Super Bowl XLVIII – What Nobody Expected

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For two long weeks, we all debated on who would pull out the victory. Could Seattle's defense take down Peyton Manning? Could Manning pull off another Super Bowl victory and take off into the sunset...of the offseason?

I'm sure after last night, Manning is ready to find a beach somewhere.

Before the game started, I was asked to put my final stamp down on who would win. My head said to go with Seattle, and my gut said Denver. Good thing that after all the food I consumed, my gut feeling wasn't strong enough to actually pick Denver.

What actually occurred in the game though will keep people talking for years to come. Did anyone actually expect Manning and company to get BLASTED on national television? It was the type of game that people would keep watching, even though it was a blowout.

Seattle was just that much better. To the credit of 710 ESPN's Brock Huard, he told Jeff Thurn on Overtime that Seattle had the better position players in ALL positions except for one, quarterback. At the beginning of last week on radio row, everyone was drinking the Denver Kool-Aid. Unfortunately for them, it was past expired.

I don't think we have to really dive into "Manning's legacy" being hurt by this. The guy had no receivers open, no time to throw from the pocket, and was rattled right from the beginning. That isn't necessarily all on Manning, I put all of that on how great Seattle played defensively.

We've been pretty fortunate that great Super Bowl's have taken place over the course of the last decade. It's been a long while, since 2002-2003, that we've experienced a complete blowout of a game. In that game, between the Raiders and Buccaneers, the top defense prevailed in a 48-21 win. Much like the top defense prevailed here.

Ten years from now when we look back at the list of Super Bowl games, everyone will remember this game as just a blowout. Unfortunately for Seattle, ten years from now this game will be remembered as the time Manning was blasted out of the stadium, probably more-so than all the great players who stepped up last night.

Overall, the show itself was entertaining just for the fact that nobody expected it.