Seahawks’ defence can help secure first Super Bowl for Seattle
THE Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos battle for Super Bowl XLVIII on Sunday for what will only be the second occasion in 20 seasons that the No1 seeds from each conference will decide the championship.
It’s a clash of two of the best units on each respective side of the ball, with identical 13-3 season records.
Broncos’ quarterback Peyton Manning finished with 5,477 passing yards and 55 touchdowns (TDs) on a team that averaged NFL bests of 37.9 points, 340.3 passing yards and 457.3 total yards. Demaryius Thomas , who caught a career-high 14 TDs and Eric Decker who had 11 TDs, are just two of Manning’s attacking targets.
Led by cornerback Richard Sherman and a brutal pass defence known as the “Legion of Boom”, the Seahawks topped the NFL in points (14.4), total yards (273.6) and passing yards allowed (172.0). They forced a league-high 39 turnovers and defensive ends Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril tied for eighth with 44 sacks.
The Broncos mainly rely on their offence around the pass and Seattle specifically have the best pass defence.
Manning is 0-4 in play-off games playing in less than four degrees Celsius and this is the first outdoor Super Bowl played in a cold-weather city – New York. Wind will be a factor and Manning doesn’t have the arm strength of old, meaning their running game is critical.
Running-back Knowshon Moreno helped Denver put 133 yards on the ground against the Chargers and 107 against the Patriots, but Seattle are much better defensively.
Seattle’s running game is driven by Marshawn Lynch, who already has 249 yards and three TDs in Seattle’s two play-off games, while averaging 5.0 yards per carry.
I am siding with Seattle owing to their pass defence and strong running game. I’d advise spread bettors to sell Broncos’ supremacy at 0.5 with Sporting Index.
Pointers…
Sell Denver Broncos’ supremacy at 0.5 with Sporting Index