Super Bowl XLVII (or 48 for those who aren’t Roman) was the most watched Super Bowl game ever with over 111 million viewers. The anticipation for the game was caused by the confidence, or what some have called arrogance, of defensive back Richard Sherman and the rest of the Seattle Seahawks defense. On the other side of the field were Peyton Manning and the highest scoring offense that the NFL had ever seen. A perfect storm of truly the two best teams this season.
Queen Latifa sang “America The Beautiful” and Renee Fleming sang the National Anthem. Those two performances were the last well executed things that Broncos fans saw that night. Next, the coin toss by Joe Namath that was cut short mid-air because the official forgot to ask the team captains to call a side of the coin. The Denver Broncos received the ball and began play on their 14 yard line. The first play of the game, the center hikes the ball over Manning’s head and into the end zone where a Bronco’s player was able to fall on the ball giving the Seahawks a safety. 12 seconds into the game, Seattle was in the lead, a lead they would continue to hold the entire game and rack up a 43-8 win over the Broncos. After the 22-0 first half, the Broncos came out of the locker room with a renewed sense of urgency and energy. This was quickly wiped away as Seattle’s Percy Harvin ran back the second half’s opening kickoff for a touchdown, increasing the score to 29-0.
Seattle’s defense, known as Legion of Boom, was respected for most of the season. It wasn’t until Sherman gave his uncharacteristically opinionated post-game interview two weeks before the big game that most people had heard of L.O.B. For the first time in 11 years the MVP was a defensive player. The speed of the pass rushers and the tight coverage on the receivers was clearly too much for Peyton Manning. Manning set a Super Bowl record with completed passes; however most of these passes were short dishes that either resulted in a loss of yards or wasn’t enough to move the ball very far down the field. Two of those complete passes were to the other team. He might as well just of had “Tebow” on the back of his jersey. Seattle’s Russell Wilson played better than Manning, but it was the running game that was able to have success against the injury ridden Broncos defense.
The only break from the Seahawk’s highlight video was the commercials and half-time show. The half-time show by Bruno Mars featuring 30 seconds of Red Hot Chili Peppers was a great performance that won’t be remembered because nothing went wrong. Wardrobe malfunctions (2004) and sound mixing issues (2011) were avoided and everything went smoothly.
Records, controversy, and firsts were all accomplished in the last game of the season. However, what will be remembered is the trouncing of Manning’s offense by Sherman’s L.O.B. and an inept Denver team allowing the Seahawks to score in nearly every possible way. The Seahawks scored on a safety, pass, rush, field goal, interception return, and kickoff return, leaving just a two point conversion on the table. Richard Sherman went into the game being one of the most hated players due to his brashness. Many said he was clearly out of line when he called himself “the greatest corner in the league” and called Michael Crabtree “a mediocre receiver.” Sherman got the last laugh as he held the Vince Lombardi trophy over his head after the game. After which did he go on a tirade about how Manning was “a mediocre quarterback”? Not even close. After the game Sherman tweeted, “Peyton is the Classiest person/player I have ever met! I could learn so much from him! Thank you for being a great Competitor and person…”