Blogging quarterly through the Super Bowl

I wasn't going to do this, but wow...the entire first quarter was ALL ABOUT SEATTLE!

• Starting from the first play where Denver's center hiked the ball over Peyton Manning's head resulting in a 14 yard loss and a safety.
• Followed up by a long 9-play stretch by Seattle's offense, settling on a field goal.  This drive included a spectacular reverse run by Percy Harvin, proving his worth, even if used rarely this season because of injuries.  That reach by Russell Wilson to try to get the first down looked really good, but the officials, on replay, ruled it just short.
• Then Seattle's defense forced a quick 3-and-out.
• Followed up by Seattle's drive down to get another field goal.
• And, as I thought they might do, Seattle's Kam Chancellor stopped Manning with an interception on a pass that was behind and high.

Second Quarter, ALL ABOUT SEATTLE!

• Seattle gets a touchdown with Beast driving hard from just outside the goal line.
• Denver, seemingly on a long drive with 3 straight 3rd down conversions, turns the ball over as Manning gets hit while letting the ball go...directly into former USC Trojan Malcolm Smith's hands, who ran it all the way back for a touchdown!  The question, it seems, is whether Seattle's defense will outscore its offense.
• On 4th and 2, rather than take a field goal down 0-22, Manning nearly tossed his third interception.  Instead, Seattle stopped Denver and maintained its shutout of Denver's offense.  You better believe, this IS the Legion of Boom.  3/4 of his passes have been under the secondary and just one out on Sherman.
• This is the biggest shutout in the history of the Super Bowl.  It's going exactly as Seattle thought it could go, and nothing close to how Denver thought it might go.

Halftime thoughts

This is slightly off. McCoy is on IR; Malik Jackson played at USC for two years before transferring to Tennessee during the NCAA's unprecedented free agency sanction against the Trojans.

Third Quarter...Almost all Seattle!

• Wow, Percy Harvin started the second half with a dazzling show of speed, racing down some 90 yards returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown!
• Whenever Denver thought it got something going, Seattle's defense steps up and shows that it is not be trifled with, and Malcolm Smith recovers a forced fumble via Kam Chancellor.  This is just nuts how crazy good USC's defense is.  ;)
• Seattle turned that turnover into another 7 points, as Jermaine Kearse punches through arm tackles on a bee line pass from Wilson, into the end zone.  36 - 0, this smells like the USC rout of Oklahoma in 2005, doesn't it?
• Denver scores its first points with seconds left in the 3rd quarter, ending the quarter down 8 - 36.  Not a single throw towards Richard Sherman, by the way.  I'm waiting for it, though, and the interception to come.

Fourth Quarter...ALL SEATTLE!

• What can you say?  Wilson just keeps making the throws he needs to make and Seattle scored with a Baldwin catch and run to make it into the end zone.  22 points in the first half, and now another 20 points in the second half and we still have just under 12 minutes to play.
• Even though Seattle lost Sherman and temporarily Thurmond, the Legion of Boom stopped Denver on 4th down and Seattle turned what was supposed to be the highest-scoring offense in the history of the NFL look like kittens.
• While it made no difference either way, Seattle's defense caused one more fumble.  That made it four turnovers by the best defense in the NFL this year, on its way to Seattle's first championship.