After all the adversity the Broncos had overcome this year, how could their dream have died so swiftly Sunday night?
Twelve seconds into the game was all it took to see the direction Super Bowl XLVIII was taking before 82,539 shocked sets of eyes at MetLife Stadium.
Twelve seconds into the second half was all it took to confirm what we’d already learned after a first half of stunning Seattle dominance: This game was decided before it began — long before Seahawks 43, Broncos 8 was recorded into the history books for good.
After spending the year defining themselves with their remarkable resiliency, the dam finally burst on the Broncos.
And when they reflect on the carnage from a night gone so terribly wrong, the scoreboard clock reading 14:48 will live in infamy in Denver.
There was 14:48 remaining in the first quarter when Broncos center Manny Ramirez snapped the ball over Peyton Manning’s head on the game’s first play from scrimmage, ending in a safety and a 2-0 Seattle lead 12 seconds into the game — the fastest opening score in Super Bowl history.
And there was 14:48 remaining in the third quarter when Seattle receiver Percy Harvin returned the opening kickoff of the second half and ran it 87 yards down the throats of the Broncos coverage team for a 29-0 lead, 12 seconds into the third quarter.
“They were relentless,’’ said John Elway, the Broncos executive vice president. “They smelled blood and stayed after it.’’
They shut off the lights inside the stadium during the Bruno Mars/Red Hot Chili Peppers halftime concert, and they may as well have left them off at the start of the third quarter because, frankly, this thing was over for the Broncos by halftime, trailing 22-0.
“We definitely overcame a lot this season; it’s been a long ride,’’ Broncos cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie said inside the hushed Denver locker room. “It’s been a long ride. From start to finish they put it on us. They smacked us around. It was very stunning to look up at the scoreboard and see it’s 22-0 in first half and you’re trying to figure out what happened.
“At half we came in and tried to regroup and the Percy Harvin kick return did us in. The more we fought the deeper we sunk.’’
This was in direct contrast to the way the Broncos handled adversity all season up until Sunday night.
- There was the fax machine faux pas that ended up sending defensive end Elvis Dumervil, their most formidable defensive player, to Baltimore when he really wanted to stay in Denver.
- There was linebacker Von Miller, perhaps their second-best defensive star, suspended for violating the league’s drug policy.
- They lost left tackle Ryan Clady, the cornerstone of the offensive in charge of protecting the team’s crown jewel, Manning, to a season-ending foot injury in a Week 2 game against the Giants in the very stadium that their season ended Sunday night.
- Then there was head coach John Fox collapsing on a golf course in Charlotte, N.C., rushed to the hospital for emergency heart surgery during the bye week, causing him to miss a month’s worth of games.
- Â Along the way, the Broncos lost Hall of Fame-bound cornerback Champ Bailey for 14 games to a foot injury and starters Derek Wolfe and Rahim Moore for the season.
As the issues mounted, the Broncos lived by the motto: “Next man up.’’
The Broncos had answers for almost everything they encountered this season. Sunday night, they had none. They finally ran out of “next’’ men against a faster, more athletic, harder-hitting, better Seahawks team.
After all the Broncos had overcome this season, most stunning of all was how quickly they succumbed to the Seahawks. It was as if that first punch — that safety 12 seconds in — knocked them out.
They would go on to turn the ball over four times — two on Manning INTs, as well as fumbles by Manning and Demaryius Thomas. If it’s possible, the Broncos were less competitive in this game than they were in the 40-10 preseason loss to the Seahawks in Seattle.
“I was not surprised that we got here after what we overcame; I’m surprised about the way we played,’’ Bailey said. “We didn’t play our best football. We played a really good football team that was ready to go and we didn’t match their intensity.’’
Damning words at the end of an otherwise damn good season.