Super Bowl 2014 Game Preview

SUPER BOWL XLVIII: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2014

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS-NFC WEST (15-3) AT DENVER BRONCOS-AFC WEST (15-3)

SERIES

	SEAHAWKS	BRONCOS
LEADER (REG. SEASON)		34-18
STREAKS (REG. SEASON)		12 of past 15
COACHES VS. OPP. (REG. & POSTSEASON)	Carroll: 2-3	Fox: 1-3
COACHES PLAYOFF RECORD	5-4	8-5
VS. COMMON OPP. (REG. SEASON)	Sea.: 4-1 (Hou. 1-0; Ind. 0-1; Jax. 1-0; NYG 1-0; Ten. 1-0) Den.: 4-1 (Hou. 1-0; Ind. 0-1; Jax. 1-0; NYG 1-0; Ten. 1-0)
PLAYOFF RECORD	11-12	20-17
LAST WEEK	W 23-17 vs. 49ers	W 26-16 vs. Patriots
LAST GAME (REG. SEASON)	9/19/10: Seahawks 14 at Broncos 31. Denver QB Kyle Orton passes for 307 yards & 2 TDs. Broncos WR Demaryius Thomas has 8 receptions for 97 yards & TD. Broncos RB Knowshon Moreno adds rushing TD.
LAST GAME AT SITE (REG. SEASON)	---
LAST PLAYOFF	12/24/83: Broncos 7 at Seahawks 31. Seattle QB Dave Krieg throws 3 TDs. Seahawks WR Steve Largent has 4 catches for 76 yards & TD. Seahawks defense has 2 INTs.
BROADCAST	FOX (6:25 PM ET): Troy Aikman, Joe Buck, Erin Andrews & Pam Oliver (Field reporters). Westwood One: Kevin Harlan, Boomer Esiason, James Lofton & Mark Malone (Field reporters).

REGULAR SEASON STAT LEADERS

PASSING	Wilson: 257-407-3,357-26-9-101.2	Manning: 450-659-5,477 (1L)-55 (1L)-10-115.1 (1C)
RUSHING	Lynch: 301-1,257-4.2-12 (T1L)	Moreno: 241-1,038-4.3-10 (2C)
RECEIVING	Tate: 64-898-14.0-5	D. Thomas: 92-1,430 (3C)-15.5-14 (1C)
OFFENSE	339.0	457.3 (1L)
TAKE/GIVE	+20 (1L)	0
DEFENSE	273.6 (1L)	356.0
SACKS	Bennett: 8.5	Phillips: 10
INTs	Sherman: 8 (1L)	3 tied: 3
PR	Tate: 11.5	Holliday: 8.5
KR	Kearse: 21.8	Holliday: 27.7 (3C)
PUNTING	Ryan: 42.7	Colquitt: 44.5
KICKING	Hauschka: 143 (1C) (44/44 PAT; 33/35 FG)	Prater: 150 (2L) (75/75 PAT; 25/26 FG)

SEAHAWKS

Advanced to 2nd Super Bowl in franchise history (2005). Seek 1st Super Bowl win.

Earned NFC's No. 1 seed for 2nd time (2005) since current 12-team format started in 1990.

Head coach PETE CARROLL is 4-2 in postseason with Seattle.

Seahawks had 6 players selected to Pro Bowl: S KAM CHANCELLOR (2nd), RB MARSHAWN LYNCH (4th), CB RICHARD SHERMAN (1st), S EARL THOMAS (3rd), C MAX UNGER (2nd) & QB RUSSELL WILSON (2nd).

QB Russell Wilson has 27 wins in 1st two seasons (incl. playoffs), tied for most (BEN ROETHLISBERGER) in Super Bowl era. Can become 4th QB to win Super Bowl in 1st two seasons, joining KURT WARNER, TOM BRADY, & Roethlisberger. Is 1 of 3 QBs in NFL history with 50+ pass TDs (52) in 1st two regular seasons. Had 101.2 passer rating & is only QB in NFL history to have 100+ rating in both rookie & 2nd season. In postseason career, has 3-1 record with 96.9 rating.

