Seattle’s defence flew around from kickoff until confetti in Super Bowl XLVIII—but one play in particular put both its terrifying speed and skill as well as supreme ball skills on full display.
It was 15-0 for the Seahawks with just over three minutes left until halftime. Denver had done next to nothing on offence in the first quarter. The Broncos three possessions in the opening 15 minutes resulted in a safety, a three-and-out and a Kam Chancellor interception. But on Denver’s first offensive drive of the second quarter it seemed as though Peyton Manning had found a rhythm. He was leading a methodical march down the field that looked like it would get the Broncos on the scoreboard. Instead it was the speedy Seahawks who would come up with yet another play at a crucial moment and all but seal their eventual Super Bowl triumph. Here’s how it happened.
It’s third and 13 and Manning lines up in shotgun with three pass targets to his left and one on the right. Running back Knowshon Moreno is tucked in close to Manning on the weak side of the field. Seattle counters with a four-man defensive line with two linebackers and five defensive backs—a nickel package—in coverage. Nine Seahawks defenders did a solid job on this particular play, but it was the combined effort of two men, defensive end Cliff Avril (No. 1) and linebacker Malcolm Smith (No. 2) that stood out.
As the play develops, Smith, who is responsible for Moreno in his man-to-man pass coverage assignment, sees the Denver back leaking out of the backfield and he steps up to lock in on him. Meanwhile, Avril has come off the ball quickly and kept a beautiful low pad level, which gives him natural leverage on Broncos right tackle Orlando Franklin. Avril is underneath Franklin’s shoulder pads, as Franklin is way too high in his blocking technique on this snap, so Seattle’s 6-foot-3, 252 lb. pass rusher is driving the 6-foot-7, 320 lb. Franklin back at will.
Avril pushes Franklin backwards until he arrives at the quarterback—and he’s arrived quickly, in roughly 2.5 seconds. There was nowhere near enough time for any of the four deep patterns the Denver receivers were running to develop, so Manning was forced to try and get off a quick throw to his checkdown option, Moreno. But Manning isn’t quick enough with his release. Avril hits Manning on his right arm just as he’s letting the ball go and it causes a pop-fly flight pattern on the football, far from what Manning had in mind. With the ball floating in the air, Avril’s done his part and it’s up to Smith.
During the time the football was in the air Smith and Moreno take different approaches to it. Smith charges forward and attacks the football, while Moreno stands flat-footed and waited for the ball to get to him—a big mistake. It was Smith’s aggressive pursuit of the ball that allowed him to get in front of Moreno and intercept the pass then outrun some chubby, slow Denver linemen to the end zone.
Smith’s 69-yard interception touchdown blew open the game for the Seahawks favour and ultimately led to him garnering Super Bowl MVP honours. But the play also served as a microcosm for the way the Seahawks played defence for the entire season: using incredible team speed, disrupting the passer and relentlessly pursuing the football.