Looking at these Super Bowl defenses on paper its apples and oranges. On one hand you have the Seattle Seahawks a defense that is considered the best defense in football. They have the biggest baddest secondary known to man with an athletic front seven capable of causing all kinds of havoc in the backfield.
The Broncos on the other hand look terrible on paper. 27th in passing defense and 22nd in points allowed this season, and with many young and unknown players contributing valuable time the Broncos defense was thought to be their weak point. But is that really a fair assessment of these two units? I say no, you need to look a lot deeper than stats and rankings when it comes to these two teams.
Seattle Seahawks
Seattle has one of the top units in football on paper with high rankings in yards and points prevention. They have made teams struggle to create all year, but and yes there is a but friends. How many times have they been tested by elite offenses this year?
I count three teams on their schedule that I would say have elite offensive units and calling the 49ers offense elite is a stretch that I’ll take with the addition of Michael Crabtree. Even the other two offenses I’m counting (the Colts and Saints) have obvious weaknesses that can easily shut down the whole unite.
They are praised for their passing yards per game average but how many top quarterbacks have they faced this year. Drew Brees who only has one real reliable target and felt the repercussions when Jimmy Graham was taken away.
Andrew Luck the only other top quarterback on the schedule had an I’m the man performance with 229 yards and two touchdowns. Neither one of these quarterbacks come close to Peyton Manning possibly the best to ever play the position. Also with Brandon Browner the Seahawks second best corner being suspended indefinitely will hurt their chances even more in the Super Bowl.
Denver Broncos
The Broncos are thought to have one of the worst defenses in the league as they are ranked 27th in pass defense and 22nd in point prevention. A lot of people also totally dismiss their seventh ranked rush defense as a result of teams throwing so often to keep up with Manning and the offense. I will argue that they have some of the best young talent in the NFL.
This year I have gained a lot of respect for players like Wesley Woodyard, Terrance Knighton, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie who stepped up and provided leadership all season. Woodyard in his sixth year out of Kentucky was second on the team in tackles and forced two fumbles this year. I was also impressed with Shaun Phillips and Robert Ayers and their ability to get to the quarterback.
But the most impressive player on this Broncos defense this year has to be Danny Trevathan in his second season out of Kentucky. He lead the team with 128 tackles and tied for first with three interceptions. He was all over the field this year and you have to be excited about his progression if you're a Broncos fan. Another second year player that had a good season was saftey Duke Ihenacho, third on the team in tackles and he added on three forced fumbles. But sadly it’s not all upside with the Broncos.
They will be without two of their top three players on defense, linebacker Von Miller and Cornerback Chris Harris, both out with ACL tears. But with the Seahawks not being a primary passing offense I question how much difference their absence will make. The front seven has performed well without Miller and the Secondary will play one of the best defensive backs of the last 10 years Champ Bailey for Harris. With the Seahawks offense missing possibly going without Percy Harvin again I doubt the Russell Wilson and the Seattle Passing attack will be able to take advantage of the Broncos injuries.
With that being said, these two defenses may match up then most have thought. The Seahawks will have to face a passing attack that may go down as the best in history without their second best corner. They also haven’t played many elite passing attacks this season so we don’t really know what to expect from them in this game.
On the other hand the Broncos match up pretty well against the run heavy Seahawks. They have the seventh ranked run defense in the league because they’ve had young players like Trevathan and Ihenacho step up and be factors in stopping the run. This front seven isn’t the joke of a unit that most think they are. I look forward to this match up, I shall speak for football fans across the nation when I say, this will be fun.