Manning and the Broncos discover what it means to be unwelcome guests in the Seahawk defense's house of pain

After the Seattle Seahawks’ 43-8 demolition of the Denver Broncos in the 48^th edition of the Super Bowl, stunned commentators were scrambling to explain what to them was inexplicable. Leading up to the game, the majority of commentary suggested that the if Seattle had any chance of winning this game, the defense had to frustrate Peyton Manning and put him off his game; the Seahawks’ offense could not keep up if this was going to be a track meet, which Denver would lap them several times. The "analysts" also demonstrated that they were paying more attention to a stagnating offense, and not a defense that prevented opponents from taking advantage.

All the “smart” money was on Broncos, and almost everyone on ESPN—mesmerized by the Broncos record-setting offensive numbers—was certain that the Seahawks had no chance. Mark Schlereth smugly asserted that Seattle’s defense had not seen an offense as good as Denver’s all season, and everywhere Denver’s “experience” would trump the Seahawks’ youth. When asked if Seattle’s defense was as good as his 2000 Baltimore Ravens team, Brian Billick seemed hard pressed to find any phase of Seattle’s defense that was as good as that team’s. 

The problem was that Manning and the Broncos had not seen a defense as good—or as big and fast—as the Seahawks. While some postgame commentators thought that the Seahawks’ defense was “certainly” not as good as the 1985 Chicago Bears, those people forget that the Bears were not facing 4,000-yard passers every other week; the only time it did, the Bears’ defense was mauled for 38 points in its only loss that season, against Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins. With the possible exception of Andrew Luck, every quarterback they faced this season was off their game against the Seahawks’ dominate back four and underrated front seven. 

Still, you had the feeling that Seattle could not afford to play “even” with Denver, but even the 22-0 halftime lead was beyond any Seahawk fan’s wildest dreams. When Percy Harvin broke the game wide-open with a 87-yard kick-off return for a touchdown to open the second half, everything that followed had the appearance of inevitability. Few commentators had seen this coming; one of them was Adam Rank of NFL.com, who believed that the Seahawks would not only win, but thought the game would get “out of hand” for Denver—only it did so much earlier than he thought. And when that prediction came true, Mike Klis of the Denver Post saw a Broncos team that was utterly “destroyed by the younger, more energized, rougher, tougher” team.

The difference was the defense without any shade of doubt. As usual the Seahawks’ offense did just enough to win on its own, so long as the defense played its “normal” game. The offense had its usual early game red zone problems, but finished the game scoring 27 points and gaining 341 total yards—which coincidentally nearly matched its season average of 26 points and 339 yards per game. Manning should have been expected to weave his “mastery,” a product of an almost machine-like efficiency. But he has a flaw: He fears being hit (understandable because of his neck surgery), and thus needs to get rid of the ball within 2 seconds of the snap. This is why he continuously audibles, seeing a better play in order to get rid of the ball quicker. The problem was that the Seahawks’ defense is like Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers—they only play one way, and that is fast, and hard. It didn’t matter what Manning did; he was under pressure all game, and both of his interceptions—one returned for a touchdown—were due to poor decisions and throws in an effort to avoid being hit.

In the end, the Seahawks won because it out-played the Broncos in every phase of the game—offense, defense, special teams and turnover differential. After the game, Phil Simms stated that he was not ready to put Seahawks’ quarterback Russell Wilson in the Hall of Fame just yet, pointing out that he did just enough of what was asked of him, and no more; however, he saw the Seahawks’ defense as one that was built to oppose today’s high-octane offenses, which is the basis of the team’s success. This Super Bowl will go down as the ultimate example of defensive domination.