Spoiler alert: stop reading if you don’t want to know exactly how Super Bowl XLVIII will play out.
Last year, I correctly predicted that the Lombardi trophy would be headed to Baltimore and this year, I can say with full confidence that the city of Seattle better start planning a parade.
Led by quarterback Peyton Manning, the Denver Broncos set new records for most points in a season (606) and touchdowns (76).
Unfortunately for Manning, defense wins championships. And while the Broncos have a good defense (nineteenth in the league in terms of opponent yards per game), Seattle has a great one (first in the league).
Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman may have a loud mouth, but he backs up his trash talk with his play – and he’s going to come to play after his infamous post game interview after the NFC championship game.
Sherman alone has more interception return yards, just as many touchdowns, and just one less interception than all defensive backs for the Broncos this year.
And not to be a Peyton-hater, but Manning is 8-11 when playing outside with the temperature below 40 degrees in his storied career, and temperatures are supposed to be in the 20’s at kickoff.
And the cold weather will hinder the ability of Manning as well as Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, leading to a run heavy game, giving running back Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch and Seattle a clear advantage: Seattle averaged almost twenty more yards per game than Denver in the regular season and both teams gave up 1,626 rushing yards on defense this season.
The game’s x-factor will be Seahawk’s wide receiver Percy Harvin. When healthy, Harvin is an elite wide receiver, but after coming to Seattle from Minnesota in the offseason Harvin has played just two games, including the divisional round game against the Saints in which Harvin left the game after being concussed.
And while that game against the Saints was an extremely small sample size, Harvin looked good with three catches for 21 yards. Regardless of Harvin’s performance in the Super Bowl, assuming he can even make it through a game, he’ll stretch the field, leading to bigger holes for Lynch to run through and go full on beast mode.
Despite all of this though, Seattle will by no means blow out the Broncos. Broncos’ running back Knowshon Moreno may not be good enough to be sponsored by Skittles, but he still the twelfth most rushing yards in the NFL (1,038).
And let’s not forget that Peyton Manning is Peyton Manning. Yes he is only 11-11 in postseason games in his career. But none of that matters because he is 2-0 this postseason. You’d have to be a Seahawks fan to not think Manning will put on a show on Sunday.
Seattle’s defense is on the same level as Denver’s offense, but Seattle’s offense is superior to Denver’s defense.
And it’ll be the media shy Lynch, who talked to the media for the first time on Jan. 28 after being threatened with a $50,000 fine, winning Super Bowl MVP after Manning’s late game heroics fall just short after Sherman intercepts Manning with under a minute to go in the fourth quarter (it’s Denver’s fault for trying Sherman with a sorry receiver like Demaryius Thomas) giving Seattle a 27-23 win.
