Richard Sherman Podcast - Richard Sherman SETTLES DEBATE: Seahawks' 2013 Legion of Boom vs. Broncos' 2015 No Fly Zone

Welcome back to the show—offseason means it’s time for the fun debates, like No Fly Zone 2015 versus Legion of Boom 2013, and yeah, I’m biased, but I truly think it isn’t close while still respecting those Denver dudes who could flat-out play.

What’s the core of my case? We shut down one of the greatest offenses ever with Peyton throwing 55 touchdowns, while Denver beat MVP Cam and a receiving group that wasn’t on that historical level.

Their own front office studied our secondary and tried to build in our image, which I take as respect, but if you’re going to say they were better, show it with numbers.

Turnovers define dominant defenses: Denver had 14 interceptions total; we had 28 as a team, with 20 coming just from our starting secondary.

We allowed approximately 172 passing yards per game to their 199 and gave up 16 passing touchdowns to their 19, which is why I keep saying it’s not a tight race.

In the playoffs we lived on takeaways—eight in three games, three in the Super Bowl, and three in the fourth quarter of the NFC title game alone—so our offense would’ve had far more extra possessions than Denver’s did.

That Super Bowl against Peyton wasn’t smoke and mirrors; we overwhelmed their tempo, forced errors, and our defense plus special teams put up enough points that we could’ve won without the offense on the field.

People love to say, they played man and we played zone; nobody plays man every down, and we used both, but we leaned into zone because our high-IQ group could see the ball, bait throws, and steal possessions.

Modern offenses punish heavy man with rubs, motion, and picks, which is why today’s winners live in split-safety looks, hybrid cover three, and Fangio-style six; vision and communication create turnovers.

As for personnel, our best players that year were in the secondary, with Bobby anchoring the middle and insane depth up front; Malcolm rotated and still became Super Bowl MVP, and Cam’s range erased plays that should’ve been freebies.

Corners always bet on themselves—no issue with that—but seasons like my eight picks and Earl’s five stack up favorably against any single year from Denver’s DBs, and the tape plus awards back that up.

If you want a closer fight, compare Denver 2015 to Seattle 2015; even in a down year we led the league in points allowed, matched their picks, and gave up fewer passing touchdowns, though we didn’t finish our Super Bowl the way we should have.

So if anyone’s got a stat that flips points allowed, passing yards, or takeaways in Denver’s favor, I’m listening; until then, appreciate you rolling with me—you could be anywhere, and it means a lot you’re here.