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The Seahawks are Super Bowl Champions.
Let that sink in for one minute.
Seattle dispatched Denver 43-8 with dominating, authoritative physical play; they ran the ball, played extremely strong, suffocating defense, excelled in the return game, and Russell Wilson shrugged off the Game Manager label as he passed for 206 yards and two touchdowns.
It was a game that was billed as a Battle of the Titans: the Greatest Passing Offense of All Time against one of the best pass defenses in NFL history. The Unstoppable Force versus the Immovable Object. I'm not sure even the homerest of homers could have predicted such a lopsided throttling by the Seahawks' defense, and Pete Carroll's defensive tenets were put on display on the largest stage:
#1 Eliminate the big play
#2 Out hit the opponent on all plays
#3 Get the ball -- either strip the ball or make the interception when in position.
Seattle held Peyton Manning to 5.6 yards per attempt on 49 pass attempts, intercepted him twice and forced another fumble. They set the tone early with huge hits on Bronco receivers. They broke up passes, stripped the football, and forced Manning to dink and dunk his way to a Super Bowl record (and totally ineffective) 33 completions.
Kam Chancellor had a pick. Malcolm Smith had another (which he returned for a touchdown). Cliff Avril balled out. Richard Sherman battled.
On offense, Marshawn Lynch struggled to get much traction in the run game, but Percy Harvin took two end arounds for 44 yards, and after salting away the game in the fourth quarter with between the tackles running, the Hawks ended with 135 yards on the ground.
Russell Wilson was slangin'. Jermaine Kearse had a hell of a game. Doug Baldwin made some huge plays. Percy Harvin housed a kickoff return. This was a dominating game in every area.
Drink it in. The Seahawks are Super Bowl Champions.
