Reading List: Seattle Seahawks defeat Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII

The Seattle Seahawks dominated Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos on Sunday, defeating the AFC Champions 43-8 to earn their first Super Bowl title in franchise history. The game pitted the league's best offense against the best defense but, ultimately, the Broncos were no match for the Seahawks' stingy defense. 

Peter King of MMQB called it "one of the best defensive performances in Super Bowl history":

Think of what an incredible defensive performance this was. In the 94-year history of the NFL, Denver's 606 points this season were the most ever. But on a night when weather was borderline balmy for New Jersey in February, the conditions were no excuse. And all Manning could do was manage some garbage yards late when half of America had turned the game off. In my 30 seasons covering the NFL, I can remember only three defensive performances that compare: the Bears' stifling 46-10 rout of the Patriots in Super Bowl XX, Baltimore's 34-7 beat down of the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV, and the Giants shocking New England—at that point the highest-scoring team in any single season—17-14 in Super Bowl XLII.

Don Banks of Sports Illustrated praised the efforts of Seahawks wide receiver Percy Harvin, who was playing in just his third game of the season:

Harvin was an X-factor type weapon for the Seahawks, and Denver had no match for his speed and burst around the edge. His instant impact helped take the breath out of the Broncos when the game was in its infancy. Harvin only started and finished one game this season, but he had exquisite timing when it came to choosing that game.

Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post called the Broncos' performance embarrassing:

Embarrassing might be an insult to everything the Broncos achieved as they became the first team in league history to score more than 600 points in the regular season, then beat San Diego and New England in the playoffs. But embarrassing is the only way to describe what happened to Manning and the Broncos on the first snap from scrimmage. It is destined to go down as the most embarrassing play in Super Bowl history.

Chris Chase of USA TODAY Sports said the legacy of Peyton Manning will not be impacted by the loss:

All this talk that Manning’s legacy took a hit because of the 43-8 loss suggests Manning's legacy had a hit to take. But you can't hurt a reputation that never existed. His regular season dominance will never be in doubt. The playoffs are the only question mark at this point in his career. Failing again sustains that narrative.

Even this Super Bowl stinker won't change much. It looms large now, but with the benefit of time we'll remember this as a dominating Seattle Seahawks performance, not a Peyton Manning clunker.

Kent Babb of the Washington Post wrote that Russell Wilson played more like a veteran than a second-year quarterback:

The defense made it so second-year quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch, perhaps the team's best-known players, faced almost no pressure and therefore just breezed to a championship.

Wilson, a third-round pick in 2012 who won the superstar draft class's race to a Super Bowl, was calm and reliable. He avoided defenders and made several of his signature throws on the run, finishing with 206 passing yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Wilson, 25, played like the veteran with Super Bowl experience, not a youngster who two years ago was preparing to answer questions at the NFL combine about his 5-foot-11 listed height.

Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com found it troubling that the Broncos were unable to recover from the early mistakes they made:

It started tough, indeed. And beyond the Broncos' four turnovers, beyond the missed tackles and beyond a meltdown to open the second half on special teams, perhaps the most disconcerting thing about the loss was when the first domino of despair fell, they did not respond. 

They did not pick themselves up. They did not dust themselves off. They did not show to be the team that had traveled over so much rocky road on its way to the Super Bowl. Especially troubling Sunday was the fact that first domino got tipped over on the first play from scrimmage. 

Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com said Pete Carroll is more than a defensive coach:

Carroll found a way to unleash hell on offense and special teams, too, and I can tell you how he does it: He's one of the rare NFL coaches -- not the first, not the last, but one of the few to do it -- who gets his millionaire professional athletes to play the game with the zeal they had in college. He cuts loose and lets his players cut loose, and when they screw up he's OK with it because they're like he is, they're human, and they're going to mess up too.

And finally, Jen Floyd Engel of FOX Sports believes Carroll's legacy changed with Sunday's victory:

Why I like Carroll and this victory is because he represents everyone who has been told their way is fatally flawed, their failure is final, that they are not good enough, that they have to conform, fit in, be like everybody else -- more hard-ass footbally, more pretty, or whatever more that takes for them.