General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNo team has EVER played that poorly in a Superbowl
Seattle has a marvelous defense and good team speed and is young and aggressive and confident and nobody can doubt that they're the best team in football today. And their defense would have been formidable even against Denver's best.
A wonderful team.
That having been said, it was a profoundly bad football game. Denver played worse than anyone has ever played in a Superbowl, already a game with a history of a lot of blowouts.
Horrible special teams. Horrible defense. And an offensive line that seemed to hear about the snap a second after everyone else. Runners and receivers with a general disinterest in advancing the ball. Manning seemed somewhat interested in playing but he has lost a lot of arm strength and the protection was so bad that he couldn't step into anything, and thus looked like he was shot-putting a cinder block half the time. (While setting an ironic superbowl record for pass completions with about 35)
Never seen anything so sad. Has to be ranked as the worst superbowl ever.
Much as with boxing, the worst for fans is when one side doesn't show up. It isn't fair to the fans or the opposition.
Evergreen Emerald
(13,069 posts)They made Denver look bad.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)The Hawks just rolled the fuck out of 'em while they were doing that.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)icymist
(15,888 posts)In a Super Bowel! Wow!
Renew Deal
(81,871 posts)cthulu2016
(10,960 posts)It's not like we haven't seen 36 games from these two teams this year. If we accept that this was all about how good Seattle is then we would have to think that Denver was the worst team in the NFL.
And Denver is not the worst team in the NFL. They had the same record as Seattle and against equally difficult competition.
Denver played incredibly poorly.
The alternative is that Seattle played twice as well as they ever have before, which is an impossibility.
thelordofhell
(4,569 posts)And they ran smack into the #1 defense in the entire NFL and came up nuts...........
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)They smacked around San Francisco twice in back-to-back seasons at home, crushing defeats. They faced New Orleans twice which has a top 10 D now with Ryan as D coordinator. Crushed them 34-7 in the first matchup. Held Carolina to 7 points but Carolina has a top D themselves and held Seattle to 12. Over a course of a season they make mistakes, play in other team's stadiums, also opponents are generally more familiar with Seattle. Plus Seattle had two weeks to prepare and I never seen them play this good before and they always play good.
I'm looking at teams Denver faced and the only one the really jumps out defensively is Tennesse who is #10 in pass defense. Kansas City was in the top 5 for half the season but fell far down the rankings.
They generally have better defenses in the NFC w/ the exception of the NFC North teams, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. Buffalo is also good too.
villager
(26,001 posts)So yes, they're good.
But Denver isn't their real competition.
seattledo
(295 posts)That's what I'm listening to on the news now. It's so sad that this city has a few sports fans. They make the rest of us look so bad. According to the police scanner, yet another toddler was beaten. This time by one of you fans wearing jersey with a piece of wood.
We try so hard to set a good example, but a few of you sports fans just ruin it for all of us.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
snooper2
(30,151 posts)pipi_k
(21,020 posts)I can see your point...
Get rid of all the sports fans in this country and the crime rate goes down, happy little bluebirds chirp merrily in the trees, and rainbows shoot out of all the Good Citizens' asses.
Life was perfect before sports fans came along.
Mike Daniels
(5,842 posts)Manning overthrew wide open receivers. On the INT that was run back for a touchdown the offensive player in the area didn't even make an attempt to play for the ball (the defensive player ran forward as the ball was dropping/the receiver just stood there). Lastly, Denver's defense couldn't tackle to save their life (the opening 2nd half kickoff return for a TD and a number of other Seattle scoring plays).
A strong well-balanced effort by Seattle but if the Broncos team that had picked apart New England had shown up last night the game may have been more of a contest.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)It was so bad that it was funny. I could not believe what I was watching. It was like watching a potential car crash and not being able to do a thing. It was amazing! I think it might have been one of the quicker Superbowls too.
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)yellowcanine
(35,701 posts)Bandit
(21,475 posts)Seahawks humiliated them earlier and just repeated the process yesterday.
Renew Deal
(81,871 posts)NRaleighLiberal
(60,019 posts)Iggo
(47,565 posts)cthulu2016
(10,960 posts)Chicago was a 15-win monster and team of destiny. The Pats didn't even win their division. Nobody expected them to be competitive in that game and they weren't.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)bluedigger
(17,087 posts)He can hold his head a little higher after Payton's debacle tonight.
jsr
(7,712 posts)GP6971
(31,205 posts)it was a pretty good game
cthulu2016
(10,960 posts)The 42-10 Washington win over Denver after Denver was up 10-0. Just subtract the up 10-0 part and that was pretty much this game.
