EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Tony McDaniel spoke prophetically about Super Bowl XLVIII long before Seattle tore up the Denver Broncos in a 43-8 slaughter Sunday night.
On NFL Network
NFL Replay
will re-air in full the
Seattle Seahawks' 43-8 victory over the
Denver Broncos in
Super Bowl XLVIII on Tuesday, Feb. 4, at 9 p.m. ET.
The Seahawks defensive lineman told Around The League on Tuesday that Peyton Manningcould and would be disrupted by Seattle's defense. The numbers weren't gaudy -- one sack and four quarterback hits -- but Seattle successfully crowded Denver's star passer all night.
I caught up with McDaniel in the winning locker room, where he told me Manning just wasn't himself in the second half.
"When we was up about 29 points, just his whole emotion was kind of like he was dry," McDaniel said. "Just the whole team looked like they was giving up, and once we scored again, I knew it was over."
Said edge rusher Cliff Avril: "We knew going into this game that Peyton didn't like people around his feet, so the biggest thing we had to do was get a good pass rush and we knew our DBs would jam up those receivers and disrupt the timing a little bit. We knew it was just a matter of time before we could get to him."
Like McDaniel, Avril agreed that Percy Harvin's kick return score to open the second half shattered Denver's spirit, saying: "How could it not?"
When Denver protects Manning like it did all season, he's the best in the game. When he's badgered, hemmed in and forced to dance outside the pocket, he's not the same quarterback. The Seahawks turned Peyton into someone we're not used to seeing Sunday.
*The "Around The League Podcast" taped our Super Bowl XLVIII recap from MetLife Stadium right after the game. *
