are about as arrogant as you can be as a defense. From Gus Bradley to Dan Quinn, Pete Carroll being who he is, I believe they are willing to lose with what they do best. They don’t disguise anything. They play the defense that they’re showing you. Um, I just don’t know that you can play a defense like that against Peyton. You know, it’s not like you’re playing on Kaepernick, the play that’s called in and he’s at the line of scrimmage and he’s switching from run to pass. Peyton switches the protection, to the receivers route, to the running back’s responsibility, to not just running right from left, but the kind of route their running. Um, that’s a huge advantage."
What would a Seattle blow out win prove to you?
"It would prove to me that a good defensive game plan was called. In the one Super Bowl Peyton Manning lost, Gregg Williams, Gregg and I are good friends. And when we became good friends, it just wasn’t a matter of talking football. Once I got into the TV business, he would explain to me how hard it was to be a defensive coordinator. And after him being the defensive coordinator of the Saints. Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsHim explaining to me what he had to do to beat Peyton. Um, they called first, second, and third quarters. They called three different game plans. On third down in the first quarter they were more combination coverage. Second quarter they played more zone, third quarter they played more man, and in the fourth quarter he was like he called more of everything. And that’s kind of what it took. So for it to be a blowout and to be one-sided, it would have to be a damn good game plan to call against a team. And understand that I know they have a relentless pass rush. You know they rotate about eight guys in. Um, it’s going to take an act of a miracle for it to be one-sided. I know, I wish I could say how much I know. But Adam Gase is a good friend of mine, and I know how much they’ve put into Seattle. Into this defense, how much respect they’ve given Seattle and this defense, that um it’s hard to see it going one way. In that way I should say. I hope I didn’t discourage you. (laughing)"
This concludes part – 2 with Marshall Faulk. Also, Check out the SAP Super Bowl Stats zone.
Interview – Marshall Faulk talks about Super Bowl XLVIII – part 1
Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
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