Taking a look back at both team's road to the Super Bowl, the Broncos have been the more impressive of the two teams, and it really isn't that close.
The Broncos and Seahawks are both 15-3. That includes five common opponents (and all played at like locations). Both won at the Giants, and they played all four of the AFC South teams at the same sites (hosting Jacksonville and Tennessee and playing at Indianapolis and at Houston).
But Denver’s 15-3 looks a lot more solid than Seattle’s 15-3.
I think it’s fair to say both of these teams deserved to lose three games. They both ran into a motivated Colts team on the road – nothing fluky about those games. When Denver lost at New England, the Patriots were simply the better team on that night – they did a really nice job against Peyton Manning. Similarly, Seattle can’t argue that it was unlucky in its 19-17 loss at San Francisco.
And both of these teams lost a game at home in December. Maybe they were flat or whatever, but the Broncos were simply outplayed when the Chargers beat them in a Thursday night game. And in Week 16, Arizona looked like the hungrier, more motivated club when it came in and won 17-10 at CenturyLink.
So the losses for these teams look similar.
But look at the wins. For Denver, I see only one that realistically could have been a loss. They got involved in a shootout brawl in Dallas. The Cowboys had a 7-point lead but under 3 minutes left. Denver tied it, then Tony Romo threw an interception in his own half to set up the game-deciding field goal. Realistically, that one could have been a loss for the Broncos.
So let’s adjust that record to 14 wins, 3 losses, and one game they could have lost.
| DENVER BRONCOS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Result | Opponent | |
| W 49-27 | Baltimore | |
| W 41-23 | at NY Giants | |
| W 37-21 | Oakland | |
| W 52-20 | Philadelphia | |
| W 51-48 | at Dallas | Cowboys up by 7 with 2:50 left |
| W 35-19 | Jacksonville | |
| L 33-39 | at Indianapolis | Colts were better team |
| W 45-21 | Washington | |
| W 28-20 | at San Diego | |
| W 27-17 | Kansas City | |
| L 31-34 (ot) | at New England | Patriots, weather slow Denver O |
| W 35-28 | at Kansas City | |
| W 51-28 | Tennessee | |
| L 20-27 | San Diego | Defense couldn’t stop Chargers |
| W 37-13 | at Houston | |
| W 34-14 | at Oakland | |
| W 24-17 | San Diego | |
| W 26-16 | New England | |
With Seattle, I see a record of 10-3-5. That is, five wins that could have (probably should have) been losses.
In Week 1 at Carolina, the Panthers led that game in the fourth quarter. Seattle took the lead on a bomb to Jermaine Kearse. Carolina is driving for the go-ahead touchdown when DeAngelo Williams fumbles on the 8 with about 5 minutes left. Seattle is able to put together a drive to salt it away.
In Week 4, Houston had them. Texans had a 20-13 lead and had the ball in Seattle territory with less than 3 minutes left – position for clinching field goal. Matt Schaub throws cross-field screen that Richard Sherman knew was coming. He jumps it for key tying touchdown. Note that while Houston finished 2-14, it was 2-1 at the time – playing pretty well and a playoff team in the eyes of just about everyone.
Week 8. Seahawks can do very little on offense and let Rams run for 200 yards. Game ends with Rams getting 3 plays from the 1- and 2-yard line in the last 30 seconds. St. Louis can’t punch it in to sew up the upset.
Week 9. Seattle lets Tampa Bay run for 205 yards. Fortunate to climb out of 21-0 hole.
NFC Championship. To me, that looked like a very even game that could have gone either way. Seattle able to hold off 49ers 23-17 when Colin Kaepernick throws red-zone interception in the final minute.
| SEATTLE SEAHAWKS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Result | Opponent | |
| W 12-7 | at Carolina | Panthers fumble on 8 late |
| W 29-3 | San Francisco | |
| W 45-17 | Jacksonville | |
| W 23-20 (ot) | at Houston | Schaub blows lead with late Pick 6 |
| L 28-34 | at Indianapolis | Colts were better team |
| W 20-13 | Tennessee | |
| W 34-22 | at Arizona | |
| W 14-9 | at St. Louis | Rams: 3 plays inside 2 in last minute |
| W 27-24 (ot) | Tampa Bay | Bucs blow 21-0 lead |
| W 33-10 | at Atlanta | |
| W 41-20 | Minnesota | |
| W 34-7 | New Orleans | |
| L 17-19 | at San Francisco | 49ers pull out a tight one |
| W 23-0 | at NY Giants | |
| L 17-10 | Arizona | Cardinals simply outplayed them |
| W 27-9 | St. Louis | |
| W 23-15 | New Orleans | |
| W 23-17 | San Francisco | last-minute end zone interception |
For me, Denver’s 15-3 is a lot more impressive than Seattle’s 15-3. I think it’s very reasonable than the Broncos are the favored team heading into Sunday’s game.
--Ian Allan