Now that we are a couple of days from Seattle’s 43-8 manhandling of the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl #48, let’s take a look at some of the stats that helped define the Seahawk’s win.

* With a safety and two field goals, the Seahawks scored three times in the first quarter. It was only the second time in Super Bowl history that a team scored three times in the first quarter. The Chicago Bears from Super Bowl #20 were the only team to score three times in the first quarter in a Super Bowl game. They had two field goals and a touchdown on the way to a 46-10 victory over New England.

* The Seahawks opened the scoring with a safety on the first play from scrimmage when the snap sailed over Peyton Manning’s head. It was the eighth safety in Super Bowl history. Teams that record a safety are now 6-2 in those games.

* Seattle became the seventh team in Super Bowl history to score 40 or more points in the Super Bowl. Of these seven teams, three entered the game as the number one defense during the regular season: The Chicago Bears from Super Bowl #20 and the Tampa Bay Bucs from Super Bowl #37 were both the top defense in the league that year. The Bears scored 46 points in their win over New England; the Bucs won 48-21 over Oakland. Seattle was the number one ranked defense this season.

* The 43-8 final score was the first time in NFL history that a regular season or playoff game ended with that score.

* Peyton Manning had more interceptions (2) than touchdown passes (1) in this Super Bowl loss. In his career, Peyton is 14-30 (regular season and playoff games) in contests where he has more interceptions than TD passes.

* The first quarter ended with the score 8-0 in favor of Seattle. It was only the third time in NFL history that the score was 8-0 at the end of the first quarter. The last time it happened was in 1996.

* Seattle’s Malcolm Smith had a “pick-6” for the Seahawks after he intercepted a Manning pass in the second quarter and returned it 69 yards for a TD. Teams that intercept a pass in the Super Bowl and return it for a touchdown are now 12-0 in the game.

* Denver was scoreless at halftime, down 22-0 to the Seahawks. It was the first time in the 2013 season that they were held scoreless in the first half. The last time they had been held scoreless in the first half was October 15, 2010 versus the Chargers. The Broncos recovered from a 24-0 halftime deficit and won that game 35-24.

* Super Bowl teams are now 0-12 when they are held scoreless in the first half.

* The Seahawks had a kick return for TD and an interception return for TD in the game. It was the second time this has happened in a Super Bowl… it occurred in Super Bowl #35 when Baltimore defeated the New York Giants. Duane Starks returned an interception for TD and Jermaine Lewis took a kick-off for six points in the third quarter in that game won by the Ravens 34-7.

* Seattle had four takeaways and did not have a turnover in the game. It was the 12th time a team had a four-turnover (or more) margin in the Super Bowl… those teams won each game (12-0). The last time it happened was in Super Bowl #37 when the Tampa Bay Bucs had five takeaways and committed only one turnover in their Super Bowl victory over Oakland.

* The Broncos scored only eight points in the game. The lowest number of points they scored in the 2013 regular season was 20 in a 27-20 loss to San Diego. The last time Denver scored under 10 points was on January 1, 2012 when they were defeated 7-3 by the Kansas City Chiefs.

* Denver became only the ninth team in Super Bowl history to score under 10 points in a game. Of those nine teams, three were the number one ranked offense in the league: Denver (Super Bowl #48), Washington (Super Bowl #18) and Minnesota (Super Bowl #4).

* With a safety seven seconds into the game and a field goal at the 10:25 mark in the first quarter, the Seattle Seahawks became only the second team in Super Bowl history to score twice within the first five minutes of a Super Bowl game. The other team? The San Francisco 49ers from Super Bowl #29 had a pair of Steve Young TD passes in the first five minutes of that game.

* The Broncos became the fifth team to lose a Super Bowl game by 30 or more points. Of the previous four teams, three did not make the playoffs the following year. The largest blowouts in Super Bowl history and how those teams that lost fared the following season:
Super Bowl #20: Chicago over New England 46-10 (New England went 11-5 the next season and made the playoffs)
Super Bowl #22: Washington over Denver 42-10 (Denver went 8-8 the following season and missed the playoffs)
Super Bowl #24: San Francisco over Denver 55-10 (Denver went 5-11 the following season and missed the playoffs)
Super Bowl #27: Dallas over Buffalo 52-17 (Buffalo went 7-9 the following season and missed the playoffs)
Super Bowl #48: Seattle over Denver 43-8 (How will Denver do in 2014?)

Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp