Jones: Elway's Preseason Tirade Set The Tone For Broncos' Super Run
By Kimberly Jones
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JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Who says preseason games don't count?
The next time we hear that, we'll think of this: John Elway absolutely lit into the Denver Broncos after their 40-10 loss to Seahawks in August.
"He was not happy with that game," Peyton Manning said Wednesday. "It was a butt-kicking, whether it was preseason or regular season. He was just sharing his thoughts that that won't be accepted under his reign as kind of leader of this organization along with (owner) Pat Bowlen."
Elway, as you would imagine, commanded attention.
"I was taking notes, a lot of players were taking notes," Manning added. "He talked about what he thought our potential could be, and he didn't want to see that wasted. I think guys got the message, I think if I was reading it the right way, he might have been giving the message to the coaches as well as the players. And everybody in that room I think got the message. I thought it was important. It was really the first time John had addressed the team. He actually did not address the team the entire time last year."
The popular notion is that the Broncos were motivated all season by their double-overtime playoff loss in beyond-frigid temperatures to the Ravens last January. And, surely, they were.
Interesting that a preseason game -- which so many of us dismiss as incidental when it comes to the final score, and as long as no one gets hurt -- moved Elway in such a way. It's also interesting that the opponent that August day was Seattle.
Super stat: At this very moment, AccuWeather is predicting a high temperature of exactly 40 degrees Sunday. In the playoffs, Peyton is 0-4 in games with a kickoff temperature under 40 degrees. Presumably, the high temperature of the day will come before the 6:25 p.m. kickoff.
If you're wondering, in six career games when it is snowing at kickoff, Peyton Manning has thrown twice as many INTs (8) as TDs (4). Thank you, NFL Network research, for those numbers.
Looking for Lynch: Marshawn Lynch did show up for the Seattle media availability Wednesday. These are mandated appearances and Lynch said he didn't want to be fined.
This was how he explained his reluctance to using the media as a "bridge" to the fans. Seattle fans love Lynch – why wouldn't they, given his on-field performance – and rallied to take a collection when he was initially fined by the league for not talking.
"I mean, if y'all say (this) is a bridge from the players to the fans, and the fans really ain't really trippin', then what's the point?" Lynch said. "What's the purpose? They got my back. I appreciate that. But I don't get what's the bridge being built for."
We're starting to believe, strongly, that this is a story only the media care about.
Record numbers: The number of media members accredited to provide coverage of Super Bowl XLVIII and related events from New York and New Jersey is officially the most in Super Bowl history: 6,329. That is a 21 percent increase from last year's record total of 5,205 that covered Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans.
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