It happened and I am here to deliver the Super Bowl 48 recap. I will be blunt honest here. I am going back in time and giving you a pure rant. A list of things I will take away from this game, the next day and how I feel about it. You have heard at least 25 different accounts of the game by now. Neither have been this direct or unfiltered. I won’t bore you with hesitation or stats. Just my take.
My team lost. There, I said it. I was rooting for Peyton Manning to win his 2nd ring and climb into the top 5 QB’s of all time conversation and create words about the greatest arm of all time. So much for that theory. Manning and his Mile High horses got caught in a storm of Seahawks fiery vengeance and basically got sonically(my own word and ode to the city’s former basketball team) bitch slapped across the forehead. Forget the Legion Of Boom. Manning and company got tortured on Sunday in Super Bowl 48. Believe me, as I downed the 32nd buffalo chicken sauce dipped chip, Manny Rameriz flung a high snap over Manning’s head and the route was on. The game of “they are still in it” began with less than a minute gone and before a Broncos fan could find chocolate covered strawberries, the score was 22-0. Knife, inserted into shoulder, and twisted. NOOOOO!!!
The commercials didn’t help. An overweight Laurence Fishburne trying to bring back Morpheus and the exploding city didn’t work and neither did the overly sappy Coke commercials. The best commercial, the Mountain Dew/Dale Earnhardt spot, came on before the game even started. The Budweiser ad was kind of sweet and featured a real soldier family but there weren’t a lot of laugh out loud commercials to balance one of the worse blowouts in Super Bowl history. Blame the Seahawks lazy fourth quarter coverage for revoking the shutout. And one more thing, Bud Light, please don’t show us the entire 3 minute 45 second commerical before game day. By the time it aired, it was chopped, confusing and all together horrible. Arnold should be ashamed of himself. Back to the game…..
Look, Manning is my favorite player and someone I really admire a lot. Sure, he puts his face everywhere on television but I’d rather see him hawk Papa Johns disgusting pizza than see one more Ray Vinson/Bernie Federko high five. Manning is funny, classy, and takes a loss better than most. When he was getting pounded yesterday, you never saw him chew a teammate out or look like a forgotten diva. He stood there, helmet strapped to the head, shoulders high and held a thought in his head that a miracle could happen. Sorry, Peyton, it didn’t. The Seahawks rolled and punished Peyton. They sacked him once but collided with his throwing motion twice, resulting in an interception for 6 points and a fumble. Peyton didn’t throw a duck on his own. He was helped by a man named Cliff Avril, who got a hold of his shoulder/arm at least 3 times and caused broken pass attempts or complete doom. Kam Chancellor and Malcolm Smith intercepted Manning. Byron Maxwell and Chris Clemons forced fumbles. Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas made sure Demaryrius Thomas, Eric Decker and Wes Welker never created game breaking receptions. At the end of the brutal affair, the Seahawks defense made sure Peyton Manning not only didn’t receive his 2nd ring, but they gave him nightmares about how he missed it. A shamefully horrible night to be rooting for the Denver Broncos.
I’m not being mean here. It was hard to watch. Let me provide a little perspective. My birthday was today and the Super Bowl basically subs as my B-day party every year. I have gotten some pleasant treats around this time of year. Two Eli/Giants upsets over Tom Brady. An unfortunate miss by Kurt Warner with the Cardinals. The Springsteen crotch moment and AARP meeting with The Who. A mixture of blood, toxin and great nights. Last night, I got a headache, ate too much and looked drained by halftime. At the very least, I wanted a good game and didn’t get anything close to it. I got a slaughter. I saw New Jersey get darker than the night The Sopranos faded to black.
Prior to the affair, I stated that Marshawn “Skittles Monster” Lynch would be the takedown factor for Manning. Well, Lynch ran 15 times for 39 yards and gobbled up 1 of those on one run. He wasn’t really a factor and didn’t have to be. For the first time all season, he could seriously take the night off and not throw it on his back. Russell Wilson didn’t do anything spectacular but made some deliciously precise passes and finished with a pair of touchdowns and 206 yards. Percy Harvin made his return known quickly, with a slick end around that went for 30 yards. He officially gutted the Broncos comeback with a second half kickoff return for a touchdown. His speed, when healthy and going north-south, is a deadly advantage. Too bad it wasn’t really needed. Harvin was icing on top of the bloody cake.
For all the folks whining about Peyton getting trashed, I will say take the hits and stay quiet. Trust me, I did my venting last night and this morning and got tired of looking at the word EXC– USE written across it every time. Peyton didn’t play well. He only completed 30 passes and collected 280 yards because the Seahawks backed off and played zone for basically the entire 2nd half. He was never comfortable or able to get into a rhythm. Every time he fired a bullet, it sailed 10 feet over the receiver’s head. He was looking over his shoulder all night and never had an idea where his receivers were because the pressure was always chasing him down. His legacy isn’t tarnished but it’s changed. He still has the one ring, superb regular season stats and reputation but isn’t climbing into the top 5 anytime soon.
With that being said, I don’t think any QB in the NFL could beat the Seahawks last night. And yes, Tom Brady fanatics, that means you too. If the injured front 7 of the Denver Broncos got to him in the AFC game, what would the Seattle unit do. They would make Michael Strahan and Justin Tuck’s destruction of Brady look like a pat on the back. The Legion of Boom couldn’t be stopped all season long(save for the brave Arizona Cardinals) and last night, it wasn’t going to be denied.
For Rams fans, last night was scary because this is the team that will be standing on the tracks to our recovery route for the next 5-10 years. The two best teams in the NFL, at the end, were Seattle and San Francisco and arguably the hottest team at the end(Arizona) was the only unit to steal a victory at Centurylink Field and didn’t even make the playoffs at 10-6. The Seattle Seahawks went to New Jersey last night, stood tall and informed the league that this defense and fine offensive machine isn’t going anywhere. It’s a scary thought for this Peyton and Rams fan.
Yes, there are worse things than Pete “The Ron Washington of the NFL” Carroll owning a Super Bowl and BCS Championship.
No, I can not list any of those things right now.
Yes, the Scarlett Johansson soda commercial sucked. What a shame.
No, Peyton Manning isn’t retiring. That man won’t sleep at night until September.
Yes, Russell Wilson will win another Super Bowl and please don’t say he didn’t earn it. Unlike Manning, he didn’t make mistakes and created plays with his legs when he couldn’t with his arm. More and more every year, this is becoming an all purpose quarterback league and not one dictated by pocket passers.
For a Broncos fan, last night was ugly. John Elway had demon eyes by the third quarter. Peyton’s red forehead was too bright. It was the Hunger Games in New Jersey and the odds were never in Denver’s favor.
For a Seahawks fan, well, I am not one of those so I can’t tell you much there. I can say that city needed something like this after many years of close calls.
That’s all I got. Football is over and guess what…..baseball is coming back in less than 2 months. In 10 days, pitchers and catchers report to spring training. That is what I am thinking about. I am going to continue to try and forget all about Super Bowl 48 and it’s one sided infamy.
-DLB
@buffa82 on Twitter
Photo Credit-nfl.si.com
