The most potent offense in the history of the NFL, and the most stout defense in the 2014 season met to face off in what was set to be one of the greatest “one seed vs. one seed” Super Bowls ever, but the thing is, only the defense showed up. In fact, the Denver offense, aside from Peyton Manning, who broke a record for most completions in a Super Bowl, were missing in action. The very first play of the game signaled that something was wrong as Denver’s center snapped the ball over Manning’s, who is 6’5 inches tall, head leading to a safety. The gifts didn’t end there as Denver’s receivers watched a ball sail through one of their hands, and another watched a tipped pass float into the air as a defender ran for dear life to complete an interception. The best of the night was when Demaryius Thomas basketball handed the ball off to the defender for Denver’s third turnover of the night. Add in Seattle cashing in on poor special teams coverage, bad tackling, and overall what had to be apathetic play on defense by Denver, and you will easily find yourself with one of the most non-entertaining, and lopsided championships in history with Seattle winning 43-8.

Seattle did exactly what any team should have done, and would have had to have the worst collapse of any team in NFL history to allow Peyton Manning to come back, and beat them in this game. Unlike the Boston Red Sox, who won the World Series and honored a “trouble city,” or the Chicago Blackhawks that won the NHL cup representing the troubled Chicago, there was no instance of citizens using a sport to rally together for support of a societal issue. Everything is seemingly hunky dory in the city of Seattle and it is proved to be a great pro-sports city. That said, this win is the first in the team’s history on their second try at the Lombardi. A small note of relevance, with it being February, is that Russell Wilson is only the second African American QB to start and win a Super Bowl with the first coming 26 years ago against the Denver Broncos in 1988 with a similar score of 42-10. Overall, congrats to African American history for another milestone, congrats to the Seahawks for their first championship, every Bronco aside from Manning is up for termination, and hopefully February 1, 2015 with Super Bowl XLIX will bring us better football.

Until Next Time

-Erick S. Taylor Jr.