RB Marshawn Lynch rushed for 1,257 yards & 12 TDs, his 3rd consecutive season with 1,200+ yards & 10+ TDs. Is only NFL player to rush for 1,000+ yards & 10+ TDs in each of past 3 seasons. Is 2013 postseason leader with 249 rush yards & 2 100-yard rush games. In 6 career playoff games, has 6 rush TDs & 4 100-yard games. Has 5 rush TDs in past 4 playoff games & aims for 5th in row with TD. Has 560 rush yards in postseason career & needs 5 to pass SHAUN ALEXANDER (564) for most in franchise history. Since Nov. 2011 (incl. playoffs), leads NFL with 4,215 rush yards & 37 rush TDs.

WR-PR GOLDEN TATE led team with career-high 64 catches & 898 yards. Was only player with 800+ rec. (898) & 500+ PR (585) yards.

WR DOUG BALDWIN was 2nd on team with 778 rec. yards. Leads team in catches (8) & rec. yards (136) in postseason. In NFC Championship, had 6 catches for 106 yards & 69-yard KR. Is only player in Super Bowl era with 100+ rec. yards & 50+ yard kick returns in same playoff game. Tate, Baldwin & TE ZACH MILLER all tied for team lead with 5 rec. TDs.

WR JERMAINE KEARSE had 35-yard TD catch in NFC Champ...Seahawks led NFL with 39 takeaways, 28 INTs & +20 turnover differential. Seattle was 1st in NFL in points allowed (231), total defense (273.6) & pass defense (172)...

CB Sherman led NFL with 8 INTs, 1st Seahawk to lead NFL in INTs since 1993 (EUGENE ROBINSON). Has 4 INTs in past 5. Since entering NFL in 2011, Sherman leads NFL with 20 INTs. Tipped pass that was intercepted by LB MALCOLM SMITH for game-sealing INT in NFC Champ.

S Thomas was 1 of 2 in NFL with 100+ tackles (100), 5+ INTs (5) & 2+ FFs (2). Thomas is only S in past decade to record 100+ tackles, 5+ INTs & 2+ FFs in single season.

S Chancellor had 93 tackles, his 3rd consecutive seasons with 90+ tackles. Has 25 tackles in postseason, most on team & most in NFL by DB. Had 11 tackles & INT in NFC Champ. Has 4 PD, tied for most in NFL playoffs.

LB BOBBY WAGNER led team with 119 tackles. Is 2nd on team with 24 postseason tackles.

DE MICHAEL BENNETT has 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries & 1.5 sacks in 2013 postseason.

DE CLIFF AVRIL has 2 forced fumbles & 1.5 sacks in playoffs. Bennett & Avril each had sack & forced fumble in NFC Championship. Bennett also had fumble recovery. Since 2011 (incl. playoffs), Avril is only player in NFL with 30+ sacks (30.5) & 15+ forced fumbles (15).

K STEVEN HAUSCHKA made 33 of 35 FGs in regular season & led NFC with franchise-record 143 points. Has converted all 6 attempts in postseason. Hauschka's 6 FGs & 22 kicking points are both 2nd most in playoffs.

BRONCOS

Advanced to 7th SB, tied for 3rd-most in NFL history (DAL, 8; PIT, 8; NE, 7). Seek 3rd SB victory. Denver has won past 2 Super Bowl appearances (XXXII, XXXIII). Have 20-17 (.541) postseason record. Earned AFC's No. 1 seed for 2nd consecutive year & 7th time in franchise history. Won AFC West for 13th time & 1st time in three straight seasons.

JOHN FOX is 6th head coach in NFL history to lead two different franchises to SB.

Denver (606) scored most points in season in NFL history.

