by Vince Verhei and Aaron Schatz

As you might expect, this one is not close. In fact, thanks to the opponent adjustment for playing the Denver offense, the Seahawks came in at 126.2%, which narrowly passes Philadelphia's Week 16 54-11 win over Chicago (125.5% DVOA) as the best game of the year.

DVOA (with opponent adjustments) TEAM TOT OFF DEF ST DEN -57% -6% 27% -23% SEA 126% 34% -65% 28%

VOA (no opponent adjustments) TEAM TOT OFF DEF ST DEN -101% -40% 37% -23% SEA 85% 28% -28% 28%

The bigger question is not even whether this was the most dominating victory of the 2013 season but whether this was the most dominating Super Bowl victory ever. According to DVOA ratings, not quite, but it is so close that tiny future changes in the formula might change things. Right now, going back to 1989, the highest single-game DVOA for the Super Bowl belongs to the 2000 Ravens at 127.5% (34-7 win over the Giants), followed by the 1989 49ers at 126.6% (55-10 win over the Broncos), and then the Seahawks.

The highest single-game DVOA for any playoff game since 1989 belongs to the 1993 49ers, who put up 145.0% DVOA when they beat the Giants 44-3 in the Divisional Round before losing the NFC Conference Championship to the Dallas Cowboys. Other playoff games with DVOA above 120% include:

San Francisco's 30-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in the 1989 NFC Championship

Jacksonville's 62-7 dismantling of the Miami Dolphins in the 1999 Divisional round

The New York Jets' 41-0 shutout of Peyton Manning and the Colts in the 2002 Wild Card round.

Carolina stomping the Giants 23-0 in the 2005 Wild Card round.

Quarterbacks Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR 1. Russell Wilson SEA 18/25 206 2 0 151 145 6 It wasn't a dominant performance for Wilson, but it was his best game since Week 13, the Monday nighter against New Orleans, and the first time he wasn't sacked since Week 9 against Tampa Bay. On third and fourth downs, he went 7-of-9 for 82 yards and six first downs, plus a 4-yard DPI. He went 3-of-3 on deep balls, for 80 yards. 2. Peyton Manning DEN 34/49 280 1 2 98 98 0 Not counting rest-the-starters games at the end of the year, this was the first time a Peyton Manning team scored fewer than 10 points in a game since the Patriots beat the Colts 20-3 in the Divisional Round of the 2004 season. Before the game, we said the Seattle defense was vulnerable to passes in the short middle area of the field, and that was true. Manning went 17-of-18 for 134 yards and six first downs in that direction. To the deep middle, though, he went 0-for-4 with an interception. He did not pick up a first down until the Broncos were down by 15 points in the second quarter. He got his first down on Seattle's side of the field when the Broncos were down by 22 points in the second quarter, and his second when they were down by 36 points in the fourth.

Running backs Rk Player Team Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR 1. Robert Turbin SEA 25 0 0 0 -8 1 -9 It was not a good day for running backs. Turbin picked up one first down with a 5-yard gain on third-and-1, but he failed to pick up another third-and-1, his longest carry gained just 6 yards, and he was stuffed for no gain twice in nine runs. The only pass thrown his way was an incompletion on fourth-and-1. 2. Marshawn Lynch SEA 39 1 0 0 -9 -9 0 Lynchs only successful runs were a 6-yard gain on second-and-5, a 1-yard touchdown, and an 18-yard gain in the third quarter. Five of his other 12 carries resulted in no gain or a loss. The Seahawks did not throw him a pass. 3. Knowshon Moreno DEN 21 0 20 0 -9 -14 5 Moreno's DYAR was ruined by a fumble (recovered by Denver) in the first quarter. He gained at least 2 yards on each of his five carries, but his longest run was just 9 yards, and that came on second-and-22. He caught three of the four passes thrown his way for 20 yards. The one pass he did not catch was intercepted by Malcolm Smith and returned for a touchdown, and Moreno certainly could have made a better effort in fighting for the ball, but in DVOA and DYAR the blame for interceptions goes to the quarterback, not the receiver. 4. Montee Ball DEN 1 0 2 0 -28 -14 -13 Ball's best run was a 2-yard gain on third-and-1. His longest run gained only 3 yards, and half of his six carries went for no gain or a loss. In the passing game, Ball had a pair of 1-yard receptions and an incomplete target on fourth-and-2.

Five most valuable wide receivers and tight ends Rk Player Team Rec Att Yds Avg TD Total

DYAR 1. Doug Baldwin SEA 5 5 66 13.2 1 48 Only one of Baldwin's receptions failed to pick up a first down, and that was a 7-yard gain on second-and-11. He converted each of his third-down targets for 49 yards. 2. Jermaine Kearse SEA 4 5 65 16.2 1 36 Kearse's first reception was a 6-yard gain on second-and-15. Each of his other receptions picked up first downs, including a 23-yard touchdown in the third quarter and a 24-yard gain in the fourth. 3. Demaryius Thomas DEN 13 18 118 9.1 1 26 You may have heard that Thomas set a Super Bowl record with 13 receptions. That is true, but only five of those receptions gained first downs (including a touchdown), one was fumbled away to Seattle, and seven of them gained less than 10 yards. He also drew two DPIs for 20 and 15 yards. 4. Percy Harvin SEA 1 2 5 5.0 0 23 Harvin picked up -6 DYAR receiving and 29 DYAR rushing. His two carries went for 30 yards on second-and-7 and 15 yards on first-and-10. 5. Wes Welker DEN 8 10 84 10.5 0 22 Half of Welker's receptions went for first downs. He was targeted just once on third down, resulting in a 16-yard gain on third-and-9.