Super Bowl Recap: Seahawks Smoke Broncos

For the first time in franchise history, the Seahawks are Super Bowl champs

Unless you are a Seahawks fan (and if you are, congratulations are in order), Super Bowl XLVIII was a huge letdown. It wasn't even a game. Seattle dominated from start to finish. The anticipated slugfest between the NFL's top offense (Denver) and stingiest defense (Seattle), both of whom were the best teams in their respective conferences after finishing the regular season with identical 13-3 records, never materialized.

Which really is too bad, for it was just the fifth time in Super Bowl history that the best offense squared off against the best defense. After last night, the best D has now won four times so far, which reinforces the belief that defense does indeed win championships.

That certainly seemed true last night, when the record-setting Broncos offense was held to just eight points. It was like they never even got off the plane. Denver was outplayed in every facet of the game. Not since the Patriots were curb-stomped by the Chicago Bears in 1986 has a team been so thoroughly dominated in the championship game. New England lost that game (its first Super Bowl appearance) 46-10, a 36 point deficit that is still the largest margin of defeat in a Super Bowl. But the Broncos lost by 35, and would have made history had they not succeeded on their two-point conversion to Wes Welker following Peyton Manning's lone touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas.

Speaking of Manning, I  don't believe he deserves an ounce of blame for what happened last night. He didn't have a great game, what with his two interceptions and 73.5 QB rating, but did complete 34 of his 49 passes to set a Super Bowl record for most completions. Besides, there was nothing he could do about Denver's defense getting torched for 43 points. Manning could have gone out and had the greatest game of his career, and I'm not sure it would have made much of a difference based on how well the Seahawks were playing. If Manning plays well the Broncos still lose, just by less. As such, I don't think his legacy should suffer.

Seattle was simply too-good. They had a great offense and an airtight defense. Russell Wilson was amazing. Sometimes the best team loses because they get outplayed by an inferior team (see: the 2007 and 2011 Patriots), but I don't think that was the case last night. The Seahawks were the best team, and they proved that pretty definitively.