Super Bowl XLVIII

Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2013 season. The underdog Seahawks defeated the favored Broncos 43–8 to win their first Super Bowl. It is the largest margin of victory for an underdog and tied with Super Bowl XXVII (1993) for the third largest point differential overall (35) in Super Bowl history. The game was played on February 2, 2014, at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the first Super Bowl played outdoors in a cold-weather city. Seahawks linebacker Malcolm Smith, who returned an interception 69 yards for a touchdown, recovered a fumble and made nine tackles, was named Super Bowl MVP.

The Seahawks posted a 13–3 record and were making their second Super Bowl appearance in nine years. The Broncos were making their seventh Super Bowl appearance after also posting a 13–3 record. The game became the first Super Bowl victory for the Seahawks and the fifth Super Bowl loss for the Broncos, at the time a league record (it would later be tied by the New England Patriots following their Super Bowl LII loss) for the most of any team. This marked one of the few times that two former divisional rivals met in a Super Bowl, as the Seahawks and Broncos were in the same division (the AFC West) from 1977 to 2001.

Seattle led 22–0 at halftime and ultimately went up 36–0 before allowing Denver's first and only score on the final play of the third quarter. The Seahawks set a record by making the first seven scores of the game; previously the record was four. The 36–0 lead was by far the largest shutout lead in Super Bowl history; the previous record was 24–0, shared by the Miami Dolphins over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl VIII and the Washington Redskins over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVI. Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril scored a safety on the first play from scrimmage. They became the first team in a Super Bowl to score on a safety (12 seconds into the start of the game which set the record for the quickest score), a kickoff return for a touchdown (12 seconds into the second half), and an interception return for a touchdown. The Broncos were held to almost 30 points below their scoring average. Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, a five-time NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) award winner, one of which during the 2013 season, threw two interceptions in the first half.

The game was the first time since Super Bowl XXV 23 years prior that the #1 scoring offense (Broncos) went up against the #1 scoring defense (Seahawks). It was the fifth Super Bowl where the winning team outscored the losing team in every quarter. In addition, it was the first time the winning team scored over 40 points while holding the opponent team to under 10 in the Super Bowl. Seattle also tied the 1992 Dallas Cowboys for the third-largest blowout in Super Bowl history.

In retrospect, Super Bowl XLVIII is considered among the worst Super Bowls due to the game's one-sidedness from start to finish. However, the Seahawks' 2013 defense is often regarded as one of the greatest defenses in NFL history following the game. In the United States, the game was televised by Fox; with an average audience of 111.5 million viewers that peaked at 115.3 million during the halftime show featuring Bruno Mars. The game was briefly the most-watched U.S. television broadcast of all time, until it was surpassed by Super Bowl XLIX the following year. The game's inaugural Spanish-language telecast on Fox Deportes was also the highest-rated Spanish-language cable telecast outside of soccer.

The Seahawks would make their third Super Bowl appearance the following year and ultimately lost to the Patriots 28–24. The Seahawks did not make another Super Bowl appearance until eleven years later in 2026, where they earned a Super Bowl XLIX rematch with the Patriots, winning 29–13 in Super Bowl LX. That victory marks the Seahawks' second Super Bowl win after their inaugural win from this game.