I need a way to distract myself and cope with the depression I've just fallen into after seeing my 49ers come oh so very close to making it to a second straight Super Bowl. But shutting down my internet and ignoring sports channels and social media hasn't worked out that well the last two times. So instead, I'm plugging in my headphones, blasting some Arctic Monkeys, and trying to determine what to make about the matchup fans are left with as the two number 1 seeds, the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos advance to play in New York (well technically, New Jersey).
On offense, the Broncos are as a good a team as there is on football. On defense, the same can be said about Seahawks. But how does it all shake out? Peyton Manning has seen every defense imaginable. He's the master of making adjustments at the line, and blitzing him rarely works. But this doesn't really take an advantage away from Seattle. They don't need to blitz to bring tremendous pressure, which great pass rushers like Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril. Seattle also doesn't disguise coverages. They dare you to beat them while knowing all too well how they're setting up to stop you. They get away with this thanks to their physical cornerback play, the aforementioned pass rush, and the league's best safety, Earl Thomas. Their smothering play led them to give up just 14.4 points a game during the regular season. The Broncos, however, have the talent on offense to score on any defense.
When you have a receiving corps including Wes Welker, Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas, and your tight end is the incredibly athletic Julius Thomas, a quarterback's got to be licking his chops. Did I mention that the quarterback leading that group is an all-time great named Peyton Manning? Broncos' offensive coordinator Adam Gase called a hell of a game against the Patriots earlier today, against a Bill Belichick coached defense. I don't have confirmation on this statistic, but I believe it's the first time that a quarterback has thrown for 400 yards against Belichick during his coaching tenure in the NFL. Richard Sherman is bound to take away one receiver for most of the game, but it will be interesting to see how the other two are able to handle the physical play Seattle employs at the line of scrimmage, and whether Julius Thomas can find a way to beat Seattle's linebackers, who have been excellent in pass coverage against premier tight ends, bottling up Jimmy Graham and Vernon Davis in consecutive weeks.
Switching gears, Denver's defense and Seattle's offense are nothing great. Though they get credit for making it to the big game, doing just enough, and making plays when they need it to, this where these teams are criticized by media and fans alike. Denver has seen injuries to key players including pass rusher Von Miller and recently, cornerback Chris Harris. The Seahawks have been somewhat one dimensional offensively, partially due to the absence of Percy Harvin from the lineup for the majority of the season. At this portion, however, there are no excuses. Denver managed to hold its own against Tom Brady and a Patriots offense coming off a great day running the ball against the Indianapolis Colts. This will be the key yet again. Containing Marshawn Lynch will be the focus of the Denver defense. Making Russell Wilson beat you with his arm remains the formula to stopping the Seahawks. The 49ers were able to pressure Wilson constantly and he had a pretty mediocre game, save for an excellent throw outside the pocket to find Baldwin downfield (very poor secondary play also contributed to this play happening). But Seattle will probably have Percy Harvin back, which could change things drastically. We saw glimpses of how he can help their offense in the game against the Saints. Don't be surprised if he has a major impact.
What will make Super Bowl XLVIII (which is 58 in case you can't read Roman numerals) different than the others is the weather factor. This is what Roger Goodell wanted when he decided to put the championship game on the northern part of the east coast during early February. While it's too far away to predict with certainty what the weather will be, there is a good chance that it's incredibly cold. While Manning has somewhat of a bad reputation in cold weather games, Russell Wilson played quite poorly in his last bad weather game as well, last week in the divisional round against the Saints. But cold, windy, snowy conditions would still seem to favor the Seahawks, who run the ball effectively and have the better defense. If weather isn't a factor and temperatures are reasonable? It's tough to say. Denver didn't go up against Seattle in the regular season, nor did they go against the next two best defenses in Carolina and San Francisco. This clash of styles hasn't really faced each other all that much, at least not at this elite level. The closest Seattle has to come to playing an offense like this was when they faced New Orleans, though it's impossible to say how much home field advantage and poor weather had to do with the outcome of their previous two matchups. Barring ridiculous east coast weather, I give Denver the very slight edge. I'm glad I live in California.
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