SUPER BOWL 48

Seattle Seahawks, 43 Denver Broncos, 8

In New York City's surprisingly mild February weather, the Seahawks were bigger, faster, stronger and the 12th man was louder. In retrospect, it seems obvious now that the Seahawks defense wouldn't allow the record-breaking yards after catch that the AFC had allowed to Denver's WRs. The All-Pros in the secondary (CB Richard Sherman, S Kam Chancellor, S Earl Thomas) would be the only team Denver faced so far to require no help and thus be able to release a fully-staffed pass rush on Denver's depleted offensive line for essentially the first time all season. Seattle did not have to confuse the mastermind Peyton Manning, they overpowered the historic passing game and exposed that the rest of the team was not up to a Super task.

From the first snap over QB Peyton Manning's shoulder for a safety followed by two interceptions converted into touchdowns, the Seahawks dominated the first half. Seattle's suffocating defense did not allow a first down on Denver's first three drives while QB Russell Wilson made the key throws on 3rd downs to keep the Seahawks' offense moving.

The key stretch of the half was undoubtedly Denver's 2nd quarter response to S Kam Chancellor's interception that led to a RB Marshawn Lynch goal line TD that put the Seahawks up 15-0. This was the window that Manning and his record-setting miracle show finally got the ball moving on the Seahawks, albiet slowly. Notably missing were the big runs after the catch, or the huge holes for RB Knowshon Moreno. It was tough going- 14 plays to go 48 yards- but Manning was moving the chains. That is, until on the drive's 15th play when DE Cliff Avril got around an overmatched T Orlando Franklin and hit Manning's hand forcing a legendary, wobbly duck up into the air, caught by LB Malcom Smith and returned for a touchdown, 22-0.

If there was any hope the Broncos #1 All-Time offense would erase the 22 point deficit it was shattered instantly. The 2nd half kickoff was returned off a bounce for a touchdown by none other than the dynamic but injury-maligned "x-factor" WR Percy Harvin. Even up 29-0, the Seahawks D never relented, they forced two more fumbles and Wilson parsed out red zone darts to a spinning and unwinding WR Jermaine Kearse and ping-pong ball WR Doug Baldwin.

This was a nostalgic 1980s Super Bowl blowout after a decade of thrillers. A call back to the old days of NFC dominace. Remincient of Washington's 1987 thumping of Denver 42-10 or San Francisco's 1988 thumping of Denver 55-10, right down to the orange jerseys and look on John Elway's face.

Sorry, television audience, today was Seattle's day. A Super Bowl set aside for the 12th man to bury the demons of Super Bowl XL, the Supersonics departure, the Mariners 116-win season and failure to reach the World Series... today was that day.

Seattle pulled back the curtain on the Denver Broncos and the state of the inferior AFC. Thomas, Sherman and Chancellor were a force in the secondary that Denver had not yet seen. It unleashed the dogs DE Michael Bennett, DE Chris Clemons and DE Cliff Avril on Peyton Manning. Without a balanced, steamrolling offense, the rest of Denver was exposed as a below-average team depleted by key injuries. Peyton Manning will be called a choke-artist but throughout his career, his only crime has been dragging teams further than they should have gone.

KEY PLAY: The key play has to be the LB Malcom Smith's interception return. Denver was only down 15-0 at the time and was moving the ball. The credit for the interception should at least partially go to DE Cliff Avril who hit Peyton's arm on the play. In reality, there are too many key plays to count in a blowout; Percy's icing in the cake return, Chancellor's interception, Kearse and Tate's ping-pong ball touchdowns, the first-play safety, etc. The essence of a key play is a turning point, and the Seahawks really had the game in hand the entire time.

MVP: I know it's wrong to go against the actual awarded Super Bowl MVP LB Malcom Smith. Smith was involved in a few key plays but not truly in the Top 5 of defensive performances of this game.

The MVP for me is S Kam Chancellor.  One day the record books will lose the true context for Peyton Manning's Super Bowl record 34 completions and Demarius Thomas' Super bowl record 13 receptions. Those records should be factored on Chancellor's legacy too. It was not garbage time stat-padding, it was a symptom of the Denver WRs fear of Chancellor's shadow and the short passing game with little yards after catch that Denver was forced to resort to.