Super Bowl 48 started the way everyone expected. On the Broncos’ first play from scrimmage, quarterback Peyton Manning and center Manny Ramirez seemed to have a miscommunication and botched the snap. The ball bounced and rolled into their own end zone before Knowshon Moreno fell on it for a safety. That’s what everyone thought would happen, right?
Things couldn’t get any worse for the Broncos. Well, at least not until their next drive. After allowing a field goal to the Seahawks, the Broncos got second shot on offense. That drive only gained eight yards and ended in a three-and-out.
Wait, it gets worse. On their very next drive, Manning threw his first pick of the Super Bowl to Kam Chancellor. The interception led to a touchdown by Marshawn Lynch.
Wait, it gets worse. On the Broncos’ very next drive, Manning got intercepted again. Crazy plot twist, right? The pick was taken to the house for six points by the Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith.
Wait, it gets worse. The Broncos started the half by kicking the ball off to Seattle’s Percy Harvin. Harvin picked up the squib kick from the 13-yard line and took it 87 yards for a touchdown.
Yup, you guessed it. It got worse. Peyton Manning hit Demaryius Thomas for 23 yards, but Thomas fumbled the ball only for it to be recovered by the game’s MVP. That fumble led to yet another Seattle touchdown.
It took all the way until the end of the third quarter for the highest scoring offense in NFL history to put points on the board. You don’t have to be an NFL analyst to know how bad that is. That prompted the people of Twitter to explode in rants about the horrible game. Most compared the quality of the game to that of the commercials. The commercials don’t have much to do with football, but there’s still an odd urge to blame Roger Goodell for all of this.
The Broncos would go on to lose the game 43-8, the third largest margin of defeat in Super Bowl history. To make matters worse, everyone who said the Broncos would win the Super Bowl (including me), was outsmarted by an ape in Utah. For the seventh year in a row, Eli the ape accurately guessed the winner of the Super Bowl. Just remember, we’re considered the evolved forms of him. Should we feel worse than the Broncos?
The Seahawks, on the other hand, feel pretty great. An estimated 700,000 Seahawks fans celebrated at CenturyLink Field- the home of the loudest stadium in sports and the famous “12th man.”
The Seahawks are the only team in Super Bowl history to score a field goal, rushing touchdown, passing touchdown, defensive touchdown, and a return touchdown all in the same game. Who said they were only a good defensive team? The Seahawks can say that they’re one of the best defenses in history if not the best. They can also say the double as dunk hunters (sorry, Manning, I had to do it).
Matt • Feb 9, 2014 at 10:03 AM
Very well written