The Super Bowl (7-2 playoff)

7-2 in the current playoff

1-1 Championship
3-0 Divisional
3-1 Wildcard

9-1 Last year in NFL Playoff


People who know me knows that Seattle is my team.

I love their style of play !

The toughness of the D.. the intelligence of the QB.. the grittiness of Lynch..

but, I am gonna keep this one simple...
Manning will win if he has the time to throw.

Denver -1 (-105)

**Prob should have grabbed it quicker.. but had to cap the game before blindly jumping on the Denver wagon. Still got a pretty good line with little juice**

I don't care how great the Seattle defense is.
Unless you can put constant pressure on the Peyton, the DBs can't cover these great receivers for more than few seconds.

Broncos offensive line is just gelling at the right time.

Their pass block has been impeccable vs Pats & Chargers (granted, their pass rush is not top-tier) creating big pockets for Manning to throw in.
The run block also created big gaps for Moreno & Ball when needed.


On the defensive side, i am impressed with Broncos ability to stop the run and still put pressure on the passer.

In the 1st 3 quarters vs Rivers & Chargers... 0 points given up
1st 3 Q's vs Brady & Pats... 3 points given up

these are playoff teams that Broncos held without a touchdown for 90 minutes of the playing clock.

Last week, i questioned if Denver D is over-rated... I don't anymore.

bottom line:
In a pick 'em game, I am betting that Denver offensive line will hold, keeping Manning clean... and Denver Defense will bend, but won't break.

Note:
The weather is supposed to be in low30's with a chance of snow/rain with possible strong winds.. which certainly favors against Manning.. but i still think Denver gets a win


thoughts and comments are appreciated

People labeling this as best D vs best O are clearly missing things like this. Very impressed with Denver's D. See the seahawks having loads of trouble moving the ball. Denver should be a 3.5 fav IMO. bol

CC12, i'm with you on Denver this time. Good luck! 

enjoy the game !

few points i made in another thread:

- Seattle Seahawks are NOT over-rated

They deserve to be in the SB with great defense that travels well, an intelligent QB who manages the game, and a beast of a RB who will pound the ball down ur throat.


- Denver is obviously the 'public' team in this game... Joe Public loves offense and Manning... and the data supports that since Denver is picked as the winner SU by roughly 70 % of America (Yahoo Sports)


- The public did not move the line when it first opened. That original line of Seattle -1 was moved by Sharps who favor Denver when it first came out. (or they grabbed it early knowing the line will be more favorable for 'hawks later.. and they can easily buy back the original Broncos wager.. possibly middling the spread) 
How many 'public' bettors wait for the SB line as soon as the NFC game was over ?? Granted, the public also jumped on Denver, but much later. Most public prob got Denver -1.5 or -2.

- not all 'sharps' are on Seattle.

Sometimes public wins.. and sharps are on it, too.
To think ' i will bet like a sharp and bet on Seattle since Denver is favored by public'... that's just silly.

Manning doesnt throw deep. Seattle will be playing tough man D and they are the best team in the league at doing that. Comparing what Denver did on both sides of the ball vs SD is meaningless since that was the 3rd time they played them (Although it will help Seattle watching film since SD was the only team to corral Denver). Also, Seattle had the most trouble vs mobile QBs, and manning is the least mobile qb in the entire nfl.

I think people are assuming Russell Wilson will look average as usual. I think, with harvin back, Lynch will set up some monster opportunities downfield with play action.

Also being overlooked is the field position battle Denver was able to win due to San Diegos and NEs soft defenses. Denever will definately have more of a struggle on those 3rd and 4s....those quick slants will be a lot tougher vs a physical team.

bol bro

I agree with u, train, on all the points u made

by the cleanliness of Peyton's uniform

one man doesn't win a superbowl.  a team does. 

i absolutely agree

i am picking Denver because of their offensive line + Peyton Manning + 2 good RBs + 4 standout receivers will score on Seattle...

and Denver D can hold Seattle offense to minimal points

Denver will try to control the time of possession, as they have done with Chargers and Pats.. and I believe they will get it done.

Defense wins championship 

i agree

but how good is this Seattle's defense really?

i don't question their ability to defend the pass. Seattle has the best team of pass defenders. Period.

But overall, their defensive stats are somewhat misleading. You really have to account for the offensively-challenged foes they played.

Lets look at their regular season games

they won: @car, SF, Jax, @hou, Tenn, @Ari, @St L, TB, @Atl, Min, NO, @NYG, St L

they lost: @Ind, @SF, Ari

any teams that look scary offensively ??

two things stand out immediately-

1) Seattle has played lots of teams that are lacking explosive offense and top-tier QB.  

Yes, NO has great offense, but everyone knows Saints and Bree are an ineffective team on the road. If u wagered on the Saints that 1st game in Seattle, then u can just stop reading right here. hahaha

Hou, Atl and NYG were also teams in chaos this year... actually they were defensive team's dream come true.

Its easy to pad ur stats when u play those teams regularly.