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)Williams and the Washington team waxed them. He doesn't get enough credit either.
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)in the playoffs. 2003 Jets was about the same story line as this game.
Manning is an enigma. He has the big statistics -- best ever. Yet he is 1 for 3 in Super Bowls and has 8 first-game losses in the playoffs. And his one SB victory was against the worst team to ever play in a SB. That was the Bears in 2007. Absolutely everything broke right for the Bears that year as they slipped into the SB. But they really were not a very good team.
So Manning's legacy is really up in the air now.
Manning didn't start the game off with a bad snap. He didn't cause the fumbles. But he just never got anything going. You have to give Seattle credit for part of this. It wasn't all nerves. Some of those errors were forced. But if Manning/Denver had played at their average level, it is clear that Seattle would still have won by a couple of TDs. They definitely were the better team. I didn't watch much after the first 20 minutes. Against a lesser defense, you could convince yourself that Manning could mount a big comeback, but this game was over before halftime.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)(that's why they couldn't figure out the object of the game, they were waiting for a scrum), it would have been at least entertaining.
OTOH, I don't expect that Manning will go out like this, so he'll be back next year.
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)He had a sensational year statistically. Yet it is also clear that physically he isn't what he was 6 or 8 years ago. He still has mental command of most games, but physically he doesn't have the snap he once had. You don't see him throw very many "pretty spirals" at this stage. It is a contradiction. Technique falling off yet record numbers.
I bet this was his last Super Bowl. KC is getting strong and so are the Colts. NE would have been in the SB this year if not for devastating injuries down the stretch. And it is always hard to keep a team together after playing in the SB. I don't know the Broncos free agent situation, but most SB teams lose key FAs the following summer.
zappaman
(20,606 posts)And the Seahawks played a great game.
Enjoy the ring, Seattle. You earned it!
pipi_k
(21,020 posts)To lose...heartbreaking if it's a close enough game, as I honestly expected this one to be
But a whole other thing to be so thoroughly embarrassed in front of millions of people
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)It wasn't even the worst Super Bowl Denver ever played. That would have been 1989.
Simply put, Seattle was the best team in the NFL all season, and proved it today. I don't care who was lining up on the other side of the ball, this was Seattle's day and year. I also think the NFC in general was far superior to the AFC teams.
moondust
(20,006 posts)I don't know what happened there.
fizzgig
(24,146 posts)dad and i rooted for sf in the nfc championship in the hopes of a rematch. seattle played well and i don't want to take away from that, but i knew what to expect after that first snap.
underpants
(182,879 posts)The Niners were playing at a level rarely seen in any sport.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)I bet Elway does too.
davidn3600
(6,342 posts)I guess they went in highly overconfident or something. But that whole team looked like they were in a daze from the very first play.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)Low-altitude sickness?
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)pipi_k
(21,020 posts)that the team was moved to a different hotel (to escape the media and to get away from distractions like family, etc.)
And...they weren't allowed to watch any of the pregame shows.
Except for...get this...the National Geographic channel.
So there ya go. It's hard to get fired up after you've spent 8+ hours watching documentaries on subjects like the chemical composition of the sand at the bottom of Lake Titicaca and the social lives of Atlantic Krill.
Bandit
(21,475 posts)and it was hillarious. We missed many of the commercials because we switched to watch the "Fish Bowl" We Loved It...
jmowreader
(50,562 posts)Worst blowout: Super Bowl XXIV: 49ers beat the Broncos by 45 points
Second-worst: Super Bowl XX: Bears beat the Patriots by 36 points
Tied for third: Super Bowl XXVII: Cowboys beat the Bills by 35 points, and XLVIII, Seahawks beat the Broncos by 35 points
Having said that, the line was Broncos by 2.5 points, so there are a LOT of pissed-off bookies in Vegas tonight.
Glassunion
(10,201 posts)Only about 36% or so bet on Seattle. How many placed over bets 30+ points... Not many. So for the 64% +/- that the books took on anyone betting Denver the books keep the money. Then how many bet Seattle with points? So you bet Seattle by 5 points, a bookie might not even give 1:1 odds. So you bet $100, they might only pay out $70 to $80. Then you have the small handful that may have 10+, or 20+ points, where you may get a bigger payout, however that would all be covered by the Denver loss.
