Home >> Denver Broncos Seattle Seahawks: 2014 NFL Championship Weekend Review

Month: January 2014

Denver Broncos Seattle Seahawks: 2014 NFL Championship Weekend Review

The Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks will battle in Super Bowl XLVIII, Sunday, February 3 in MetLife Stadium, New York, New York. The game will be covered by Fox Sports with kickoff at approximately 6:30pm ET.

The Broncos (AFC) and Seahawks (NFC) both enter the game as the number one seed from the respective American Football Conference and National Football Conferences, and both come into the game as the best at what they do: the Broncos are the top scoring offence in the NFL, while the Seahawks are the league’s top defence. Come Super Bowl Sunday, one of those will have to give in.

So how did the teams get this far. Here is a quick review:

The Denver Broncos finished first in the AFC West with a 13-3 record, edging out the Kansas City Chiefs (11-5) for the division crown. The Broncos then faced the San Diego Chargers (9-7) in the Divisional Playoff round, winning that game by 24-17 score.

In the AFC Championship game, the Broncos met their old nemesis in the New England Patriots, who were led by Tom Brady. The Broncos jumped out to a quick 13-3 lead at the half, then extended that to 20-3 heading into the final 15 minute segment, before closing out the 26-16 win. Denver was now heading to the franchises’ 6th Super Bowl, having won twice in back to back wins in 1997 and 1998, led by QB John Elway, who is now the club’s President.

The Seattle Seahawks also finished first in the NFC West with a 13-3 record, squeezing by the defending NFC Champs San Francisco 49ers (12-4) for the divisional crown. In the Divisional Round of the playoffs, the Hawks met up with the New Orleans Saints, who were led by quarterback Drew Brees, prevailing 23-15.

In the NFC Championship game, the Seahawks met up with divisional rival 49ers, who jumped out to a 10-0 first half lead. The Hawks then cut into the lead for a 10-3 halftime deficit. Marshawn Lynch then rumbled for a 40-yard touchdown run to knot the game at 10-10 midway through the 3rd quarter. After some back and forth scoring, the Hawks then led 23-17 as the Niners marched in the final minute for the winning score. But an interception in the endzone ended San Fran’s thoughts of a comeback win, and Seattle was on its way to the team’s second-ever Super Bowl. The last time they were in the big game was in 2006 in Detroit, dropping a 21-10 decision to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Denver Broncos Tackle the New England Patriots for 2014 AFC Championship

The Denver Broncos host the New England Patriots in the National Football Conference’s Championship game this coming Sunday, January 19 at Sports Authority Field in Denver. Kickoff is 3pm ET, with the game being shown on CBS Sports Network.

The winner of the AFC Championship game will meet the winner of the NFC Championship game between the number one seeded Seattle Seahawks and the number five seeded San Francisco 49ers. The two winners will play Sunday, Feb 2nd in the National Football League’s Super Bowl XLVIII in New York, New York. It will also mark the very first ‘cold’ weather game to played outdoors in Super Bowl history.

Bookmakers have pegged the Broncos as the better team, with the Denver sitting as a 5-point favorite, while most expect the game to be a more high scoring affair as the Total for this AFC Championship is set at 51.

Both teams have superstar quarterbacks, with the Broncos led by Peyton Manning while the Patriots will have Tom Brady behind center. Both QBs have won Super Bowls, Brady with three and Manning the one, so each have been through the wars and nothing is expected to catch them by surprise. Even the weather is looking cooperate, as temperatures are expected to be in the mid-50s with very little wind.

Besides both teams being led by all-World quarterbacks, there are other similarities between the two teams. Both have potent, high scoring offences, each finishing in the top 5 for both yards and scoring. The Pats are on a real surge offensively at the moment, having scored an average of almost 40-points per game over their last four games. The Broncos set an NFL record this year for most points scored (606), and Manning set a new NFL mark for touchdown passes with 55. Even while missing his top three receivers from last year, Brady has still been able to keep the Patriots at the top of their offensive game, but this year they have done it with a more balanced attack, featuring the bludgeoning running of LaGarrett Blount, which has helped to set up the playaction pass for Brady.

Both defences, meanwhile, have struggled at times, both finished at the bottom on the league. Denver at 19th overall while the Patriots’ young defence ended up at 26th, but have been improving a lot of late.

This will also be the 15th time that Brady and Manning have met, with Brady having won nine of those contests.

Denver, the number one seed in the AFC, has made it to the championship game by virtue of a 13-3 regular season record, and a home playoff win over San Diego last week in the Divisional Round. The Patriots finished with a 12-4 regular season mark, giving it the number 2 seed in the AFC. Last week the Patriots hammered the visiting Indianapolis Colts by a 43-22 count.

Seattle Seahawks Battle the San Francisco 49ers for 2014 NFC Championship

The San Francisco 49ers visit Seattle to tackle the Seahawks in the National Football Conference’s Championship this coming Sunday, January 19 at Century Link Field. Kickoff is at 6:30pm ET, with the game being show nationally on the Fox Sports network.

The winner of the NFC Championship game will meet the winner of the AFC Championship game between the number one seeded Denver Broncos and the number two seed New England Patriots. The two winners will play Sunday, Feb 2nd in the National Football League’s Super Bowl XLVIII in New York, New York. It will also mark the very first ‘cold’ weather game to played outdoors in Super Bowl history.

Bookmakers see this game as a virtual toss-up, with the Hawks being made a 3-point favorite because of the home field advantage, while all expect the game to be very low scoring as the Total for this NFC Championship is set at 39.

On Sunday, the Niners and Hawks will be meeting as virtual mirror images of each other: both having very strong defences, strong running attacks (Niners’ Frank Gore and the Seahawks’ Marshawn Lynch) and young athletic quarterbacks (Niners Colin Kaepernick and the Hawks Russell Wilson). And both are led by their coaches who both were in the Pac 10 just four years ago.

The 49ers are led by Jim Harbaugh, while the Seahawks have Pete Carroll leading the way. Both teams flat out hate each other, as do both coaches, who’ve both had personal run-ins with each other over the years, in both the Pac 10 and in the NFL.

Head to head this year, the two teams split the two games, each winning in their home parks. The Seahawks thumped the Niners 27-3 back in week 2, while the Niners squeaked out a 19-17 win just four weeks ago, the gaming winning field goal booted with less than a minute remaining in the game.

Both teams are both going into the game quite healthy, with the biggest name in question being Seattle Wideout Percy Harvin, who is listed as questionable because of the NFL-mandated concussion protocol, as Harvin missed the second half of last week’s game against the New Orleans Saints with a concussion.

San Francisco, the number 5 seed in the NFC, has made it to the big NFC game by virtue of a 12-4 regular season record, and road playoff wins over both Green Bay and Carolina. Seattle had a 13-3 regular season mark, giving it the number 1 seed in the NFC. Last week the Hawks squeezed by the visiting New Orleans Saints by a 23-15 count.