Shock and Awe in New Jersey

Eli looks on.  (Courtesy of NFL.com)

On the largest stage in sports, in the biggest game of the year of  the greatest game of all with an average of 110 million viewers watching at home and another 85,000 in the stands in East Rutherford, New Jersey - - Eli’s Town – Peyton Manning and the 53 man roster of The Denver Broncos came up short.  The lights only went out for 34 minutes last year in the New Orleans Superdome during Super Bowl XLVII between the Raven and the 49ers.

This year, just 12 seconds into Super Bowl XXXLVIII a bad snap sailed past Peyton Manning into the end zone for a safety in what USA Today reported was the fastest score in Super Bowl history.  After that, the lights went out for the Broncos for four long quarters of football.

As Broncos Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie told USA Today:

 “They came out right from the jump and punched us around. Anytime you have a team out there that punches you around, you have to punch back. It seemed like the harder we fought, the quicker we failed."

"It was like we were in quicksand out there," Rodgers-Cromartie” added.

And sink they did.  When the dust had settled, the Broncos had suffered what will most likely enter Super Bowl lore as The Rout.   Eeeeeeeeegs summed it up well:

"The NFL has had a good run of almost 10 consecutive competitive super bowls.  In the 80s and 90s there were a lot of blowouts where the moment got too big for one team and they checked out emotionally.  That happened today...for the first time in a decade."

Second year Seahawks QB Russell Wilson only threw 18 of 25 passes for 206 yards and two TDs.  But, Seattle’s self named “Legion of Boom” secondary rode herd on the Broncos.  Manning threw for just 104 yards including three turnovers (two interceptions and a fumble.)  The game MVP was Linebacker Malcolm Smith who had a 69 yard interception returned for a TD by the game.

Who knows if Peyton will get a chance to get return to the Super Bowl where his record is 1-3. But, until Peyton returns to the Big Game--if he returns--his Legacy will temporally reside right here in East Rutherford, New Jersey at MetLife Stadium where Jimmy Hoffa is rumored to have been buried in a place Eli and the G-Men call home.

(To read more of USA Today's article entitled, "Peyton Manning, Denver can't recover from Super Bowl mistakes," click here.)