Super Bowl 2014: Seahawks, Broncos and other Super Bowl grades

Feb 2, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Seattle Seahawks tackle Russell Okung (76) celebrates after winning Super Bowl XLVIII against the Denver Broncos at MetLife Stadium. Seattle Seahawks won 43-8. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Seattle Seahawks

• Overall Team Grade: A+ …  The Seahawks played the perfect Super Bowl from the very first snap. Their offense played much better than I thought they would, and the defense walked the walk and played up to their nickname of “The Legion of Boom.”

• Coaching: A + … I thought Pete Carroll and Co. did a great job of not allowing the Broncos’ offense to get any momentum at all. When they did let the Broncos pass, they were short and intermediate passes. They basically dared the Broncos to go downfield on them with their defensive backfield. It also seemed the offense had long drives early on and kept Peyton Manning off the field.

• Russell Wilson: A … Wilson was on point at first, finishing 18-of-25 for 206 yards and two touchdowns. He had no interceptions and rushed three times for 26 yards, including one run of 16 yards. He impressed me and made me eat my words when earlier in the week I said Manning would outplay him. I was wrong.

• Running game: B- … The Seahawks’ running game didn’t really have to do anything with the way the defense was putting up scores. The leading rusher for Seattle was wide receiver Percy Harvin with two runs for a total of 45 yards, including one for 30 yards that pretty much said this game was all Seahawks.

• Receivers: A … I really liked the Seahawks’ wide receivers in this game. They came up big on third down a few times, and it was Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse who ended up in the end zone. They didn’t put up huge numbers, but they were clutch.

• Defense: A+++ … What can I write about this defense that can really do them justice. They made the No. 1 offense look like they were No. 32 overall. They made the record-breaking Broncos offense look like they were the Jacksonville Jaguars and were in their heads from the very first play of the game.