Seahawks Win Super Bowl XLVIII - NBC Right Now/KNDO/KNDU Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA |

The Seattle Seahawks have won Super Bowl XLVIII, defeating the Denver Broncos 43-8 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. on Sunday, Feb. 2, to take home the franchise's first Vince Lombardi Trophy.

The game started off with a bang for the Seahawks when the Broncos first snap came early and flew past quarterback Peyton Manning and into the endzone for a safety. 

Seattle's ensuing drive ended with a 31-yard field goal by Steven Hauschka thanks to Percy Harvin breaking off a 30-yard run on the Seahawks first play from scrimmage. 

Hauschka's second field goal came on Seattle's next drive, this one from 33 yards, to give the Seahawks the 8-0 lead with 2:16 left in the first quarter. 

Kam Chancellor intercepted Manning's pass late in the first to end the Broncos' drive and set up Seattle's next score, a Marshawn Lynch barreling run into paydirt from the 1 yardline. Hauschka's point after made it 15-0. 

It went from bad to worse for Manning and the Broncos as his hurried pass was intercepted and returned 69 yards for a TD by Seahawks linebacker Malcolm Smith.

On 4th and 2 in the redzone Denver was unable to convert on their next trip and Seattle ran out the clock before halftime.

The game was sealed on the first play of the second half when Harvin returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown to give Seattle the 29-0 lead right out of the gate. The Broncos never really recovered after that play.  

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson marched his team downfield for another touchdown late in the third quarter. Jermaine Kearse caught Wilson's pass over the middle and took it the rest of the way for a 23-yard TD to make the score 36-0.

Denver's first and only points of the game came at the end of the third when Manning hit Demaryius Thomas for a 14- yard touchdown pass. The Broncos completed the two-point conversion on a Manning to Wes Welker pass to cut the lead by eight points. 

The comeback didn't last long. Wilson lead the Seattle down the field, again, this time finding Doug Baldwin for a 10-yard score with 11:55 left to play in the game. 

The Seattle defense held Manning's high-powered Broncos' passing offense to 280 yards in the game and intercepted 2 of the NFL MVP's passes and forced him to fumble once. 

Russell Wilson finished with a quarterback rating of 123.1 going 18-of-25 passing for 206 yards and 2 TD's and completed a pass to eight different receivers. Marshawn Lynch was held to only 39 yards rushing and the first quarter TD.

Harvin wasn't on the field often but was electrifying when he was, finishing with two carries for 45 yards and the knockout punch that was his 87-yard kickoff return TD.

Malcolm Smith finished with 10 tackles, 1 interception returned for a touchdown, and a fumble recovery to lead the Seahawks defense, which finished with four turnovers, and was named the Super Bowl XLVIII MVP. Smith is the youngest-ever Super Bowl MVP and only the third linebacker to win the award.

The Seahawks victory also marks the first professional championship for the city Seattle since the Seattle Supersonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder) were crowned NBA Champs in 1979.