The NFL season will come to a close tonight in Super Bowl 48 as the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks battle for the right to be called champion of the world. The Super Bowl 48 Start Time is set for 6:25 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on FOX. Currently the Super Bowl Odds for the game have Denver as a slight favorite to win the game.
The wait is over for sports fans as the biggest game in the world takes place tonight. The New York City area was rewarded the Super Bowl this season and it's going to be cold outside — the first Super Bowl played in this type of weather. Denver is making its seventh Super Bowl appearance while the Seahawks will be playing in their second Super Bowl tonight. Everyone has been talking about Peyton Manning and his struggled in cold weather, but most of those losses came while he was the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. Since being the QB of the Broncos he's guided Denver to a supreme record and arguably the best overall team the past two seasons in the NFL.
Seattle and Denver both play outside, in colder climates for the most part, and it probably won't be as big a deal tonight as most have made it seem. Peyton will be looking to get his second ring, playing in the home stadium of his younger brother Eli, who does have two Super Bowl championships. Peyton had arguably the greatest season ever by a quarterback and a win in the Super Bowl would only cap that off. He'd also be the first quarterback to win a Super Bowl with two different teams as the starter. Both Craig Morton and Kurt Warner are the only two other quarterbacks to lead two franchises to Super Bowl appearances.
Russell Wilson is a methodical quarterback for Seattle that plays the game the right way. Head coach Pete Carroll is looking for his first Super Bowl win and he has the type of team that most NFL franchises are looking to build. They play extremely tough, effective defense. They run the football with Marshawn Lynch as much as possible. They hold teams to low-scoring games and yet still find a way to have interesting outcomes.
Baltimore broke the NFC's streak of three straight Super Bowl wins last season. This is just the second time in 20 seasons that the two No. 1 seeds are facing off in the Super Bowl. Seattle was a dominant team at home this season, but how will they play in this atmosphere tonight? Certainly having two weeks off and preparing all last week in practice for this game will have a mutual advantage for both squads. We know Denver has the best offense in football and Seattle has the best defense in football. But could this game come down to Seattle's offense against Denver's defense?
Wilson has led Seattle to 10 victories after they were trailing in the fourth quarter. And Seattle spreads the ball out, having not had a wide receiver catch 1,000 yards since Bobby Engram in 2007. Seattle spreads it out, doesn't key on one single player and still gets the job done. Handing the ball off to Lynch as much as possible certainly helps at well.
Denver has allowed just 70 yards per game on the ground in their last four games. They finished the season with the 27th best pass defense, which certainly isn't good, but it's also worth noting that most teams had to throw the ball nearly every play the second half to catch up because Denver was winning. The Broncos are pretty solid against the run, but wit the amount of touches Lynch is projected to get today, expect him to have a solid game. Denver will have to win this game in the secondary, not allowing big plays and keeping Seattle out of the end zone.
But in the end, we can't ignore Peyton and the dominant year he had. Denver is just too good offensively in this contest. We expect an exciting game between these two squads and won that probably won't be decided on the final drive of the game. We expect Denver to have a healthy lead in the second half and go on to win by a couple of field goals.
Free Pick: Denver 27, Seattle 21
Super Bowl 48: Denver Broncos vs Seattle Seahawks
What pro football bettors need to know about betting Super Bowl 48 between Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks on Sunday (2/02/14) -- with insight from Pregame.com's Marco D'Angelo with Ken Thomson and Bryan Leonard.
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