The Denver Broncos got demolished the last time they faced the Seattle Seahawks. Fortunately, the 40-10 loss came in preseason play. The team that lost to Seattle in August is far different from the one that will take the field in the Super Bowl on Sunday. The preseason game may have been meaningless, but Peyton Manning says John Elway took it very seriously.
“John pretty much laid it on us after that game — that was a butt kicking,” Manning told reporters this week, via Pro Football Talk. “He talked about what he thought our potential could be and didn’t want to see that wasted. I think guys got the message.”
Manning was in midseason form during the loss, completing 11 of 16 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown. But the Broncos were pretty awful on defense and special teams. They allowed a 107-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and watched a fumble get taken 106 yards the other way for a score.
“He might have been giving a message to coaches as well as the players and everybody in the room got the message,” Manning added. “It was the first time he had addressed the team and when he had something to say it was important.”
Elway probably has not been angry with his team many times since. What he can provide this week is Super Bowl insight from someone who appeared in five Super Bowls and lost three of them. The Broncos would be wise to listen as carefully as they did more than five months ago.
