Seahawks’ Greatness Confirmed Amid Mild-Weather Super Bowl

Super Bowl XLVIII Host Committee sign outside 
Madison Square Garden in New York. 
(Photo: Jon Wagner)

Leading up to Super Bowl XLVIII, much was made of the idea that the first Super Bowl held outdoors, in a cold-weather location, might be a huge edge for the Seattle Seahawks over the Denver Broncos.

The so-called experts were wrong on both accounts.

Not only was the weather just fine for the game (with minimal wind and temperatures approaching 50 degrees under clear skies), but the Seahawks needed such no advantages because they were simply better than the Broncos by a wide margin.

No Snow, No Excuses for Denver

One day after Seattle thoroughly dominated Denver, 43-8, to win its first Super Bowl title, a significant storm dumped more than a half-foot of snow on the New York City area, including MetLife Stadium, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Just imagine how the excuses would have flowed had that occurred one night earlier.

That bad snap, which allowed the safety that gave the Seahawks a 2-0 lead on the first play from scrimmage? Oh, that was because the ball was snapped in the snow and center Manny Ramirez couldn't get a good grip on the ball, they'd have thought (in reality, some said it was the noise of Seattle's well-traveled fans known as the "12th man," which induced the safety; and perhaps the Seahawks also had karma on their side, since they scored exactly a dozen seconds into each half, and led for all but those first 12 seconds -- a Super Bowl-record).

Later, Peyton Manning's two interceptions, including the huge 69-yard, pick-six by Super Bowl XLVIII Malcom Smith, that put the game out of reach, at 22-0? Well, that wouldn't have happened in good weather, people would have believed.

Demaryius Thomas' lost fumble after the Broncos finally started to move the ball in the third quarter, with Denver trailing, 29-0? Well, obviously, it's difficult to hold onto the ball on a play like that in bad weather.

And certainly, the team that scored the most points (606) in a season in NFL history, with the all-time great quarterback who set the single-season mark for most passing yards (5,477) and touchdowns (55) this year, would have scored far more than just eight points, and wouldn't have taken until the final play of the third quarter to get on the scoreboard -- if not for that darn snow.

Yes, those "justifications" and more would have absolved Manning and the Broncos, while unfairly discrediting one of the most punishing Super Bowl performances ever delivered by one of the best defenses in league history.

Weather or Not, Seattle Was Simply the Best

So, in great fairness to Seattle, it's a good thing that yet another record-setting audience was able to witness the Seahawks' impressive victory at its essence -- without any hollow, weather-based explanations as to why Denver couldn't effectively compete.

Instead, anyone who watched Seattle shut down the Broncos' high-powered offense, thankfully couldn't muster a reasonable justification of the blowout based on anything to do with the weather, or anything other than the Seahawks' exemplary play.

Not that had the game been played a day later, it should have swayed people's opinions anyway.

As someone who knows all too well about the way weather can affect playing football in the Meadowlands, Bill Parcells told Michael Kay and Don Lagreca, on the Michael Kay Show (as the snow fell on MetLife Stadium) that when the Super Bowl was first established, "They didn't have any charter about the game having to be played in warm weather." Parcells added, "I always thought the elements and the ability to overcome them, was an indicator of the quality of the team."

He's right, which is why a beatdown like the one Seattle gave to Denver would have been noteworthy in any kind of natural environment. And since it happened in the type of weather that would have seemingly favored the Broncos more than the Seahawks (a pregame two-point underdog), there was left nothing for anyone to say but to admit that Seattle was clearly a well-deserved champion and the best the NFL had to offer this season.

Jonathan Wagner covers the New York Knicks, New York Giants and New York Mets for Yahoo Sports (where he was named one of Yahoo's Top 100 Contributors for 2013). He also covers the Knicks, Hofstra University men's basketball and the New York Cosmos for New York Sports Day. Follow him on Twitter, @JonathanJWagner.