Defense wins championships:<\/em> <\/strong>Any follower of any sport is well aware of this adage and most fans believe it to be true.<\/p>\nThat\u2019s not my call, however. Here are ten reasons, in descending order, why Denver will win this game:<\/p>\n
10. \u00a0 Seattle is not at home. The 12th man may be part of the crowd at MetLife\u00a0Stadium, but will anyone be able to hear them? \u201cOmaha, Omaha\u201d will be easily heard and \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0communicated by Manning at the line of scrimmage.<\/p>\n
9. \u00a0New England never came close to Peyton Manning in the AFC Championship. The Seattle defense is outstanding and the front four had
\n44 sacks, but, first and foremost, the Denver offensive line knows they\u00a0must protect their franchise player.<\/p>\n
8. \u00a0Even though the Seahawks had 28 interceptions and forced 17 fumbles\u00a0during the regular season, they are not likely to do that against the veteran
\nreceiving corps of Denver and the arm of Manning. Denver only had 24\u00a0turnovers all year.<\/p>\n
7. \u00a0The Denver defense may not keep Marshawn Lynch in check at running\u00a0back, but they should be able to keep Russell Wilson in check. Even\u00a0though he is a great athlete, it is his first Super Bowl. That has to account\u00a0for a mistake here or there.<\/p>\n
6. \u00a0Matt Prater, the Denver kicker, converted 25 of 26 field goal attempts this\u00a0season, one an NFL record of 64 yards. He can get the nod from almost\u00a0anywhere on the Denver side of the 50-yard line. By the way, Steve\u00a0Hauschka of Seattle was outstanding, too. He made 33 of 35 attempts\u00a0and every one beyond 50-yards (3). Prater should get more opportunities.<\/p>\n
5. \u00a0The Seattle receiving group is not as good as the Denver group.<\/p>\n
4. \u00a0All defenses have trouble covering a tight end. Manning has made a star of Julius Thomas. He had 12 touchdowns and 788 yards during the\u00a0regular season and Manning knows when the tight end should be open.<\/p>\n
3. \u00a0Efficiency should beat passion. I don\u2019t think there is an NFL coach better than Pete Carroll in emotionally getting a team ready to play. However, John Fox is great at \u201cx-ing and o-ing\u201d. Strategy, not emotion, should win the game.<\/p>\n
2. \u00a0The Seahawks cannot outscore the Broncos (and I think that\u2019s the object\u00a0of the game).<\/p>\n
And the Number 1 reason the Broncos will win<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 Peyton Manning!<\/p>\nP.S. \u2013 If you want Seattle to win, consider this: The NFC is 5-1 against the spread in the past six Super Bowls and the underdog is 5-1 in those six games.<\/strong><\/p>\nABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/strong>
\n1. The forecast for the game is a high of 37 degrees and a low of 27. There is a 60% chance of precipitation.
\n2. Everyone knows about Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers performing at the half, but did you know Phillip Phillips and The Band Perry will perform during the pre-game?
\n3. Troy Aikman will be the color analyst with Joe Buck. Aikman won three Super Bowls with Dallas.
\n4. This is not the first Super Bowl in a cold-weather city. Super Bowls were played in Indianapolis, Pontiac, Detroit, and Minneapolis, but those were all played indoors.
\n5. The game is televised to 180 countries in more than 25 languages. It will be broadcast LIVE from the stadium in Chinese, Danish, French, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and English.<\/p>\nENJOY THE GAME!!<\/p>\n
NFL PICKS FOR THIS WEEK
\n(Last week \u2013 2-0) (174-91-1 66%)<\/p>\n
DENVER \u2013 27 SEATTLE – 20<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Super Bowl XXLVIII has one of the most intriguing match-ups in years: the league\u2019s highest scoring team taking on the team that gave up the fewest points during the regular season. It is, also, only the second time (2004) that the #1 seed in each conference made it to the championship final. It certainly appears…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4],"tags":[148,485,505],"class_list":["post-74850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic","category-featured","category-sports","tag-denver","tag-seattle","tag-super-bowl"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Behind the Mic: "So, Who Will Win?" - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Behind the Mic: "So, Who Will Win?" - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Super Bowl XXLVIII has one of the most intriguing match-ups in years: the league\u2019s highest scoring team taking on the team that gave up the fewest points during the regular season. It is, also, only the second time (2004) that the #1 seed in each conference made it to the championship final. 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