When the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos battle at MetLife Stadium during Super Bowl XLVIII, it will be a “Clash of the Titans.” The game will take place this Sunday, Feb. 2, with kickoff set for 6:37 pm.
The Seahawks (13-3), the champions of the NFC by way of the NFC West after defeating their inner-division rival, the San Francisco 49ers, have the NFL’s top-rated defense. Led by a ferocious front-seven that can apply controlled chaos upon the opposition’s backfield, they managed to hold their opponents to 102-yards rushing per game while collecting 44-sacks.
Even though the Seahawks’ front seven is star-studded and very talented, led by Bobby Wagner’s 120-tackles and KJ Wright’s run-stuffing 80-tackles, the bunch that steals the headlines and draws the notoriety is the Legion of Boom, featuring the brash Richard Sherman and his band of terrors Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Byron Maxwell, and company. Their no fly zone, led by Sherman’s eight interceptions, have held their opponents to 172-yards per game.
A lot has been made of Sherman’s post game antics following their victory in the NFC Championship Game over their divisional rivals 49ers, but he’s the kind of athlete who talks a big game and backs it up with his on-field play. The third-year player out of Stanford has been tabbed with covering the opposition’s top receiver and has done what has been asked of him. In three seasons, the Compton native has collected 20-interceptions while getting his hands on 57-deflections. Despite his stellar play, which has got him named to the All-Pro team with another on the way, his talk has overshadowed. He first made a name for himself by chewing out Tom Brady following a Seahawks victory. He then drew more praise and notoriety after being mic’d up by NFL Network during Seattles’ playoff contest against the Washington Redskins last season and famously being punched in the mouth by Redskins’ offensive tackle, Trent Williams, following another victory from the upstart from the Pacific Northwest.
Before this past incident, when he criticized and called out Michael Crabtree of the 49ers, Sherman made headlines for insulting television broadcaster, Skip Bayless, on his show ESPN First Take. Sherman, a former 4.0 student from Stanford University, lashed out atBayless and repeatedly said that he is better than him at everything and life. Bayless, who is not very popular by most because of his strong opinions on professional athletes, was speechless and took the verbal jabs by Sherman.
While most applauded Sherman because he did what most viewers wished they could have done, the same people who cheered for him during that maylay took shots at him for his lack of professionalism. When looking at both incidents, my response to it is, “Did you expect anything different?”
In the other corner, we have the Denver Broncos (13-3), the champions of the AFC by way of the AFC West following their victory over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. While Denver’s defensive unit has been pretty stout, ranking in the middle of the pack of the league for total defense, the Broncos field a record-settle offense behind the right arm of future hall of famer and the older brother of Giants’ quarterback, Peyton Manning.
Manning led the NFL in passing (5,477-yards) and rewrote the record books with 55-touchdowns. Denver also fields the league’s fifteenth best rushing attack behind the legs of New Jersey native, Knowshon Moreno. They also have the league’s deepest stable of pass-catchers with five receivers able to take over a football game at any moment. Manning can find holes in the defense with Wes Welker, can put the ball in the hands of Demaryius Thomas and let him fight for tough yardage, hit tight end Julius Thomas down the seam, or chuck it deep for Eric Decker. He has a deep arsenal and the Broncos can kill a team in a multitude of ways.
For the last few weeks, Manning has been in the news for his usage of the word, ‘Omaha!’ He’s been reported to have said it just shy of 100-times and he made jokes in the news about saying that the call either indicates a run or pass. Omaha, which is common football nomenclature, is a live word to tell his players on the field that the play clock is winding down and the ball is to be snapped on the next sound. During Sunday’s game, listen to Manning as he barks out his commands as the ball is snapped on the first sound. “Omaha, SET!”
With this dense background of each team, the question now asked is what are the expectations for the game? In terms of match-ups, I expect to see Sherman play primarily against Demaryius Thomas, who led the Broncos with 1,430-yards receiving and 14-touchdowns.
Occasionally, you should expect to see Sherman play one-on-one against Decker, but expect more of his duties to be on Thomas. Also, I expect to see Seattle’s front seven overwhelm Denver’s offensive line, who onlyallowed Manning to be sacked 18-times, the lowest around the league. Pete Carroll, the head coach of Seahawks, is a defensive guru and will find ways to beat the Broncos’ protection. I do not discredit Manning’s ability to put his offense in the best position to win, but I expect Seattle’s defense to apply a lot of pressure on The Sheriff.
When Seattle’s offense is on the field against the Broncos, viewers will see a heavy dosage of power runs from Marshawn Lynch. Lynch, who finished the season 1,257-yards and 12-touchdowns, should find some wiggle room against the Broncos, who ranked seventh in the NFL in rushing defense tied with Seattle.
When the Seahawks aren’t pounding the football up the middle, expect Russell Wilson to buy time with his feet to find talented receivers Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse and tight end Zach Miller down the field. Lastly, I expect Seattle’s offense to eat up a lot of clock to keep Peyton Manning and the Bronco’s potent offense on the sideline. Can’t win if your offense doesn’t score, right?
All in all, I have to go with the old football adage, “Defense wins championships.” As much as I’d like to see a good old shootout, I expect Seattle’s defense to take advantage of their opportunities and for that to lead to a victory over the Broncos for their first Super Bowl title.
This would make a very surreal story for the Broncos and their fans, which had to watch their head coach, John Fox, miss some time due to an aortic valve replacement. Also, this would be Denver’s first championship since John Elway repeated in 1997-1998.
However, I expect the underdog Seahawks to prevail in this game, 28-24.
PHOTOS TAKEN FROM businessinsider.com and cbssports.com
