Before the Denver Broncos defense confused and flustered Cam Newton in Super Bowl 50, there was a bitter taste in John Elway’s mouth after the Seattle Seahawks demolished his beloved Broncos in Super Bowl 48 to the tune of 43 to 8.

At the time, Seattle had the most fierce and vicious defense around. However, when Denver took down Carolina last year, they were the ones looked at as having one of the best defenses the game has ever seen.

Credit Seattle for some of that.

“It was at that point in time I think that we watched the model that the Seahawks and John (Schneider) and coach (Pete) Carroll had put together of being great on defense,” Elway said. “I think what we were able to do is we added some key components that offseason via free agency and plus my first five years that I was here we worked on the defense.

“It all came together at the right time. Having seen the focus that on the defensive side, no matter what, if you had a great defense you’re going to be able to stay in football games.”

As Elway’s interview with ESPN Seattle’s “Danny, Dave, and Moore” continued, the more he reflected back to some of his own doing.

“My first five years that I was here we worked on the defense, and so our first five picks were defensive guys,” he said. “Those five guys really matured, came along, played great defense, and we were able to add Aqib Talib, DeMarcus Ware and T.J. Ward, some key pieces there. And then Wade Phillips came in with (then-head coach) Gary Kubiak as defensive coordinator, so really kinda everything aligned. I think the key thing is the young guys matured and really played well so that’s really what happened, and you’re right, we rode their backs last year to Super Bowl 50.”

While Elway was reluctant to give Seattle too much credit, it’s clear that loss in Super Bowl 48 fueled the Hall of Fame quarterback to improve the roster.

Source: NFL