ALL THE PRE-GAME speculation, hype and build-up was finally over and it was time to play some football.
The Denver Broncos’ high-flying offence took on the mean Seattle Seahawks defence. At quarterback, future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning came up against the young upstart Russell Wilson.
Our open thread was a little different this year. We still wanted to hear your thoughts on the game in the comments, but we were also updating the article with videos, gifs and the odd piece of commentary from Super Bowl XLVIII.
If you spotted anything you think we should include, or you have any questions, let us know in the comments below, email me at steven@thescore.ie or tweet us @thescore_ie.
Seattle Seahawks 43 – 8 Denver Broncos
Hello fellow night owls and welcome to our Super Bowl XLVIII open thread!
First thing you should know tonight is that the beer in your hand is a lot cheaper than what they’re paying in the stadium:
Image: Darren Rovell
Secondly, and most importantly, how do you think this one is going to go?
My money’s on Seattle but it has been from the start of the year so it;s very difficult to change even with the weather not affecting Denver as much as we all expected.
The big question 50 minutes from kick off is where is Nat Coombs on Channel 4?
With that in mind, will you be watching on Sky, Channel 4 or, eh, elsewhere?
I don’t know about you, but I’m with Andy:
Until Channel 4 bring Nat back, we’ve switched over to Sky. They have Jeff, Jeff’s great:
#FREENAT
Unless you’ve been applying to live on Mars for the last week you’ve probably seen this but one betting company is offering 200/1 on this particular result:
Would you take it?
Lots of boos for Seattle as they come out to The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony.
Denver, on the other hand, seem to have the advantage with the crowd but their choice of scaring a horse to death in the pre-game build up means it’s advantage Seahawks.
The over/under on the US national anthem is 2’22″.
I’m going with over. She’s an opera singer, they like to showboat.
JOE NAMATH’S COAT!
SAFETY! – And we’ve the quickest score in Super Bowl history with the Seahawks taking advantage of a horrible Denver snap to make it 2-0 with a safety:
Image: SB Nation
And the Broncos have gone Safety, three and out in their first two drives. Not the start Denver fans would have wanted.
You just knew this was going to be a thing, didn’t you?
INTERCEPTION – Peyton Manning gets fooled again by the Seattle defence and it’s the game’s first turnover thanks to Kam Chancellor’s pick.
This is how bad it was for Denver in the first quarter:
TOUCHDOWN – And the Seahawks have finally found the endzone with Marshawn Lynch scrambling home from a yard.
PICK SIX – After a long drive, on which the Broncos converted four times on third down, Peyton Manning throws his second interception — this time by Malcolm Smith — and this one is returned for a touchdown:
This is the greatest meeting of cultures since we brought hurling to the States:
It’s half time and I don’t think anyone would have predicted this scoreline.
Is there anyway back for Denver?
KICKOFF RETURN – Denver try to limit the impact of Percy Harvin on the kick return by kicking it short…and he returns it for a touchdown. That is surely the game?
FUMBLE – Just when the Broncos make a big passing play, Thomas gives the ball up and it’s another turnover.
TOUCHDOWN – Seattle have scored again and Denver’s defence are worse than the Raiders’:
Captain Picard is happy:
TOUCHDOWN – Broncos are finally on the board as Demaryius Thomas makes a pretty good grab in the endzone to make it 36-8 after the two-point conversion:
TOUCHDOWN – Any hope of a comeback is put in it’s place as Russell Wilson throws his second touchdown of the game, this one to Doug Baldwin. Denver’s tackling is awful again:
What do a Waterford hurler and the Super Bowl have in common?
And that’s the game. Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks have won their first ever Super Bowl.
Hard to argue the best team won.
This is what it looks like to win a Super Bowl:
Congratulations Seattle Seahawks, Super Bowl champions:
Out with the old, in with the new. Great chance for Conor. Pretty much guarantees him the Munster no 9 shirt too.
O gara shud be out half for his territorial kicking alone
Where’s Leo??
Savin’ him for the Aussies
Eh…Leo? You can’t seriously be insinuating that he should start ahead of the mighty duo from Munster?
well at the very least he’s head and shoulders above Ryan on the bench!
Ryan can play both lock and blindside flank, where as Leo is exclusively a lock. Not to prejudice Leo, his record peaks for itself, but Ryan is a rising talent and the utility element is hard to ignore for any coach.
I don’t know what a blindside flank is! I’ve just leapt onto the rugby bandwagon! Come on you boys in green come on you boys in green come on you boys come on you boys in green! What’s a scrum half?
Ryan can cover both back row and lock, that’s why he’s there.
dont worry about the yanks………italy will be after our scalp big time, they owe us one from the six nations!!!
I would expect that once the Italy game comes around both teams will be probably Won 2 lost 1 with progression hanging on the outcome of it. don’t expect it to be pretty!
I’ve heard several pundits/experts say that Ferris should play in 2nd row with O Connell against Aussies, with Jennings,Heaslip & O Brien in the back row. Think it would be a good move which would add extra dynamism to the pack.
This looks very much like the team with one or two possible exceptions (Healy for Court) and maybe some tinkering with the backrow that is going to be used for the 1st two games at least.