Super Bowl XLVIII- Defense Wins Championships

With the new high powered, pass first offenses led by great quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning and all of the new rules that favor the offensive passing game, you would start to wonder if that saying defense wins championships, is out of date. Well as we saw tonight that is definitely was not the case. Before tonight 3 out of 4 times when the leagues #1 defense went up against the #1 offense it was the defense that came out on top. Another example of this was when the (at the time) record setting 2007 Patriots offense went up against the Giants hot defense they played their worst game that season and lost when their below average defense could not stop an average Giants offense in the final two minutes. 

Seattle's exciting defense was seen as early as the opening kickoff as Trindon Holliday was taken down by a swarm of defenders at the Broncos own 12 yard line. Then even the great Peyton Manning started to feel the pressure as a miscommunication with his center cost the Broncos two points and gave the Seahawks the fastest score in Super Bowl history (which previously belonged to Devon Hester and the Bears in XLI which also came against Peyton).  On the ensuing drive by Seattle Russell Wilson completed 2 short passes to convert on third down, an incredible sideline grab by Percy Harvin to convert on another 3rd down, the a big run by Harvin led to a Steven Hauschka field goal who only missed two field goals all season. (The opposing kicker Matt Prater also set the All Time field goal length record this year).

 With the score now 5-0 the Seahawks showed the downsides to their aggressive defense when a late hit on the kickoff cost them 15 yards and gave Peyton and the high powered Denver offense good starting field position. However Denver could not take advantage of this opportunity as A couple short passes by Manning to Thomas and then a big hit by safety Kam Chancellor gave the Broncos their first three and out of the playoffs on their opening drive.  After a bunch of short passes by Wilson and 3rd down conversions the Seahawks went deep to Doug Baldwin all the way to inside the Broncos ten. Nate Irving, Von Millers replacement, actually made a play knocking the ball away in the back of the end zone saving a touchdown and forcing another field goal to have the Broncos go up 8-0 and It would stay that way until the end of the first quarter. 

The Seahawks held the Broncos to a season low 11 yards in the first quarter and were the first team to shut out the Broncos in the first half since the Chiefs did so 7-0 in week 13 however Denver ended up winning 35-28 as Manning threw 5 touchdowns. This led him to breaking Brady’s Single season TD record of 50 with 55 of his own.

  It was starting to look like a baseball score something Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson knows a little something about being drafted in the 4th round, making it up to AA as a second basemen in the Colorado Rockies system before going back to college to play football and eventually being take with the 85th overall pick of the 2012 Draft by Seattle.  Then taking newly signed free agent Matt Flynn's spot unexpectedly in training camp.  People always have doubted Russell Wilson, when it came time for the draft no matter how much success he had in he was over looked. All of the hype went to those like RGIII and Andrew Luck. Russell though had all of the right intangibles you could look for, his father always said to him “Why not you” and Russell believed that and worked his butt of which is why he is in the Super Bowl leading his team and Luck and RGIII are sitting at home.  Intangibles are what really drive the great quarterbacks, people always doubted Tom Brady, scouts said he was slow, weak, lacked an above average arm, does not throw a tight spiral. He fell all they way to 199th in the draft. Bill Belichick didn’t even know who he was it was one of his scouts who advised him to draft Brady. While more talented quarterbacks like Chad Pennington and Giovanni Carmazzi were drafted ahead of Brady they did not have the intangibles and leadership abilities that Brady had and still has which is why there names will disappear and be forgotten while Brady will be forever known as one of the all-time greats. 

On the next drive of the game, Peyton threw what Richard Sherman would refer to as a "duck" way out of the reach of his intended receiver and into the hand of safety Cam Chancellor.  The Seahawks followed it up with a touchdown run by the Soft-Spoken Marshawn Lynch through the Denver goal line Defense for a 15-0 Seattle lead. Although no team in the Super Bowl had ever come back from more then 10 points (which the Saints did in XLIV against Peyton’s Colts) they had come back from 19 against the Saints earlier in they year and 24 points against the Chargers last year(whom they beat in the Divisional Round). A key turning point in the game was when after three 3rd and 1 conversions, and a little momentum seemed to be coming to Denver,  Manning was hit as he was throwing by former lion Cliff Avril(played on the infamous 0-16 team) and into the hand of Malcom Smith who returned it 69 yards for a TD to make it 22-0 at the half, the game seemed out of reach at that point as they went into the half.

            A very poignant moment occurred in the Halftime shows as all of our troops serving in the Middle East came on the screen and told their love ones how they felt about them and dedicated the song to them the song was no other then Bruno mars’ “Just The Way You Are”

            The start of the second half did not go well for the Broncos as a very short kick was taken on one bounce by Harvin and poor coverage allowed him to take it all they way to the house for a 29-0 Seattle lead. This made the Seahawks the first team in super bowl history to score twelve seconds into the first and second half.

            On the ensuing drive Manning once again looked as if he was driving down field they were in field goal range when a fumble off a manning completion was recovered by Seattle and then another 15 yards was tacked onto the return due to a late hit on Denver.  Russell Wilson looked to have put the final nail in the coffin on Denver when an amazing throw, catch, and run after that led to a 10 yard touchdown to Doug Baldwin who ended up being Seattle’s leading receiver. 

            Denver once again to seem to have a little momentum as they scored on a 14 yard pass from Manning to Demariyus Thomas, which gave Manning the Super Bowl record for completions and Thomas the record for receptions, however it was much too little to late as the Seahawks went on to win 43-8. Although Manning may have taken away Brady’s records including his Super Bowl record he tied Brees with for most completions, his legacy will never be as great as Brady’s because he simply can’t win in the big game. Although Peyton’s career is most likely not over he had announced earlier in the playoffs that if their were any complications with his neck that he would call it quits, which the crushing Super Bowl loss would not be the way to go out.  However you also had to remember that Denver’s own great John Elway (who like Peyton was also drafted 1st overall by the Colts) had three crushing super bowl losses including a blowout before winning those last two in ’98 and’99 and going out on top

            As for Seattle’s defense, they lived up to all of their hype. Sherman was batting down passes all game, Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas were delivering Bone Crushing hits, their Defensive Line was putting a lot of pressure on Manning and their linebackers were swarming the ball carrier. They truly proved how even in a pass driven league defense will still win Championships, and that was why for the 1st time in 12 years a defensive player was given the Super Bowl MVP.  That player was Linebacker Malcom Smith, who not only returned the touchdown 69 yards to really turn the game into the blow out but he also really slammed the door shut on Denver when he recovered a fumble as Manning seemed to be driving downfield.

            Overall In a battle of great defenses an offenses, once again the defense prevailed as Manning and the Broncos were shut down, and four turnovers were forced six tackles for a loss and a sack led to a 43-8 Seattle Seahawks Blowout over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.