2) Seattle lost in Indy and gave up 34 points to Luck & wayne in the process. Not exactly what u expect from Legion of Boom. This is the only team that had good offense and what's considered so-so defense.. so what happened ?? I would love to hear ur thoughts.


NFC West is a defense oriented division. Look at Seattle, SF, Arizona and St. Louis.. All four teams have great D.

In fact, u can even argue that SF had the best overall Defense in the NFL this year. Yet, they did not win the championship.

What that NFC championship came down to was:
1) match-up which gave advantage to Seattle... Seattle's strength (pass def) vs SF's weakness (CK and his passing)
2) home field advantage


When i think of defense, i think of front seven.

The line must be controlled !

I just don't see the Seahawks as having dominating 4 upfront... opinion that is backed by the fact that Seattle has to rotate 7 players for that 4 positions.

so, yeah, Seattle has the best defense on paper.. but they are not without weaknesses.

What this game will come down to is the battle in the trenches:

Denver Offensive Line vs Seattle Defensive Line
and
Seattle Offensive Line vs Denver Defensive Line

I will add on that later.

Seattle made mistakes 2nd half which lead them to lose at indi . 

i was not comparing Denver & Seattle defenses (they both have strengths and weaknesses).. nor was i focusing on how bad these two teams lost to Indy.

**BTW I never did understand people who cap game this way.. TeamA beat TeamB.. and TeamB beat TeamC.. so TeamA must beat Team C ??   Its ALL about MATCH-UP in the NFL **


Anyways, my two points were:

Seattle defense stats are misleading due to the opponents played..

and

are they really the BEST defense in NFL when they don't have a dominating front four (i.e. defensive tackles and ends) ?

Seattle will roll in this game.  They played two very tough teams in New Orleans and San Francisco.  Denver played the Chargers who snuck into the playoffs with some help.  They also played a Patriots team that played win a weak division and overachieved with all the injuries.  Everybody knows Manning is good.  But so was Elway.  I just think Seattle rolls in this game.  I do think they will bring a lot of pressure on Manning.  No way they let him sit back there and get comfortable.  I might be eating some words but I just think the Seahawks win big.

1- Its good to be compared to the great Elway... after all, he won two SBs out of 5.

2- what are u basing ur 'thinking' on when u say Seattle rolls ? the defense ? the offense ? or are u just going by ur feel ?

3- every team and HC tried the same thing..."bring pressure and don't let Manning get comfortable"...  However, its easier said than done against the BEST offensive line in NFL this year.
And because Manning has such a fast release, he is the least blitzed QB in the league, FYI, even with his slow feet

I don't think anyone rolls in this game. I can tell u that Denver Defense is prob sick of hearing how good Seattle defense is.. and will do everything they can to prove how good they are, too.

It will be a great game and hopefully Denver comes out ahead in the end by a score

INDY WON VS SEATTLE AT DOME ...

Agree with Train. One gm I looked at closely for Denver was the Texans gm. Their D front was probably the best they faced all yr. Yes, the gm ended up being an easy W going away, but Houston held them to 1 TD thru 3 qtrs getting good pressure on Peyton before another Schaub int gave em the ball deep in Texans territory...then Manning hit his recod setting TD, the mo completely switched to Denver vs a beaten, worn down tm & they got another int and put up 3 td's in the 4th quarter.

And this was with a lousy secondary & a pitiful O by then that couldn't keep Manning off the field at all or give their D any rest. Hardly what the 'Hawks will bring from beginning to end on Super Sunday. Like Seattle alot in this matchup...

NOW CC12 ANALYZE DENVER O ... DID THEY FACE TOP DEFENSES ALL YEAR ??????

Seattle Offensive Line

Ranked:

# 26 overall in NFL (last year #20)

# 25 in Pass Block

# 17 in Run Block

# 30 in Penalty


Denver Offensive Line

Ranked:

# 1 Overall (#4 last year)

# 2 in Pass Block

# 7 in Run Block

# 7 in Penalty

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/01/13/2013-offensive-line-rankings/

Most people have been focusing on Denver's receivers and QB.. and Seattle's DBs & LBs..

However, the real focus should be on both teams' Center, Tackles, and Guards.

This is where the games are won & lost.

You are forgetting that Denver's D is 17th in the leage against much weaker opponents

How can i forget ?

all the Seattle backers are constantly reminding me... lol

But that's a pretty vague statement: Denver's D is ranked #17

First of all, I don't think Denver played "against much weaker opponent" ( i am assuming u r comparing to Seattle's opponents)

2nd of all, Denver Defense's Yards allowed per run (Y/PR) is 3.87 (ranked #8)  Do u know Seattle's rank for Y/PR ?
Ok... its ranked #12 with 3.98 Y/PR

thirdly, when u r playing with a big lead most of the time like Denver, u end up playing loose coverage. Which translates to more yards per game allowed

Lastly, I've seen the Denver Defense really step it up in the playoff (yeah yeah it was against Chargers and Patriots ) and I see them continuing the effort in the SB. I am sure they are sick of hearing how Seattle has the number 1 defense.

Denver Defense = X factor

Denver's step up on defense the last 2 games and where was it played at ??? At home this is a road game .