SUPERBOWL fever hit`s NEW YORK City

This Sunday will see the newest installment of the Superbowl saga as SUPERBOWL XLVIII (48) hits METlife Stadium in New York/New Jersey on February 4th.

This year will witness the two Conference champions from the AFC and NFC locking horns with Peyton Manning leading his Denver Broncos against Richard Sherman`s hard to break down Seattle Seahawks contesting the Vince Lombardi trophy.

The two sides have previously this year, but that was back in pre-season where the Broncos were crushed by the Seahawks 40-10, however neither side will reflect on that game with any real reminiscence as we both look ahead to meeting in a competitive game.

For the Seattle Seahawks, this is a chance for them to put the record straight from the last time they reached the Superbowl, which was back 8 years ago at Superbowl XL (40). 

That day saw Jerome 'the Bus' Bettis run down the Seahawks defence in Detroit`s Ford Field stadium as he helped punished the Seattle side with his Pittsburgh Steelers securing their their fifth Superbowl victory.

In that game Matt Hasselbeck the Quarterback for the Seahawks at that time, struggled to find any in roads through the 'Iron Curtain' of the Steelers defense which saw the Steelers so dominant that season.

Roll on 8 years later and Seattle are back in the big time and now seem to be in the same position as Pittsburgh were at that time as the have the best defensive record heading into the big dance. 

Seattle Seahawks form over the course of the season was a 15-3 record on their way to Superbowl XLVIII. They have a couple of other reasons why they want to become Champions besides the obvious being them wanting to the game of course.

They`ll want to gain some respect from the media, as in some quarters they seemed to be the team that was scoffed at when the Seahawks was first mentioned as a possible candidate to be at Superbowl this year, but they have proved all the doubters wrong with a couple of fantastic displays this season.

Two victories over the New Orleans Saints isn`t an easy thing to do in the NFL, but they have already accomplished that feat to go along with the 23-0 shutout of the home town New York Giants at MetLife Stadium, a place they`ll have happy memories going back to on Sunday and be hoping that history can repeats it`s self again on game day.

Marshawn Lynch   PIC:yahoosport

One of the differences that could see the Seahawks have an advantage in their game is that of their running game as they owned the best rusher in the Playoffs, in Marshawn Lynch.
Running Back Lynch, made 249 yards in the post season playoffs. He also collected the most First Down`s as a Running back, that saw only San Francisco 49ers Quarter back Colin Kaepernick level with him on that statistic. 
Lynch also had the most Rushing yards per game too as he had scored 3 touchdowns alone for his team, to which he helped them progress in these playoffs more than anyone else in the whole of the playoffs.

Nearly every record in the post season sees their opponents the Denver Broncos ahead of them by a fair way except for a couple of records that the Seahawks actually hold over the Broncos. 
Those records they have over the Broncos is off the Rushing and Defense side of things in the Team stats, they are also ranked fourth in the Rushing department while the Broncos are not that far behind them sitting in Sixth position.
Seattle have scored two more Rushing Touchdown`s than that of their rivals and have run the ball just and extra 49 yards more than the Broncos have too and so that proves that the Seahawks are certainly a dangerous side in the running side of things.
They also boast the best defensive record between the two sides which could be a massive factor in the scheme of things, that has already seen them punish the other sides on the way to them securing the NFC Championship.

That defensive effort was for all to see in the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers, as the Seahawks had stopped the powerful 49ers to see them progress and that all was down to the Seattle Seahawks secondary defense unit , with the L.O.B or ‘Legion of the Boom’ as they have been nicknamed bossing games.


The Quartet that makes up the 'L.O.B' is that of Earl Thomas, Brandon Browner, Kam "Bam Bam" Chancellor and of course the final member of the group the ‘shrinking violet' of the group... ok maybe not, but the most vocal of the lot and talked about player at the moment as we head towards media day is that of Richard Sherman. Sherman is one of if not, the best trash talker on the Seattle team and arguably the best in the NFL too, that has been one of their tactics in these playoffs as him and his cliq have almost trash talked their way to the final. The 'L.O.B' has very nearly sparked a coming together between the New Orleans Saints in pre-game and also during the coin toss too in which the umpires and teams had to separate both parties, they used the same tactic to get under the skin of the New Orleans and the 49ers games and saw them beat both opponents.


After the 49ers game, no one really spoke much about the match itself just more about the post game interview with Richard Sherman straight after the game.
That all started when in the final couple of minutes, San Francisco threw the ball deep in the endzone towards Sherman, which seemed to be either a gusty call or mad call as they aimed for him. 
Michael Crabtree tried to catch the pass down field and saw the ball swatted away by Sherman to whose saw the Seahawks defense gain possession of the ball and run out the game, that saw the now infamous interview with Richard Sherman after the game in which he came across like a wrestling villain would in an interview.



He then ranted more on camera with Erin Andrews of FOX Sports, trying her best to interview him but she looked quite taken aback by his behaviour as the CornerBack was a powder keg waiting to explode.
In his his interview he made reference to Michael Crabtree saying "I'm the best corner in the game" and added “When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that's the result you're gonna get..Don't you ever talk about me. Don't you open your mouth about the best or I'm gonna shut it for you real quick.” 

So it looks certain that he will be the head Villian of Superbowl 48, while on the flip side of things the hero of the piece will be seen as Peyton Manning the quarterback of the AFC Champion winning Denver Broncos.

