EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It was the all-time best against the NFL’s best in the Super Bowl, and there was no doubt who was better.
After a season when Denver’s offense turned scoring points into child’s play, the big orange juggernaut was crushed to a pulp by a Seattle defense that shut down the Broncos’ vaunted passing game and paved the way for the Seahawks to record a punishing 43-8 victory at MetLife Stadium.
In a season unequaled in league history, the Broncos became the first NFL team to score more than 600 points. Peyton Manning threw a record 55 touchdown passes. Four receivers scored 10 touchdowns or more. Two of them topped 1,200 yards.
But all of those fantasy-football points faded away into a dark New Jersey night as the Seahawks lived up to every bit of their reputation as the NFL’s top defense. They continually pounded Manning and battered his receivers, inflicting a relentless assault that left the Broncos’ offense looking — to steal an infamous phrase from Seahawks all-pro cornerback Richard Sherman — as “sorry” as the 49ers’ Michael Crabtree.
“They are the No. 1 defense in the league for a reason,” said Denver receiver Eric Decker, who made only one catch for 6 yards after hauling in 87 passes for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns in the regular season. “They dominated us across the board.”
Denver’s trio of wide receivers — Demaryius Thomas (92), Decker and Wes Welker (73) — combined for 252 receptions and more than 3,400 yards and 35 touchdowns this season. Tight end Julius Thomas added another 65 catches.
But the Seahawks reduced the Broncos’ big-play offense to a feeble short passing game that was unable to sustain drives early in the game when the contest was decided.
In the first half, when the Seahawks all but put the game away by building a 22-0 lead, Decker had no catches and Demaryius Thomas and Welker had a combined 12 for a mere 73 yards, well below the 15.5 and 10.7 yards per catch Thomas and Welker, respectively, averaged in the regular season.
Adding the garbage-time stats — which was basically the second half — Thomas topped the group with 13 receptions for 118 yards and Denver’s lone touchdown.
“We didn’t do the things we stressed,” Julius Thomas said. “We didn’t execute. It was our worst execution all year.”
