How critical was the safety to open the Super Bowl?

[Reverend Conehead]

I'm sure most of us were surprised when the very first play from scrimmage was a high snap/safety. However bad that play was, on the other hand, the Broncos running back made a great heads up play by falling on the ball to prevent a touchdown, and the Broncos were only behind by 2 points with an entire game ahead of them. However, things just kept getting worse. Maybe there is something to the theory that others here have espoused that that play rattled the Broncos and they were never the same after that. You would think that only being down by 2 with 4 quarters to go would mean they could find a way to make a game of it. Obviously, they didn't.

 

[Stryker44]

Not critical at all.

Denver was outscored heavily by the Ravens in the early part of that game, and won.

They were behind in double digits to both Dallas and Washington...and won.

Seattle finished the kill. Other teams took the foot off the gas pedal.

 

[Bullflop]

Denver didn't show up ready to put their best foot forward in that game. It was obvious from the start and that high snap and consequent safety simply set the tone for what followed. Perhaps the pasting that the Broncos took earlier in the season left a lingering fear of that repeating in the heads of the Broncos players. The fact that their o-line was so completely and consistently overwhelmed by the Seattle front seven made their defeat highly predictable from the start. By halftime and perhaps even before, the outcome appeared imminent. It was all Seattle from start to finish. Manning was unable to even set up properly, much less put the ball on target.

 

[landroverking]

The poor opening kickoff set the tone for the game IMO. If Denver doesn't start at the 13 who knows?

 

[Alexander]

Not critical at all.

Denver was outscored heavily by the Ravens in the early part of that game, and won.

They were behind in double digits to both Dallas and Washington...and won.

Seattle finished the kill. Other teams took the foot off the gas pedal.

If anything it emboldened Seattle's defense to be more aggressive.

 

[Aven8]

What I haven't heard talked about much since Joe Buck mentioned it was how loud and how many Hawks fans there were. It sounded like they were almost in Seattle. I think that affected there offense big time.

 

[The Natural]

Snowball effect for the rest of the game. Just like we had a blocked punt or whatever it was our first possession when we played Seattle. It was all downhill from there.

 

[Crown Royal]

The safety itself was bad but it wasn't the complete tone setter. The tone was set by the safety, then a pretty nice drive by the Seattle offense (although that stalled on what I felt was a bad call), and then a quick three and out by Denver.

 

[Lonestar94]

Not critical at all.

Denver was outscored heavily by the Ravens in the early part of that game, and won.

They were behind in double digits to both Dallas and Washington...and won.

Seattle finished the kill. Other teams took the foot off the gas pedal.

Broncos were behind double digits to the cowboys?! I think you got it backwards...

 

[Stryker44]

Broncos were behind double digits to the cowboys?! I think you got it backwards...

Dallas was up 14-0 in the first quarter and couldn't finish the kill at home.

Washington was up 21-7 in the 3rd quarter and lost 45-21 on the road.

Seattle finished the kill. But both Dallas and especially Washington let the foot off the gas pedal once they got the lead and established superiority against Denver.

 

[casmith07]

Not critical. That game was a pillar to post beating.

 

[Lonestar94]

Dallas was up 14-0 in the first quarter and couldn't finish the kill at home.

Washington was up 21-7 in the 3rd quarter and lost 45-21 on the road.

Seattle finished the kill. But both Dallas and especially Washington let the foot off the gas pedal once they got the lead and established superiority against Denver.

God dang. That was a wild game wasn't it??

 

[Crown Royal]

Dallas was up 14-0 in the first quarter and couldn't finish the kill at home.

Washington was up 21-7 in the 3rd quarter and lost 45-21 on the road.

Seattle finished the kill. But both Dallas and especially Washington let the foot off the gas pedal once they got the lead and established superiority against Denver.

I don't think Dallas let the foot off the gas petal. Each team kept scoring and scoring and scoring.

 

[Stryker44]

I don't think Dallas let the foot off the gas petal. Each team kept scoring and scoring and scoring.

I mean in terms of establishing defensive superiority over Payton Manning and putting him away when ahead double digits.

Others have shut down their offense this year, for a half or even more, but Seattle is the only team who's been able to do it for a full game.

 

[mldardy]

I will say this I would have liked to have seen what Denver would have done against Seattle's defense on that opening drive. If they had gone 3 and out or if they have at least got to midfield or maybe even scored a FG. I think the safety pretty much shook Denver and they never recovered.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

The safety itself was bad but it wasn't the complete tone setter. The tone was set by the safety, then a pretty nice drive by the Seattle offense (although that stalled on what I felt was a bad call), and then a quick three and out by Denver.

Yep. The tone was set again and again.

Safety was insignificant. Merely a warning of what was coming twofold.

 

[big dog cowboy]

However bad that play was, on the other hand, the Broncos running back made a great heads up play by falling on the ball to prevent a touchdown

Actually the smart play was to just knock the ball out of bounds.

 

[Idgit]

It was more metaphorical than anything. To have two full weeks to prepare for the biggest game of your life, and then mishandle the first snap on the first down of the first series. Not good.

I was thinking to myself at the time: if this were the Cowboys, we'd have posters wanting to fire the coach for that. The same thing for the goal line offsides in the NFCCG. Those kinds of plays do speak to preparation, and, as it turned out, that safety and one other touchdown would have been all that SEA defense needed to win that game that day.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

It was more metaphorical than anything. To have two full weeks to prepare for the biggest game of your life, and then mishandle the first snap on the first down of the first series. Not good.

I was thinking to myself at the time: if this were the Cowboys, we'd have posters wanting to fire the coach for that. The same thing for the goal line offsides in the NFCCG. Those kinds of plays do speak to preparation, and, as it turned out, that safety and one other touchdown would have been all that SEA defense needed to win that game that day.

Yeah, but the problem I have with Manning, as this great QB, this great offensive coordinator/QB is that he should have and needed to recompose himself and his offense. You could argue that other QBs could/ would accomplish this.

Unless all conditions are perfect, Manning gets unraveled. Never to recover.

 

[Hardline]

Football is not scripted and one situation does not necessarily result in another situation. Denver was and is talented enough to beat Seattle 6 out of 10 times. Just not on that day.