NEWARK, N.J. -- Denver's high-flying offense has shredded the record books this season, but the Broncos haven't gained a yard or put up a point against the Seattle Seahawks, at least not yet.
Giving up fewer points and yards than any team in the league, the 'Hawks have foiled the run and turned composed quarterbacks into jelly all season.
There's no overt weakness to Seattle's game, but Broncos running backs coach Eric Studesville says Denver is determined to maintain its identity Sunday.
"We got to do everything," Studesville told Around the League at Tuesday's Super Bowl Media Day. "It can't just be looking for places to find a run. We've got to complement everything: The run builds on the play-action pass, which then gives us things in the dropback pass, if we're running it effective. We're going to do the same things we've been done all season."
Peyton Manning is a master at taking what defenses will give, chipping away at pass-heavy looks with the run and finding receivers in open spaces when opponents bunch up to stop the ground game. But then, of course, there's Richard Sherman, the All-Pro Seahawks cornerback who erased a third of the field against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.
In that tilt, 49ers passer Colin Kaepernick threw at Sherman just twice and barely even turned his head to the defender's side of the field. I asked Studesville if Manning will boldly throw at Sherman on Sunday.
"We're going to go through what we do," he said. "They've got great players all across the board. It's not about one player. We gotta respect all 11 that they have out there, and we're going to go with what our progressions are, what our rules are, what are plays that we call are. If we execute what we're supposed to do, then it's more about what we do -- and not so much about what they do."
Fair point, coach, but in a sport that teeters on matchups and one-on-one duels, Manning vs. Sherman looms as a showdown for the ages.
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