No underdogs this year. No Wild Cards. No weak division winners. No “undeserving” teams. No sixth seeds; not even a fifth, fourth, third, or lowly second. Nothing but number ones invited to this shindig. The NFL’s two top teams, both of which beat their stiffest competition in their respective conference championship games. High-powered offence vs. punishing defence. Record-setting QB and receivers vs. the top defensive secondary.
Welcome to the greatest Super Bowl matchup of all time.
It doesn’t feel like it, though. At least not to me.
Where’s the controversy. The drama. The HYPE! Did I miss it?
The biggest story in the lead up to the big game was Richard Sherman, after his outburst on live TV immediately following the Seahawks’ victory over their hated rival the 49ers in the NFC Championship game. However, the whole controversy devolved into abject stupidity, at which point sanity somehow prevailed and the story fizzled.
Welcome to the greatest Super Bowl matchup of all time.
It doesn’t feel like it, though. At least not to me.
Where’s the controversy. The drama. The HYPE! Did I miss it?
The biggest story in the lead up to the big game was Richard Sherman, after his outburst on live TV immediately following the Seahawks’ victory over their hated rival the 49ers in the NFC Championship game. However, the whole controversy devolved into abject stupidity, at which point sanity somehow prevailed and the story fizzled.
Lemme ‘splain… no, there is too much… Lemme summup:
Richard Sherman is a jerk because he gave a choke sign to an opponent then yelled at a pretty, mentally-challenged girl holding a microphone but we don’t know what the other guy said about him so maybe he was justified and isn’t this criticism really just racism and Sherman isn’t really a bad guy I mean how could he be he went to Stanford and got a degree in communications and everything and you don’t know the real guy and there’s two sides to him and you really just need to get to know “Stanford Richard Sherman” because college-educated equals class and intelligence and hey did you read the column he wrote in Peterland and blah blah blah blahblahblah………………….
Oh, and Marshawn Lynch hates reporters and likes Skittles. That should describe everyone, really.
Boring.
Richard Sherman is a physically-gifted, hard-working athlete. He is a very good football player. He may very well be a drug cheat, but I have no proof of that. Off the field, I don’t care a whit about what he does. On the field, he is a jerk. He is a trash-talker. He likes to show-up opponents. He likes to disrespect opponents. He represents everything that is good and bad about the game itself, and therefore everything I like and dislike about it.
That’s enough about that. It’s time to talk about the game.
NFL Championship Game
Seahawks at Broncos, Snoopy Stadium, New Joisy, USA
These two teams are really evenly-matched. Picking a winner is tough, kind of like guessing which of two Sean Bean characters would win a fight to the death. To me, it’s simple. It’s all about the QBs. No matter what kind of offence you run, no matter your team’s strengths, tendencies, talents, it all begins with the man behind center. He touches the ball on every play. He runs the show. He has to make some plays. Maybe a lot, maybe a whole lot. Russell Wilson is undeniably talented. He has a strong arm. He’s smart. He’s quick. He can make plays with his feet, scrambling, buying time, avoiding pressure, or just running with the ball. He can also make mistakes. He’s young. He most likely still hasn’t fully absorbed the magnitude of this game.
This really is Peyton Manning’s season. He has been getting ready for this game all year. He’s a machine, a cyborg, the Quarterbot 18. He’s the computer who wore cleats. Yes, the Seahawks’ defence is deep, talented, well-coached, hard-hitting, and prepared. How prepared can you be, though, against a player who is playing the game on as high a level as Peyton is now? As good as the Seahawks are, they have to react to Peyton and his offence. Peyton gives so many looks, knows so many wrinkles, has an unparalleled command of the game, sees things so well. When I’ve watched him this season, especially against New England in the AFC Championship, he looked like the only player on the field. And by that, I mean that the other players, on both teams, were merely pieces in a game he was playing by himself. He’s that locked in.
Richard Sherman is a jerk because he gave a choke sign to an opponent then yelled at a pretty, mentally-challenged girl holding a microphone but we don’t know what the other guy said about him so maybe he was justified and isn’t this criticism really just racism and Sherman isn’t really a bad guy I mean how could he be he went to Stanford and got a degree in communications and everything and you don’t know the real guy and there’s two sides to him and you really just need to get to know “Stanford Richard Sherman” because college-educated equals class and intelligence and hey did you read the column he wrote in Peterland and blah blah blah blahblahblah………………….
Oh, and Marshawn Lynch hates reporters and likes Skittles. That should describe everyone, really.
Boring.
Richard Sherman is a physically-gifted, hard-working athlete. He is a very good football player. He may very well be a drug cheat, but I have no proof of that. Off the field, I don’t care a whit about what he does. On the field, he is a jerk. He is a trash-talker. He likes to show-up opponents. He likes to disrespect opponents. He represents everything that is good and bad about the game itself, and therefore everything I like and dislike about it.
That’s enough about that. It’s time to talk about the game.
NFL Championship Game
Seahawks at Broncos, Snoopy Stadium, New Joisy, USA
These two teams are really evenly-matched. Picking a winner is tough, kind of like guessing which of two Sean Bean characters would win a fight to the death. To me, it’s simple. It’s all about the QBs. No matter what kind of offence you run, no matter your team’s strengths, tendencies, talents, it all begins with the man behind center. He touches the ball on every play. He runs the show. He has to make some plays. Maybe a lot, maybe a whole lot. Russell Wilson is undeniably talented. He has a strong arm. He’s smart. He’s quick. He can make plays with his feet, scrambling, buying time, avoiding pressure, or just running with the ball. He can also make mistakes. He’s young. He most likely still hasn’t fully absorbed the magnitude of this game.
This really is Peyton Manning’s season. He has been getting ready for this game all year. He’s a machine, a cyborg, the Quarterbot 18. He’s the computer who wore cleats. Yes, the Seahawks’ defence is deep, talented, well-coached, hard-hitting, and prepared. How prepared can you be, though, against a player who is playing the game on as high a level as Peyton is now? As good as the Seahawks are, they have to react to Peyton and his offence. Peyton gives so many looks, knows so many wrinkles, has an unparalleled command of the game, sees things so well. When I’ve watched him this season, especially against New England in the AFC Championship, he looked like the only player on the field. And by that, I mean that the other players, on both teams, were merely pieces in a game he was playing by himself. He’s that locked in.
That’s how I see this game. Make no mistake; this Seahawks defence is everything it’s advertised to be, and they will make it extremely challenging for Manning to do the things he wants to do. The going will not be easy for the Broncos offence. Manning’s pieces, and he has some really great pieces (not a pawn in the bunch) will have to execute against a defence that will push them, challenge them, punish them, even hurt them. Peyton will do his thing. This is the ultimate challenge, and he loves it.
The key to the Seahawks’ chances is Russell Wilson. Seattle’s defence will do everything it can to give Wilson the chance to make the plays he needs to make to win. He won’t be up to the challenge. It’s no knock on him.
There’s no shame in not being Peyton Manning, unless you are Peyton Manning.
Oh, and I’m rooting for Champ Bailey in this one. Guy needs a ring.
Seahawks 23, Broncos 30
The key to the Seahawks’ chances is Russell Wilson. Seattle’s defence will do everything it can to give Wilson the chance to make the plays he needs to make to win. He won’t be up to the challenge. It’s no knock on him.
There’s no shame in not being Peyton Manning, unless you are Peyton Manning.
Oh, and I’m rooting for Champ Bailey in this one. Guy needs a ring.
Seahawks 23, Broncos 30
RSS Feed