Apologies for not making all the way through your post: the above doesn't jive with me. Let's give credit where due: Manning, gasp, for a season or two was *better* than Brady in the pocket. Brady, IMO, *definately* re-emphasized pocket technique the past year or two (sorry, too much beer to remember the timeframes) to correct increasing sloppiness, and re-assert himself back at the top.
I promise to read your whole post later. But, regardless: Seattle's defense last year against Denver looked Fast, Hard-Hitting, and Intimidating. Their performance coming into this game, as I admitted before, was my visual cue to tell me how the game might go. The Seahawks simply Did Not have last year's look... they were guarded, wary, tentative. Whether we ascribe that to some other change over the year, or their fear of Brady's adaptive intellectual superiority over Manning's, I can't say... but it was Visible, and told me within a few downs: the game was NOT a forgone conclusion!