As Michael Scott so elegantly put it, “Fool me once, strike one. Fool me twice . . . strike three.”

We all remember the first snap of Super Bowl XLVIII.

As Peyton Manning walked toward the line to adjust the cadence, Manny Ramirez sent the snap soaring over the veteran quarterback’s head. Knowshon Moreno was able to fall on top of it in the end zone for a Seattle Seahawks safety.

. . . and it was all downhill from there for Denver.

On NFL Channel’s SoundFX, then-Broncos coach John Fox stated, “It’s a little louder than we thought, huh.”

Yeah, John. One might suspect that an entire fan base that prides itself on how loud it can be, might raise somewhat of a ruckus in the biggest game of the year, but who knows? It’s not like Seahawks fans travel well or anything…

Fox’s strategy to practice without crowd noise before the Super Bowl was a bold one, and ultimately didn’t pay off. It is clear in the 43-8 trouncing that the Broncos were unprepared in many ways, but crowd noise definitely was a factor. The safety was far more penalizing than just two points. It set the tone for the remaining 59 minutes, and it was a taxing shift of momentum hard to overcome.

Current Broncos coach Gary Kubiak has decided to do things a little differently.

After consulting with Peyton Manning, the Broncos practiced with crowd noise this past week in preparation for Sunday’s matchup with the Carolina Panthers. Although it is unlikely that Carolina will travel as well as Seattle did, over-preparation will trump under-preparation every time.

Kudos for you, Coach Kubiak. The Broncos will not get fooled again.