Seahawks are in New Jersey, hoping for a little deja vu

Dec 15, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (24) gets past New York Giants defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins (99) during the game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

The Seahawks touched down in New Jersey on Sunday night, one week prior to the biggest game of their careers — Super Bowl XLVIII.

The flight was nearly five hours and almost covered the complete horizontal distance of the United States. It was a 2,400-mile trip between Seattle and Newark, N.J.

“We’re well aware that we just crossed the country to go play in the biggest football game you can play in,” head coach Pete Carroll said via Seahawks.com. “All that follows that, we’re going to just take in stride. I feel like that’s what I’m doing right now, just taking the next step. We’ve got a lot of major steps here during the week, but it’s fun for us.”

Luckily for the Seahawks, they’ve made this trip before.

Not to the Super Bowl (at least not this current roster), but to New Jersey.

On Dec. 15, the Seahawks visited the New York Giants in Week 15. That game featured one of the best defensive performances the Seahawks displayed all season.

They shutout the Giants, 23-0, holding them to only 181 total yards of offense, and just 25 rushing yards. Seattle’s defense forced Eli Manning to throw five interceptions and he was sacked three times.

On Sunday, after the Denver Broncos arrived in New Jersey, one reporter asked Peyton Manning if Eli had given him any advice regarding the upcoming game.

“Yeah, he told me he couldn’t help much with Seattle,” Manning said in his news conference, via ESPN.com. “That wasn’t one of the Giants’ best games.”

The Seahawks will be hoping they can go 2-0 at MetLife Stadium this year with a win in the Super Bowl. If the Seahawks play the same defense they played on Dec. 15, they have every chance to beat the Broncos.

It’s worth noting, the Seahawks are wearing the same uniform combination in the Super Bowl as they did in that game — white jerseys with blue pants. Coincidence or superstition?

Regardless, it’s going to take a lot more than a fashion statement to shutdown the older Manning and one of the best offenses in the NFL’s history.

A win would secure the Lombardi Trophy for Seattle for the first time in the history of the franchise.