This is a Super Bowl for the ages.
It might be for the aged, if 37-year old Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning completes his storybook tale and finishes off a breathtaking season with his second Super Bowl title –—the first coming with the Colts seven years ago.
Or it could be a game for the ageless. The Seahawks, with kid quarterback Russell Wilson looking as if he barely needs to shave, are the second-youngest team ever to get this far, with an average age of 26.4 years that ranks slightly older than the 1971 Dolphins.
Super Bowl XLVIII, even before kickoff Sunday night at MetLife Stadium, already is one for the history books, the first-ever outdoor game held in a cold-weather city — a New York/New Jersey regional showcase that brings the brightest lights to the biggest city.
It’s a true title match, pitting the No. 1 seed in the NFC and AFC against each other, with the league’s best offense (Broncos) against the league’s best defense (Seahawks). There are stars (Manning) and personalities (Richard Sherman) and beasts (Marshawn Lynch) and old warriors (Champ Bailey).
The dominating presence is Manning, attempting to become the first quarterback to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises and do it in the football home of his younger brother, Eli, a feat that would stamp him as perhaps the greatest of all time.
“I’ve been asked about my legacy since I was 25 years old, which I’m not sure you can have a legacy when you are 25 years old, or even 37,’’ Peyton said. “I thought you had to be 70 to have a legacy. I’m not 100 percent sure what the word even means. I’m down the homestretch of my career, but I’m still in it. It’s not over yet. It’s still playing out. This has been the second chapter of my career, and it is an exciting chapter.’’
A look inside the game:
Marquee Matchup
Broncos WR Demaryius Thomas vs. Seahawks CB Richard Sherman
These two athletes, both standing 6-foot-3, won’t go against each other every play, but when they do, watch out. Thomas likes to bully smaller cornerbacks, but Sherman is his size and gets his hands on receivers so often he leaves fingerprints. Since Sherman arrived in the league in 2011, he has an NFL-high 20 interceptions. Thomas has four touchdown catches in five postseason games.
“I do feel like he’s the best in the game,’’ Thomas said of Sherman. “Watching film on him, he’s in the right spot at all times. He knows what’s going on on the field. He knows leverage and all this other stuff. I am going to have to figure out something.’’
Meteorologists Unite
Have you heard, this is the first outdoor Super Bowl in a cold-weather site? Have you heard that, after the bone-chilling deep freeze of the past few weeks, it might be more than 40 degrees at kickoff?
Once this game was locked in, there were those who raced to the Farmer’s Almanac to get a clue what the conditions might be for this grand event. Well, it won’t be the cozy confines of a dome or a Florida evening, but it’s going to be relatively mild, a bit damp and slightly breezy but no real gusts.
In other words, just another winter game. Players on both sides seemed bored with the weather angle.
“This is the moment I’ve been waiting for my whole life, to play in the Super Bowl,’’ Broncos linebacker Wesley Woodyard said. “If it’s 100 degrees or negative-10, Sunday is the best day it’s going to be.’’
Gone with the Win?
Somewhere someone got to thinking then speculating that if the Broncos win, Peyton Manning will decide to ride off into the sunset and retire. Has anyone who thinks that way actually never met the man, er, the Manning? His shoulder pads and jersey might have to be ripped off him to get him out of the game. Unless there’s medical advice that his surgically repaired neck is at risk, Manning has said he is not going anywhere.
“I feel a little bit better than I thought I would coming off that surgery a couple of years ago,’’ Manning said. “I feel better physically. I’ve been rejuvenated playing under a different offense, playing with new receivers because it keeps me stimulated every day. So, I certainly would like to keep playing.”
Clash of Titans
The confrontation everyone is salivating to see is Manning and his record-breaking offense vs. Seattle’s top-rated defense, No. 1 vs. No. 1. No wonder the Seahawks offense vs. the Broncos defense was reduced to junior varsity status in the days leading up to the game.
”Obviously, the No. 1 offense vs. the No. 1 defense is going to get a lot of attention, and it deserves to,’’ Seahawks tight end Zach Miller said. “It’s a cool matchup. Seeing our defense play every week is something special.’’
Bad Tidings
Manning is just the fourth quarterback in the Super Bowl era to make the Super Bowl after a season in which he led the league in passing yards and passing touchdowns. The other three are Dan Marino (1994), Kurt Warner (2001) and Tom Brady (2007), all of whom lost in the Super Bowl.
No Experience Necessary
The Broncos have four players who previously have played in a Super Bowl: Manning, receiver Wes Welker, tight end Jacob Tamme and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Their coach, John Fox, made it to the Super Bowl as the Giants’ defensive coordinator and as a head coach with the Panthers.
The Seahawks? Not so much. Coach Pete Carroll won two national championships at USC but never has been this far in the NFL. The Seahawks, in fact are the first team since the 1990 Bills to make it to the Super Bowl without any players with Super Bowl experience.
“Well, in college we never had any guys that had more than four years playing,’’ said Carroll, who at 62 is the second-oldest coach in the NFL — behind Tom Coughlin, 67. If Carroll wins would be the third-oldest coach to win a Super Bowl, behind Coughlin and the Rams’ Dick Vermeil.
“That’s kind of where we are right now. There’s a big emphasis about the Super Bowl experience and all of that … but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. Hopefully we’ll demonstrate that we can handle this game, and we can handle the matchups, and the lights, and the cameras, and all of that kind of stuff, and play good football.”
Wes is More
Welker is 0-2 in the Super Bowl, and you can forgive him if he has nightmares about the Giants, who beat his Patriots after the 2007 and 2011 seasons. Welker, though, has put up gaudy numbers — 18 combined receptions for 163 yards in his two Super Bowls. He has no touchdowns, though, and the most recent memory of Welker is his monumental drop of a high Brady throw that could have clinched the game for the Patriots two years ago.
Tale of the Tape
Manning is coming off the greatest regular season for a quarterback in NFL history, with 55 touchdowns and 5,477 passing yards — numbers even a fantasy football devotee could not conjure up. His counterpart, Russell Wilson, stands 6 inches shorter and gives away 14 years of NFL experience. Wilson, though, has the most regular-season wins by a quarterback in his first two seasons since 1950. He’s the only player in NFL history to have a 100-plus passer rating in both his rookie and second seasons.