Instead of a long article where I try to cleanly wrap up what happened in Super Bowl XLVIII, I'll just hit on some points I'd like to make:
-- LEGION OF BOOM: What Seattle accomplished last night was unreal. I expected them to impact Peyton Manning somewhat, but I didn't think they'd totally rattle him. Manning just looked like he knew this was going to be bad even before the game started. His "Manning Struggle Face" started before that errand snap that started the game. I always use the boxing analogy that some guys just have that look like they don't want to really be in the ring. Peyton had that look.
-- MALCOLM SMITH: No offense, but I would've voted Kam Chancellor as the MVP of the Super Bowl. To me, that defense was the MVP, but you can't vote the entire unit. Smith did have that huge pick-six, but that was a right-place-right-time deal. Chancellor set the tone for the entire game with his big hits and his first pick. I understand that not many feel the same way, but I do. I will say that I wouldn't have voted Russell Wilson as MVP just because it was this defense that put this game out there like that.
-- PEYTON'S LEGACY: The popular question to ask is whether this loss affects Peyton Manning's legacy. In a word ... yes. Look, he's still one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play this game. But the loss looms over his legacy. First off, it keeps him from being the lone QB to lead two different franchises to a Super Bowl title. Having that on his resume would have been huge. Next, it puts him at 1-2 in Super Bowls, and it wasn't like he was spectacular in the one he won (though he was voted MVP).
My point is that imagine if Dan Marino won a Super Bowl. Or Warren Moon. When we discuss the best quarterbacks ever, those guys tend to get passed over because they never won a title (Marino only went to one Super Bowl; Moon never got there). Manning has won one, but that doesn't place him past guys like Joe Montana or Tom Brady in many people's eyes since they won at least three. Like it or not, Manning will be above the class of one-timers like Brett Favre and Steve Young.
Like it or not, but those things matter. He's in that elite class of QBs no matter what. But if he had won this game, he would've have had a seat at the table with Montana and Brady.
-- WHAT'S NEXT: This is a very interesting question. For Seattle, it isn't out of the question that they could repeat ... or at the very least compete for Super Bowl berths over the next few years. They are tied for the youngest team to win a Super Bowl with
-- REMEMBER YOUR HISTORY: I love how today people decide to say how bad a Super Bowl this was. What? Why? Because it was a blowout? That happens. What Seattle did last night was one of the best performances in Super Bowl history. Just because that meant this game was a domination by one team doesn't make it a bad game. I think people are a bit spoiled. Remember that the Super Bowl used to be like this. From Super Bowls XVII to XXXI, 11 of 13 games were won by double digits. That includes the 49ers beating the Broncos by 45 points. Bears beating the Patriots by 36. Cowboys beating the Bills by 35. Redskins beating Broncos by 32. Raiders beating the Redskins by 29. It happened a lot.
That used to be the joke about the Super Bowl. It was always a blowout!
We are spoiled now. Since Super Bowl XXXIV (the Rams beating the Titans on that big game-ending tackle), we have seen plenty of close games. We had the Patriots beating the Rams and Panthers on last second kicks and the Eagles by just three. We saw the Giants beat the Patriots twice on miracle late game drives. We saw the Ravens goal line stand last year. We had the Steelers late game drive to beat the Cardinals. They've almost all have been good games. This one wasn't and it was because one team dominated. Embrace it.
Embrace it like we did that 1985 Bears team and their domination of the Pats in Super Bowl XX. Or those Niners teams that blew out the Broncos one year and the Chargers several years later. Or those Cowboys team that blew out the Bills. Or even Doug Williams' awesome 2nd quarter against the Broncos.
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