It’s hard to believe that the Super Bowl is already here. I am sure that I’m not the only one who thinks the season went extremely fast. This Sunday Super Bowl XLVIII will be hosted in East Rutherford, New Jersey where the Denver Broncos will take on the Seattle Seahawks.
The Seahawks have had one of the best seasons in franchise history and tied their record in 2005 with 13 wins and three losses. Even though they had all of those wins, the NFC West was not an easy division to take this year. The San Francisco 49ers were right behind them in the standings at 12-4 and just missing the playoffs at 10-6 were the Arizona Cardinals.
It was a long road for the Seahawks where winning was common all year. They were a much better home team than a road team where two of their three losses came from. One of the main reasons it was so hard to win in Seattle was because of the 12th man who are the roaring fans. Every home game was deafening for the visiting team and mad it nearly impossible to hear anything on the field. Of the eight home games the Seahawks played, they averaged 12.9 points given up which is spectacular.
Part of that has to do with the astounding play of the defense led by Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor. Of the three, they combined for 16 out of the 28 total interceptions in the regular season. This defense does an excellent job of forcing turnovers by also forcing 17 fumbles in the regular season led by defensive end Cliff Avril with five.
In eight of their 16 games this season the Seahawks held their opponents to 10 points or less. Even on the road they played great defense by only allowing an average of 14.1 points per game. The most points that the Seahawks defense has given up all season was their Week 5 loss to the Indianapolis Colts where they scored 28 points.
Another big factor that helped the Seahawks to all of these victories were the offensive players in Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch. Lynch rushed for over 100 yards in three games and gained over 100 multipurpose yards in eight games. He also ended up with 12 rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns for the season.
Wilson played a big role in his dual threat abilities. Whenever the pocket would break down he was able to make a decent gain and keep the drive going. It also always opens up more passing lanes when a linebacker has to spy on the quarterback in case he decides to run the ball. What made him special was his decision making ability by not forcing the ball. He only had nine interceptions all season which shows that he make smart throws and puts the ball only where his receivers can catch it.
In the postseason you have witnessed all of these aspects of the Seattle Seahawks already. Marshawn Lynch took over the running game in the Divisional Round game against the New Orleans Saints. And even though the Saints offense dominated on offense statistically, the defense provided a crucial fumble that setup the Seahawks for a Lynch touchdown in the second quarter to take a 16 point lead. The defense hadn’t given up a point until the fourth quarter where the Saints were trying to make a comeback but ultimately fell short.
In the NFC Conference Championship game the Seahawks hosted their heated rivals, the San Francisco 49ers with whom they split the season series one to one. In this game it all came down to defense. When you look at the statistics, this game was even in just about every category. All except for one major category that makes the biggest difference in every football game and that is turnovers. 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick committed three turnovers in the fourth quarter; one fumble, one interception that led to a field goal, and another interception that ended the game.
There has been a lot of hard work and determination this season for the Seattle Seahawks. But unfortunately it all means nothing if they cannot come away with the Lombardi Trophy this Sunday. Their biggest test of the season comes in the Super Bowl against future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. Will Marshawn Lynch take over the ground game? Will Richard Sherman and the Seattle defense be able to stop the number one offense in sports history? We all will soon find out for Super Bowl XLVIII.