Books in Vegas, might break profits this year.
pacalo
(24,721 posts)The Seahawks defense were awesome.
I was glad my sister called to chat at the end of the third quarter -- it was hard to continue watching.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)In 1990, the 49ers beat the Broncos 55 to 10 in Super Bowl XXIV. So that was a bigger margin that 43 to 8.
In XX, the Bears beat the Patriots 46 to 10. In XXII, the Redskins beat the Broncos 42 to 10.
So the Broncos hold 3 out of the 4 biggest losing margins.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super_Bowl_champions
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)Glassunion
(10,201 posts)former9thward
(32,080 posts)Dallas over Buffalo by 35. So 3 out of 5.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)But they managed to win 2 of 7.
yourout
(7,532 posts)tenderfoot
(8,438 posts)I so don't care about the 4 loses - this was the worst Superbowl ever.
Kudos to Seattle btw.
Rex
(65,616 posts)They sure played that way!
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)I usually pass on the Superbore, but this year I got an invite to a really great party at the Palms, so...
WTF? Denver made us a bunch of money this season and I thought that, surely this would be a good game. I was so wrong.
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)lpbk2713
(42,766 posts)Denver stunk the place up.
NoGOPZone
(2,971 posts)rustydog
(9,186 posts)12th man, 12-seconds to score...
Kicked Denver ASS
Bombero1956
(3,539 posts)Manning could have John Schnatter take him back in time in his Camaro.
edbermac
(15,947 posts)For the next year I know I can turn on my TV and not see Peyton Manning commercials every five minutes.
calguy
(5,326 posts)already slugged it out two weeks ago with the 49ers losing on the last play of the game. That was a war that could have gone either way if a few plays or calls would have been reversed. San Fran would have destroyed the Broncos just as bad. Look for many battles between these two titans for many years to come. In my mind the best two teams reside in the NFC west division.
MFM008
(19,818 posts)that was a game. Broncos also had a lot of help being pumped up by the media. (example).....THEY had the best offence, WE were on of the 10 best defences in football. They got what they deserved.
pnwmom
(108,994 posts)CanonRay
(14,113 posts)even though I'm a Broncos fan. I live in Oregon and watched the Seahawks and 49ers a lot, and they were both better teams. Hats off to Manning who had a great season, but he cannot carry the rest of them. Congrats to Wilson, one of the best young QBs in the game.
At least play as good a game as the 2nd year man on the other team. Manning was not the reason they lost (Seattle was like a buzz saw in all aspects of the game even the kick offs and coverage on them), but he was pretty bad. The Denver D had a credible 1st half digging out of the hole the offense and special teams put them in. They lost it in the second half with very poor tackling. Denver practically had the ball for the entire second half and ended up -7 on the scoreboard for that period of time (two drives combined for 11 minutes).
Broncos are an old team whose window is closing. Their gamble on Manning probably will not pay off. Now if they kept Tebow and had God on their side like Wilson and the Seahawks - well that would be a different matter (joke).
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)5 or 6 games, but they were on fire tonight. Go Hawks!
calguy
(5,326 posts)I congratulate the Seahawks fans. I know how it feels after all the niner titles in the past. Enjoy the off season, relish the victory. Come Sept we'll go back to the rivalry, trash-talkin, and the friendly hatred fans have for opposing teams. That what make football such a fun spectator sport. Congrats to the Hawks Well done
a kennedy
(29,707 posts)Feel bad for Peyton, but elway?? not at all.
pnwmom
(108,994 posts)B Calm
(28,762 posts)JonLP24
(29,322 posts)the bad snap & the poor tackling on the kickoff return, I really don't know what they could have done offensively.
The first drive they were drilled three straight times. They weren't just being tackled, they were being laid out, often by multiple defenders. Seattle knows how to exploit gaps better than any team and have the best pass rush despite rarely blitzing so they still have an army of defenders in pass coverage that are big physical players that mug receivers. I never seen a team deliver crushing hits like that the entire game, even on a kickoff return the returner was laid out at the 10-yard line. The speed Seattle has that even when Denver had a positive player multiple Seahawk players closed in quickly. I don't think it had anything do with a disinterest, the defenders were there every time.
I think it is more what Seattle did defensively than anything Denver did. There isn't a single weak link anywhere on that D and every one of them played their A-game. I don't see what they could have done.