Duel of the QUARTERBACKS: Peyton Manning /  Russell Wilson

pic: money.cnn.com

It comes as a shock when no one in the media has given much attention to their young quarterback in Russell Wilson whose is playing in only his 2nd NFL season and yet he has guided the Seahawks to the superbowl. 

He is a young player still learn and learning the ropes in the NFL, but Watson who was ranked 16th in the regular season for Passing yards saw him in the post season playoffs rise up to 8th place. People have compared the two QB`s of both sides in the contest but it`s a bit unfair on the Seahawks man seeing as his stats will seem like 'chalk and cheese' compared to those with Manning and the career he has.

For Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, this has been the 'Biggest' feel good story in U.S sports this year with Manning making a return to the Superbowl for the 4th time. Manning comeback has been amazing, which saw him not long ago battling a couple of serious neck surgeries over the last few years, to now leading a different franchise back into the bright lights of a Superbowl game and that is a truly remarkable effort from one of the greatest quarterback in NFL history.

It wasn`t long ago either that the elder Manning brother was sat in a sky box watching his younger brother Eli holding aloft the Superbowl trophy with the New York Giant, while he was recovering from neck surgery back in 2011.  A lot of media and former players was asking the question 'Whether Peyton was done?' after Manning got released by the Indianapolis Colts and hadn`t fully proved to have been fit. This saw the door open to a fresh new challenge for Manning and saw Legendary Denver quarterback John Elway proving key to bringing him to the Mile High City of Denver Colorado, if anyone knew about making a comeback, then it was certainly that of John Elway.

Elway who is now the Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the Denver Broncos was quick to snap up the free agent and not only bring in an experienced quarterback to the Broncos, but a massive team player too.

Peyton Manning signing signaled an end of an era to was would be the the number one guy for the franchise. With recent years the QB position at Denver had been pretty much a poisoned chalice with all who took over from Elway and from there on unable to deal to with the pressure.

Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow had been the two recent players battling over that job as it seemed that neither could grasp the chance with both hands when they were presented with it as they constantly swapped back and forth between them for the spot.

So when Manning joined the Broncos franchise in the Summer of 2012, he was seen as the man to lead the glory days back to the Denver outfit and things were looking all rosy for them to start with, as they won the AFC West by a mile, but the honeymoon period came to a crashing end when the Baltimore Ravens dumped the favorites out in the playoffs in the divisional playoffs. The Ravens caused a big upset beating the number 1 seeded Broncos in a epic encounter in Colorado as it saw the game head to a double overtime, with the Ravens winning it 38-35 and saw the Ravens go on to be crowned Superbowl champions.

This season however, has seen the Broncos wanting it more badly than they did last year especially after that loss at home to the Ravens last year, as it was like a kick to the lower extremities for Denver and one that they will go all out for trying to erase in the ‘Greatest show on Turf’ this coming Sunday, as they have got some unfinished business.

Their journey at the start of the season wasn`t just to reach the playoffs again, it was to reach Superbowl and win it to make amends for their loss last time out. Denver`s season record was exactly the same posted by Seattle with a 13-3 record.

The road to the playoffs started for them through the San Diego Chargers first off at home, as they manage to unplug the Chargers 24-17 before then beating their AFC rivals the New England Patriots, 26-16 in the AFC Championship game. 

Talk after the game was that of former Patriots player Wes Welker who made the move to the rival AFC side in the offseason, during the match he seemed to take out Aquib Talib in a off the ball incident which resulted in the New England man done for the game with a Rib injury from the incident.

Broncos play a different brand of ball game to that of their opposite number. Whereas the Seahawks style is more smash mouth, hardnosed  and in your face in the trenches, Denver on the other hand is built on passing and flair. Manning and his band of wide receivers namely the two Thomas`s in Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas. 

Demaryius & Julius Thomas    PIC: Sportingtimes

Those two have wreaked havoc in the league this year and have given other teams defences nightmares with their Offensive ability and if you add on top of that Peyton Manning and his deadly accurate throws, it means Seattle defense will be severely tested come game day.

The game has all the hallmarks of being an absolute classic in New York City on Sunday and it will be the first time that these two sides will have met in the Superbowl. 

The Saying ‘the immovable object v the Irresistible force’ will certainly apply in this game as the best OFFENSE will take on the best DEFENSE in the National Football League this year. With this looking like a tight match up this looks to be like a war of attrition between the two sides and they may have the added factor of the weather coming into play too and disrupting game plans too.

As reports have suggested that the freezing temperatures currently on the East coast of America, may possibly see snow making an appearance in the showcase event and would then throw another interesting dynamic in to the game.

There are so many story lines in this Superbowl this year, that NFL fans will be mouth watering over this game.
For those that aren`t into the game and more about the entertainment side of things, then for them the traditional Halftime show spectacular at this year`s Superbowl will see Bruno Mars and the rock legends in the Red Hot Chilli Peppers jointly involved as they will both have a hard task of trying to beat the Beyonce performed last year, as it was one of the most watched things on U.S television. 

Plus another big thing about Superbowl is that of getting their item seen across the whole of the States ,with the cost of getting a commercial spot for this year`s Superbowl in excess of $4 Million and that is just for a 30 second clip. So you can see why it is one of the most prized spots for advertisers Stateside as it drums up a lot of business for companies with them bringing in celebrities to plug their product as well and is a massive draw for revenue too.

Finishing off, this is one of the most interesting Superbowl`s in recent times and it wouldn`t surprise me if this was to become the FIRST EVER game in Superbowl history where it headed into overtime either.

Superbowl Prediction: Broncos by 6