Broncos vs. Seahawks: The case for a Super Bowl sequel
By Andrew Garda
Why It Won’t Happen
While there is a lot of evidence that these two teams can return to the Super Bowl, history tells us it’s unlikely to happen (or at least very tough).
There are a few reasons why each team is destined to watch the Big Game from the stands this year.
For the Seahawks, it comes down largely to the conference. You can talk about the ability this secondary has to nail people crossing the middle of the field, but the new emphasis the NFL has put on contact between the receivers and the secondary could hurt this group. Sure, they didn’t in the preseason, but we all know things can shift once you get the regular season going.
This is also an issue for the Broncos, who have the bad luck of deciding to get physical about the time the NFL decides to be tougher on cornerbacks getting physical.
The Seahawks also face the problem of their offensive line which has struggled for some time. They always seem to play through the issues, but at some point you get the feeling it could catch up to them. Isn’t it only a matter of time before teams take advantage of that flaw?
On top of that, both the Seahawks and Broncos have tougher schedules then they did in 2013. In fact, the Broncos schedule is significantly tougher as they face the NFC West, the Patriots and the Bengals this year.
The Seahawks have the good fortune to face the weak NFC East, but their own division could be the biggest hurdle, especially(as I mentioned) the Cardinals and Niners.
For the Seahawks, it’s also a problem of dealing with a much better conference overall. There aren’t a ton of teams to vie for the AFC crown, but you can roll off a ton of teams who could be fighting for playoff contention in the NFC.
The Seahawks have no room for error and it wouldn’t take much for them to fall out of contention. In the NFC, 9 or 10 wins doesn’t have to get you anything if you lose the wrong game.
The Broncos may face less contenders for their title, but the ones they are up against are doing what they can to minimize Manning’s impact. The Patriots adding Revis is the biggest example of this, but you can bet that even the teams who we don’t think are Super Bowl hopefuls have done studied the tape and figured out what the Seahawks did and how their own teams can execute.
Even the “cream-puff” games could be tough on the Broncos this year.
Ultimately, I feel confident that these two teams will appear not only in the playoffs this year (bucking the trend of a post-Super Bowl collapse) but in Arizona on February 1, 2015.