Denver actually has a history of playing bad in Super Bowls but I don't think they faced defenses like this or any other team blown out in the Super Bowl has.
exboyfil
(17,865 posts)reasonably well. It was their offense and special teams that kept getting them in a hole. They did not have any takeaways (which is more a testament to the Seahawks ball management) but otherwise it was not a bad game defensively until the Kearse TD (which was an abomination of tackling miscues).
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)but they did make they score 8 rather than 16 off the first 2 red zone drives.
jmowreader
(50,562 posts)The crucial play happened when Kam Chnncellor hit Demaryus Thomas so hard it took him seven yards to get stopped, and the young man was completely off the ground for the first two of them.
By the time Seattle ran the second half opening kickoff back for six, the fire had completely gone out...Denver needed to start the second half with four unanswered touchdowns, not with a Seattle TD the first time a Seahawk had the ball in his hands.
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)madokie
(51,076 posts)listening to the blow hards these last few weeks going on and on about how many points Denver was going to win by. How they pissed and moaned about Richard Sherman and how Russell Wilson hasn't really been tested and on and on. Denver was out played from the get go, simple as that. I've watched Manning clutch in many big games over the years when he played with the Colts that I figured there's a good chance he'd clutch this time too. Denver was out coached and out played and made to look like the mediocre team they are.
Enough of the Manning brothers if you ask me.
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)He plays in a division with two top 10 pass defenses which he faced 3 times this year against San Francisco. New Orleans D improved under Rex's brother and faced them twice. Carolina also has a good pass defense.
He mounted a furious comeback against Atlanta in the playoffs last year and led them to the go ahead drive but Seattle's D gave up two Matt Ryan passes.
So is Denver's D an example of finally being tested?
I can't believe someone said that but then again Russell Wilson is constantly underrated by people even though he put up over 8 yards per pass attempt average in back-to-back years which also happen to be his first two years in the league.
exboyfil
(17,865 posts)exboyfil
(17,865 posts)Starting position after kick offs 14, 35 (because of a stupid 15 yard penalty), 20, 16, 33, 23, 20, and 13. When you can put the ball deep into the endzone (or even hit the goal post), you avoid a lot of trouble. It is an underappreciated weapon (as the Broncos probably considered as they chased Harvin down the field).
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)The Raiders and Marcus Allen waxed the Washington team in SBXVII. I watched that game and they were awful. Allen ran all over them.
We are prisoners of the moment. SF49ers beat some teams very badly too.
This ranks right up there. This game is not alone. I am old enough to have seen all of them too.
bullwinkle428
(20,630 posts)evidence with which I can challenge you!
underpants
(182,879 posts)And the Bills should have won the first against the Giants. That Cowboys team was one of the best ever.
tenderfoot
(8,438 posts)including Denver previous SB loses.
I have never seen a worse game than yesterdays.
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)clear that this game was going to be sucky to watch. I grabbed my Kindle Fire and just had the game on in the background. A poor showing by Denver, all around.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)Boring! And since my satellite provider is Canadian I couldn't even watch the commercials.
But Denver(and Elway)'s 55-10 loss to the 49ers was probably worse.
CanSocDem
(3,286 posts)...that it is not about the "game". The mass media keeps telling you that it is, but in reality it is just an inconsequential foot-note to a year long sales promotion that is littered with winners and losers. The big winner is the American culture that pulled off another national spectacle paying lip service to the nobility of athletics.
.
liberal N proud
(60,344 posts)Spirochete
(5,264 posts)decide to lose a Super Bowl, they don't pussyfoot around about it. It's usually a blowout. I think the closest one was against Dallas in 1976.
AgingAmerican
(12,958 posts)I thought manning played pretty well, all things considered. He set the record for the most completions in a superbowl and Thomas had a record 13 catches. The prediction was that manning would evicerate the Seahawks defense with short surgical passes. He got in a lot of those passes, but the Hawks didn't allow any yards after the catch.
The Hawks invited Manning to come at them. When Manning called audibles at the line, the Seahawks didn't react at all. They stayed put, basically daring Manning to come at them. I think this rattled Manning into staying away from longer passes. His interceptions were all tipped. Manning just flat out got outplayed. The Seahawks were swarming and sharp in every facet of the game. It was just Seattle's day. I don't think any team could have beat them. They were hungrier.