Seahawks Defense Shuts Down Broncos Offense in Super Bowl

MATT SLOCUM — AP Photo

Final Score: Seattle 43 Denver 8

They say defense wins championships and the Seattle Seahawks showed off their talent in Super Bowl XLVIII against the much heralded Denver Broncos offense.

From beginning to end it was a disaster for Denver, starting with a safety in the first 12 seconds of the game. That wouldn't be the only instance where the number 12 showed up, one ESPN writer took the leisure of pointing it out for us, Twelfth Night: Number featured in win. 

That safety was set up after Denver's center Manny Ramirez snapped the ball before Peyton Manning was ready. Knowshon Moreno would recover the ball but he was in his own end zone and would get tackled by Cliff Avril for the safety. The cause of that miss communication between Manning and Ramirez, well that would be the 12th Man, who had a heavy presence at MetLife Stadium for the Super Bowl.

Seattle started the second quarter with a 1-yard TD run by Marshawn Lynch. Lynch would finish the day as the second leading rusher with 39 yards on 15 carries (Percy Harvin lead the team in rushing yards gaining 45 yards on only 2 carries). Then the Seahawks really busted the game open with one of the biggest plays of the game when Avril would get his paws on Manning's arm as he was making a throw. The ball spun in the air for what seemed to be an eternity and finally came down into the arms of Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith, who then returned it for a 69-yards TD that gave Seattle a 22-0 lead over the Broncos.

Them Seahawks weren't done just yet. They opened up the second half in spectacular fashion as Harvin, who only played in less than two full games all season, showed why they gave him all that money with an 87-yard kickoff return for a TD.

Jermaine Kearse, the hometown kid, had his own time under the bright lights when he caught a quick pass from Russell Wilson and shredded tacklers with some fancy spin moves, going 23-yards for the score. That score was set up after Byron Maxwell forced a fumble on Demaryius Thomas that was recovered by eventual MVP Smith.

With Seattle up 36-0, the only thing to look forward to was if the Seahawks defense could shut out the best offense in NFL history and it seemed like a good possibility.

Manning ended that thought quick and responded with an 80-yard drive highlighted with a 14-yard TD pass to Demaryius Thomas, by far his most successful drive of the day. Manning was able to get a pass off to Wes Welker for a successful two-point conversion to give them 8 points.

The Seahawks would put the icing on the cake on their first drive of the 4th when Wilson put together a 48-yard drive that was capped off with a 10-yard TD pass to Doug Baldwin, the final points of the game, 43-8.

Seattle won all three phases (Offense, Defense, and Special Teams) of the game in Super Bowl XLVIII and their preparation seemed far above that of Denver. The way that the Seahawks controlled the game was complete domination and an outstanding performance by not only the Legion of Boom but the entire defensive group who forced 4 turnovers (2 Interceptions, 2 fumbles). Malcolm Smith, Kam Chancellor, and Bobby Wagner each racked up 10 tackles, the team as a whole had 84 tackles, 14 more than the Broncos. Seattle made sure that the Broncos felt every hit they laid on them, Chancellor lead the way in that department as he has done all season, and should be considered the hardest hitter in the league.

Denver's defense let what the nation thought was Seattle's weakness to rack up 341 total yards while committing zero turnovers on offense. The game was over early and Seattle even had the opportunity to let their former starter, now backup QB Tavaris Jackson get in on the action; although he only had 1 pass attempt.

He wasn't the only starter to get pulled. Lynch went out late in the 3rd allowing Robert Turbin to finish out the Super Bowl. Although I haven’t seen every Super Bowl, I don’t believe I have ever seen backups get playing time, except for injury replacements.

It was an incredible game if you're a Seattle fan, giving the city their first championship since the Seattle Super Sonics won the NBA title way back in 1979. We needed this title more than the rest of the nation knows, from getting slighted in our first Super Bowl appearance in 2005 thanks to the referee's, to losing our Seattle Sonics back in 2008.

Now stand up 12^th Man, you deserve it and thank you Seahawks for bringing the Lombardi Trophy to its new residence, Seattle, WA!

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