Most people fail to understand the most fundamental principle of football: dominating the line of scrimmage. A dominating offensive and defensive line “trumps” a superstar quarterback everytime.
Seattle dominated on every aspect of the game. Not just the line of scrimmage. Although, it is the most important. However, special teams scored a touchdown and played great too. The only thing Denver did well was stop the run up the middle in the first half. They contained Lynch.
Lastly, Peyton Manning once again gave us another poor post season performance that his record has shown many times before. When he is under pressure he makes bad passing decisions. The Seattle defensive line forced him to make mistakes.
In the AFC game the Pats put absolutely no pressure on Manning and he could sit back and pick them apart.
When the BIG game is on the line, I would take Eli every time. Of course, I would take Brady over Eli too.