For 48 years, the entire country has crowded around the television on Super Sunday to watch the NFL’s most elite teams clash for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. That shapely hunk of sterling silver, 22 inches tall and seven pounds, represents struggle, survival and, of course, the big “W.”
None of those words apply to the Seattle Seahawks, the Super Bowl World Champions who trampled the Denver Broncos with disturbing ease 43-8 Sunday. For them, the Vince Lombardi trophy represents nothing but an old fashioned beat down. The “W” stands for wallop, right on Denver’s chin. It’s the third biggest win in Super Bowl history.
I don’t mean to underplay the long season Seattle battled through to get to the Super Bowl. They were doubted and challenged in many places. It wasn’t easy, but tell me with a straight face the Seahawks didn’t make it look that way Sunday. For everyone who watched the game, I think we were all expecting a little bit more of a match up than that.
The Broncos had three turnovers and let a kick off return turn into a touchdown run that looked like a piece of cake. By the end of the first half, it was over. You could even argue it was over by the end of Denver’s first series with the botched snap turned safety. Regardless, by the end of the night, I was disappointed I had watched one of the most boring games to grace the airwaves.
A reporter asked Peyton Manning after the game about the “embarrassing” defeat. Manning, classy as always, replied there was nothing embarrassing to their loss; that the Seahawks were a good team, more prepared for the big stage than the Broncos. Embarrassing may not be the word Manning chooses to classify the game, but it sure will be one Bronco fans will want to forget.
The Seahawks have arrived in grand fashion, ready to demolish the rest of the NFC next season. Maybe they will even contend for another Super Bowl.
Careful, though, little birdies. Remember how high the Falcons flew before their downward spiral this season.
It’s the NFL. Anything can happen.