Super Bowl Reboot

On Sunday, the Denver Broncos travel to Seattle for a Super Bowl rematch. Are the Broncos happy to have another chance to slay the dragon, or dismayed that stretching back to last season, two of four games that count will be against the league’s best defense?

Whatever the case may be, the Super Bowl rematch is surprisingly rare. On only five occasions following the 47 previous Super Bowls — or V times following the XLVII previous Super Bowls — has the next regular season seen a rematch. So far teams that lost the Super Bowl are 2-3 against the victors in regular-season rematches the following season.

The rematches:

• Super Bowl IV: The Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Minnesota Vikings 23-7. In the ensuing regular season, Minnesota defeats Kansas City 27-10.
• Super Bowl XI: The Oakland Raiders defeat the Vikings 32-14. The following regular season, Oakland defeats Minnesota 10-3.
• Super Bowl XIII: The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Dallas Cowboys 35-31. In the next regular season, Pittsburgh beats Dallas 14-3.
• Super Bowl XXVII: Dallas defeats Buffalo 52-17. In the next regular season, the Bills beat the Cowboys 13-10. (That’s a 38-point swing in Buffalo’s favor, but the Boys won the game people remember.)
• Super Bowl XXXI: The Green Bay Packers beat the New England Patriots 35-21. Then Green Bay beats New England 28-10 in the regular season.

The most recent Super Bowl rematch, Green Bay versus New England, occurred in 1997, so it’s been nearly two decades since a regular-season rematch.

Considering the beatdown the Bluish Men Group defense put on the Broncs’ high-tech offense in the Super Bowl, the odds would seem to favor another Seattle win. So would the Seahawks’ league-best 18-1 stretch at home. So would Russell Wilson’s sterling record versus the NFL’s quarterbacking old guard. Wilson is 7-0 in starts against Tom Brady, Drew Brees, the Manning brothers and Aaron Rodgers. By comparison, he’s 3-2 versus young guns Colin Kaepernick and Andrew Luck.

Broncos partisans cannot be pleased that the rematch will be played in the league’s loudest stadium, rather than in the gasp-inducing air of Colorado.

On Denver’s first Super Bowl down, stadium noise caused confusion for the Broncs: The snap sailed over Peyton Manning’s head for a safety, setting the tone for what would become a blowout. When John Fox coached the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII at Houston, the neutral crowd didn’t make much noise. When preparing the Broncos for Super Bowl XLVIII, Fox assumed the neutral crowd at Snoopy Stadium would be similar, like they were watching Masterpiece Theatre. Assuming this, Fox had the noise generators turned off at the Jets’ practice facility where Denver prepared for the big game. This decision came back to haunt the Broncos on that first play; Denver seemed discombobulated by the noise level. (“Wow it’s loud in here,” one of my kids, attending with me, said a moment before the safety.) Presumably, Fox will have his charges spend the week with ears ringing from the maximum decibels the speakers at Dove Valley can produce.

Or will he? Some coaches tailor everything to specific places and opponents, others say they approach every game the same. Seattle coach Pete Carroll is in the former group, Fox in the latter. Example: Going into the Super Bowl, Carroll had the Seahawks prepare for a long halftime. Fox did not have the Broncos practice this.

Super Bowl intermissions are twice the length of an average halftime — roadies need to set up a stage for the big-deal act, who has to perform; then the stage must be struck, while plenty of time is required for beer and car commercials. This breaks player habits. When the New Orleans Saints onside kicked to start the second half of their Super Bowl collision with Indianapolis, Colts on the receiving team seemed unfocused. Some were checking out the double cheerleader squads both dancing at the Colts’ end of the field. (Most college games have cheer patrols on both sides; the Super Bowl is the sole NFL contest with double cheerleaders.) Some were watching the final sets for The Who to be rolled off. The Colts weren’t prepared for keeping focus during the unusually long halftime.

To prepare the Seahawks for the unusually long halftime, Carroll had them run plays, then go back to the locker room for half an hour of twiddling thumbs, then go back out and run plays at game tempo. Rich Cimini provides the details. Denver did not do any special halftime rehearsal. Result? The Broncs’ special teams looked drowsy, too many players bunched on the same side, as Seattle ran the second-half opening kickoff back for a touchdown, turning the game into a rout.

One would think that in Sunday’s rematch there’s no way the Denver Broncos will repeat the mistakes they made in the Super Bowl. Yet history has a way of repeating itself. Whatever the outcome, savor one of the all-too-rare next-season Super Bowl rematches.