Super Bowl XLVIII was being hailed as the cementing of Peyton Manning’s legacy as the greatest quarterback of all time. The game was supposed to be an absolute battle of a top offense against a top defense with the two best teams in the NFL colliding for the Lombardi Trophy. Instead, what we got was the equivalent of Floyd Mayweather fighting a toddler.
The Seahawks’ defense absolutely demolished Denver, making them look helpless and confused throughout the entire night on their way to a 43-8 route on football’s biggest stage. And unless you were a Seahawks fan, you were bored out of your mind. How was that Super Bowl party, fellas? Probably as bad as the Denver offense. Zing!
The last decade of competitive Super Bowls have spoiled football fans. Many fans forget just how putrid and lopsided the majority of the Super Bowls were in the 80s and 90s. Boy, did this stinker rank right there with them.
Super Bowl XLVIII was one of the worst for a number of reasons…
Look at this nightmarish fan experience where everyone had to rely on mass transit that ended up lasting hours just to get on a train. Forget the weather; this is reason enough to never come back to New York/New Jersey.
Pics via @darrenrovell
Now on to the other glorious fun-filled facts as to why this may have been the worst Super Bowl ever:
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The safety on the first play of game only took 12 seconds and was the fastest score in Super Bowl history. That play was an omen for what would follow.
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Seattle’s first-half shutout of Denver was the first halftime shutout since Super Bowl XXXV when the Ravens dominated the Giants.
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Denver’s 8 points is the second lowest total points scored by an AFC team in Super Bowl history. Only the 1971 Dolphins scored less (Super Bowl XI)
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With Peyton Manning’s loss to the Seahawks, NFL MVPs are now 0-6 in Super Bowls since 2000. Yikes!
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The 35 point defeat is tied for the third largest blowout in Super Bowl history.
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Super Bowl XLVIII’s blowout was the first time in 11 years that a Super Bowl was decided by more than 14 points.
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Seattle’s linebacker Malcolm Smith won MVP. In the eight times a defensive player has won the award, the average margin of victory in those Super Bowls is a little over 20 points. So if a defensive player wins the award, chances are the game was a snooze-fest.
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In the five Super Bowls where the No. 1 ranked offense took on the No. 1 ranked defense, Denver had the biggest differential in points averaged during the regular season to points scored in the Super Bowl: 29.9 point difference. Denver averaged 37 ppg and only scored 8 in Sunday’s loss.
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Denver now owns three of the top five worse losses in the history of the Super Bowl. In those games, their defense gave up 42, 55, and 43 points while only scoring 10, 10, and 8. That means in those three losses, the average score was 46.6 to 9.3.
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Manning’s Quarterback Rating of 24.4 was the worst by a quarterback in the Super Bowl since the Bears’ Rex Grossman in 2006. His 10 passing yards in the first quarter were his worst since week 8 of 2007.
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Russell Wilson was pressured an NFL-high 32 percent of his dropbacks entering the Super Bowl. He was not sacked once Sunday night.
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Denver hadn’t been shut out in the first half since week 6 of 2012, a night where Manning led his Broncos on a 35-point tear to beat the Chargers.
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The Broncos now own the record for the most Super Bowl losses with five. Although, they won two championships, the Broncos losses were always in embarrassing fashion. The average Broncos loss was 41.2 to 11.6.
Again, we would like to congratulate Seattle on their first championship since the 1979 Sonics. However, the rest of us will pray for a great Super Bowl next year when the game returns to the warm weather of Glendale, AZ. Because none of us want to see another slaughter-fest like the one witness Sunday.
Joshua Caudill is a writer for CraveOnline Sports, a surfing enthusiast, an unhealthy sports fanatic, and an expert on all things Patrick Swayze. You can follow him on Twitter @JoshuaCaudill85 or “like”CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
Sports channel editor Josh Helmuth also contributed to this article.
Photo Credit: (top, Manning) Getty
