Super Bowl 2014: 5 Keys For A Seahawks Victory

Jan 19, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (24) carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the 2013 NFC Championship football game at CenturyLink Field. Seattle defeated San Francisco 23-17. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

The infamous Media Day is now behind us. To sum it up, Richard Sherman said a lot about his teammates and Marshawn Lynch  said very little about anything (whoopee!). Now that everyone is past that, it’s time to talk about what the Seahawks need to do if they want to pack a Lombardi Trophy in their suitcase for the flight home. Here are 5 keys for Seattle to be successful on Super Bowl Sunday.

1. Keep It Together Guys

One of the recurring themes on Media Day is to talk about the emotions players will be feeling heading into the biggest game of their careers. This is especially important for a Seattle Seahawks team that has zero players that have played in a Super Bowl. It will be incredibly important that Seahawks players are able to overcome their nerves in order to focus on the task at hand. This may seem like an unimportant thing to note but plenty of great teams have entered the Super Bowl just happy to be there and left with nothing more than a long trip home.

2. Create Some Peyton Pressure

One of the many things Peyton Manning did well this season was get rid of the ball in a hurry. Well under three seconds in fact. Seattle established themselves as a premiere pass rushing team this season so an amazing performance will be necessary if the Seahawks want to get to the quarterback. The Legion of Boom will have to help out by forcing Manning to hold the ball a little too long or make a costly mistake

3. The Beast Must Feast (On Skittles)

It’s no secret that Seattle needs to run with Marshawn Lynch to succeed. While the defense of the Denver Broncos hasn’t been considered elite this season they have had success stopping running backs. Nearly no one has rushed for 100 yards on them this year. The winner of this battle between the Seahawks rushing offense and Denver rushing defense may very well decide who comes out on top in this game.

4. The Percy Factor

If Percy Harvin is able to go out Sunday and have an MVP-caliber performance there won’t be a person in the state of Washington that thinks he wasn’t worth every penny. Whether he touches the ball or not, he draws attention. This may be the best chance Seattle has to exploit Denver’s less than impressive secondary. If he can play the whole game (that’s a big if) Russell Wilson and every other Seahawk receiver will be incredibly grateful.

5. Play To Win For Four Quarters

If Seattle is fortunate enough to get a lead in this game early on, the worst thing they can do is play too conservatively. It’s hard to avoid that when you have the best defense in the NFL but the Broncos know how to score points in bunches so Seattle needs to be aggressive all four quarters if they want any chance of beating Denver. Hopefully no one has forgotten how tense the Divisional match up with the Saints became after a 16-0 start.

There are many factors that will likely affect the outcome of the Super Bowl this Sunday but if the Seahawks are able to be successful in these five areas their chances of coming away victorious should be very good. Now I’d like to close by pointing out that I managed to avoid mentioning the weather throughout this entire article. I’m not looking for any sort of recognition. Just maybe a Skittle or two.