Super Bowl XLVIII: Defense Does Indeed Win Championships

NEW YORK — Whether an avid sports fanatic, or not knowing the difference between a touchdown and a field goal, most still have heard of this apparently pretty huge event aired all across the globe called the Super Bowl

It is the king of sporting events in America (ratings wise), claiming its crown effortlessly with 111.5 million viewers this year. There is no escaping the atmosphere that this game portrays, heck there are even petitions throughout America trying to pass it as a national holiday. Even if the football game doesn’t intrigue you, maybe the entertaining commercials or even the halftime show does. It is an event that tries to appeal to everybody.

But for those who do love and understand the game, they know that the hype for this particular Super Bowl was soaring through the roof, which ironically the site for the game lacked to have.

The game was held for the first time in Super Bowl history at a cold-weather location, MetLife Stadium in New York City. All the rest of the hype came from the matchup.

Future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos (15-3 number one seed from the AFC), faced off against the ferocious defense of the Seattle Seahawks (15-3 number one seed from the NFC). Denver had a record setting season on the offensive side of the ball, by becoming the first team to score over 600 points in the regular season with a total of 606. As for Seattle, their main focus wasn’t scoring points, but not allowing them. They led the league in fewest points allowed, by allowing only 231 points in the regular season.

The story-lines were infinite, Peyton Manning trying to win his second Super Bowl and possibly play his final game, the Seahawks trying to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history and, to top it off, the best offense taking on the best defense. With all this being said, it looked as if this was going to be an unforgettable battle for ages to come.

The first snap of the game pretty much summed up exactly how the Denver Broncos night was going to go. Denver center Manny Ramirez, snapped the ball five feet over Manning’s head as he was calling an audible. The ball rolled to the back of the end zone, where Denver running back Knowshon Moreno jumped on top of the ball and was touched down by Seattle Linebacker Cliff Avril indicating a safety. A mere 12 seconds had gone by in the game and the Broncos were trailing 2-0.

The Seahawks sprinted out of the gates and from the first whistle all the way to the last they played hard-nosed aggressive defense. At halftime, Seattle led 22-0, which was the first time Denver had been shutout in a half of football all season long.

But if you know anything about Manning, regardless of the score at halftime, you can never count him out. Manning kept a calm look of composure on his face when he came back onto the field in the second half knowing exactly what he had to do. Unfortunately, that look changed from calm to worried after he saw Seattle wide receiver Percy Harvin running past him down the sideline. Harvin had returned the opening kickoff of the second half 87 yards for a touchdown extending Seattle’s lead to 29-0.

All of the wind had been sucked out of Denver’s sails and all they could do was hope for a miracle. But Seattle wasn’t going to allow Denver to have a magical fairy-tale ending, as Seattle went on to defeat Denver 43-8, tying for the third biggest blowout in Super Bowl history.

The nail-biting down to the wire battle that everybody had dreamt of turned out to be nothing but a nightmare for the Denver Broncos. For Seattle a beautiful dream come true imbedded forever into NFL history.