The best day of the year is finally back: Super Bowl Sunday.
For the last two weeks people have been either debating who will win this game or talking about Richard Sherman’s post game interview.
I’m not going into the Sherman interview controversy even though, as a sports fan, I loved the fire I saw in Sherman. But, let’s get into the debate about who will win this game, the biggest game of the year in any sport.
First, let me say I love watching Peyton Manning play. He is one of the greatest to ever play the game of football and we are blessed to see him in another Super Bowl. With that being said, he won’t be able to beat this Seahawk defense Sunday night.
There is a saying that one of, if not the greatest, college football coaches of all time, Paul William “Bear” Bryant said once: “Offense fills the seats, but defense wins championships.” I just want to say thank you Bear Bryant for making this debate so easy to win.
Again, “defense wins championships,” so there is no surprise that the Seattle Seahawks are here. They have the best defense in the NFL by far, but the Denver Broncos have the best offense in the NFL; some may say of all time.
Peyton Manning makes every receiver he teams with that much better and that is one reason they are in the Super Bowl. It just makes it easier when you have weapons like Wes Welker, Eric Decker, Knowshon Moreno, Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas.
Those weapons combined with the arm and smarts Peyton Manning has can scare any defense. But the Seattle Seahawks have a secondary full of playmakers: Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas as the safeties, and Brandon Browner and Richard Sherman.
The four of them put together what some people call the “Legion of Boom.” The Legion is the best secondary in the league by far. Everyone knows Thomas and Sherman but people don’t know that Chancellor and Browner could be the No. 1 safety and corner backs on most other teams in the league.
The Seahawks have so much confidence in their secondary that allows them to load the box on any down they want. Man-to-Man defense doesn’t work well against elite quarterbacks but New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees could not handle the pressure mixed with solid coverage.
When their defense is not on the field hitting every person who walks in front of them, their running back Marshawn Lynch is. “Beast Mode,” as he is called, may be the scariest running back to face in the league.
His combo of strength and speed is something scary, reminiscent of Bo Jackson. I’m not saying he is Bo Jackson but he might be the closest we ever get to him again.
Not to mention how good Russell Wilson is at controlling the game and not making mistakes. The return of Percy Harvin will definitely help their passing game as Doug Baldwin has been playing great this postseason.
The term “team of destiny” is really overused in sports so I won’t use it, but this Seahawks team seems poised to win it all this Sunday. Richard Sherman will finally be able to silence all the critics and trash talk he has heard from fans since the NFC Championship game.
I look for the Seahawks to come out strong and the Broncos to make some second half adjustments but I don’t think it will be enough. Seahawks win 24-18 and Richard Sherman makes another big play on the final drive to win it.
Can’t wait for a new post game interview from Sherman.