QB PEYTON MANNING will start 3rd SB of career. Completed 56 of 83 passes (67.5 pct.) for 580 yards with 2 TDs vs. 2 INTs & 85.4 rating in previous 2 Super Bowl appearances. Manning (6,309) needs 116 pass yards to surpass TOM BRADY (6,424) for most postseason pass yards in NFL history. Has (36) 4th-most postseason TD passes all-time. In AFC Championship Game vs. NE, Manning joined DREW BREES (twice) & KURT WARNER as only QBs to pass for at least 400 yards with 2 TDs vs. 0 INTs in NFL postseason history. Manning is 4th QB in SB era to lead NFL in pass yards & TD passes & also advance to SB that season, joining HOFer DAN MARINO (1984), Warner (2001) & Brady (2007) as only QBs to accomplish feat. For career (reg. season only), Manning is 2-2 vs. Seahawks & has completed 83 of 122 passes (68 pct.) for 1,085 yards with 4 TDs vs. 2 INTs & 99.9 passer rating. Manning (5,477) set NFL's single-season passing yards record & registered 55 TD passes, most in season in NFL history. Manning is 1st player to set both single-season passing yardage & TD records in same season since Dan Marino in 1984. With Broncos, Manning is 7-1 vs. NFC & has completed 221 of 306 passes (72.2 pct.) for 2,491 yards with 22 TDs vs. 8 INTs & 109.3 passer rating.

RB KNOWSHON MORENO (1,038) reached 1,000 rush yards for 1st time in career. Had career-best 13 TDs this season (10 rush, 3 receiving).

Rookie RB MONTEE BALL has averaged 5.5 yards per carry in past 4 games (36 att., 199 yards).

WR DEMARYIUS THOMAS has 4 TDs in 5 career postseason games. Had 7 catches for 134 yards (19.1 avg.) with TD in AFC Championship. Thomas is 1st Bronco to have 2 1,400-yard seasons. Set franchise postseason record with 204 receiving yards on 1/8/12 vs. Pit. Had 8 receptions for 97 yards & 21-yard TD catch in only career game vs. Sea. (9/9/10).

WR WES WELKER has 79 receptions for 762 yards with 5 TDs in 11 career postseason games. Welker (79) needs 7 catches to surpass ANDRE REED (85) for 5th-most catches in NFL playoff history. Has 18 receptions for 163 yards in 2 SBs.

WR ERIC DECKER had career-high in receptions (87) & receiving yards (1,288) in 2013. Decker & D. Thomas joined HOF CRIS CARTER & RANDY MOSS (Min., 1998-99) in 2013 as only WR duos in NFL history with at least 1,000 yards & 10 TDs each in consecutive seasons.

TE JULIUS THOMAS has 14 receptions for 161 yards in 2 career postseason games. Thomas (12) has most TD rec. by Broncos TE in season in franchise history.

TE JACOB TAMME posted 1st career postseason TD last week. Denver became 1st team in NFL history to have 5 players score at least 10 TDs in same season (D. Thomas 14, Moreno 13, J. Thomas 12, Decker 11 & Welker 10).

CB CHAMP BAILEY has 2 career postseason INTs, incl. 100-yard INT-TD return on 1/14/06 vs. NE (tied for 2nd-longest return in postseason history). Baily has 3 INTs in 5 career reg. season games vs. Seattle.

CB DOMINIQUE RODGERS-CROMARTIE played in SB XLIII with Cardinals.

LB DANNY TREVATHAN led team with career-high 125 tackles this season.

LB SHAUN PHILLIPS posted 2 sacks in Divisional Playoff vs. SD, most in postseason game in career. Phillips (10) reached double-digits sacks for 3rd time in career.

DT TERRANCE KNIGHTON had 4 tackles & sack in AFC Championship.

Club had 5 players selected to 2014 Pro Bowl (QB Manning, K MATT PRATER, WR D. Thomas, TE J. Thomas, G LOUIS VASQUEZ).