XL vs XLIX

Make no mistake, the two Super Bowl losses suck. However, I still look at XL as the more painful loss. That game was taken away from us in a criminal way. XLIX was a game that the Seahawks could have won and by most accounts should have won. While it was disappointing and heartbreaking, a game that essentially came down to the very end is at best, an exciting way to lose. If my team has to lose, I would much rather see them lose in this manner than the way they lost XL or even a loss like the Broncos endured last year.

I would have preferred a win obviously, but I am happy that my team has played in the last two Super Bowls with a very good chance to win back to back. I'm also happy that this team is young, together, and primed to be elite for the next few years, if not longer. I'm also happy that my team played in probably the most competetive and exciting Super Bowl in many years if not ever. And lastly, I am happy to be a Seahawks fan through thick and thin.

Same here.. XL ripped my heart out.. XLIX was more palatable because NE actually played great unlike PIT who made 3-4 plays the entire game and won.

Magic Johnson was on Mike and Mike this morning and Greeny asked him what he remembers and dwells on more, the Finals losses or wins.............and he didn't even hesitate, he said the losses are the games and series that still to this day keep him up at night.

While soul crushing, I hope that's the case with our coaches and players. I want them to play next year like a bunch of caged dogs starving and hungry to destroy their opponents each and every week, no let downs, no team turmoil, just destruction and revenge.

At least with XLIX, the entire country acknowledged that Seattle was as good as, if not better, than New England. Patriots also played a good game in their own right. I felt like with XL, Pittsburgh played like crap and won, people barely acknowledged Seattle was even there, and the referee narrative was mostly dismissed outside of the northwest. I found the aftermath of XL to be pretty frustrating.

XL was also more painful because that was our chance to win our first Super Bowl and it was taken away. We didn't have another Super Bowl win to fall back on like this year.

HawkFan72":1fg2o3b3 said:

XL was also more painful because that was our chance to win our first Super Bowl and it was taken away. We didn't have another Super Bowl win to fall back on like this year.

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Took words right out of my mouth.
XL aftermath just created a feeling of continuous Seattle disappointment and this was another link, and possibly largest link in that chain. "Seattle will never win anything" was always my feeling, and this was the icing on the cake. Up there with


1) Dikembe Mutombo holding ball on coliseum baseline
2) We're gonna win and we're gonna score.

XL, and both of these two events stung more for me than XLIX for the same reason

While I agree with the OP, I thought the point was so patently self-obvious that it didn't really need to be made.

In XLIX, we played an exciting game, which we lost fair & square. The game wasn't decided by questionable calls by the officials, it was decided by the players on the field. Losing the game was disappointing, but for me it didn't sting, raise my blood pressure, or anything like that. The Patriots did what they needed to do to win (which included an absolutely brilliant defensive play right at the end), and we didn't. Simple as that. Disappointing, but I can live with it.

XL*, on the other hand... It was our first trip to the Super Bowl -- we'll never ever have another first trip to the Super Bowl. Nothing about that game was even close to being fair. We were prevented from winning or even competing. It was so bad, I felt violated. It was so bad, I felt nauseous for weeks. It was so bad, for years I fantasized about tieing up Mike Pereira in a chair, making him watch XL, and zapping him with a cattle prod every time there was a cheap, momentum stealing penalty called on the Seahawks, or a borderline call (or non-call) that benefitted the rustbuckets, or a bad spot -- and making one of those hostage videos where he admits everything even though it's obvious he was under duress. Nothing on the football field will ever be as bad as XL* was.

After XL, I really wanted to never watch another NFL game. To put that much time and investment into following the sport and then have that debacle occur. It took quite awhile to want to come back from that one.

IMHO, if we hadn't won the Superbowl last year, and this game was our second Superbowl appearance and the game ended the way it did, no doubt XLIX would've been harder to take.
XL just left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, whereas this one just has everyone feeling a pit in their stomach.
Both losses were crushing, but XL was harder because it was the first time getting there, and for the win to not even be possible for various reasons out of our team's control was tough.

I actually think XLIX was more painful. Admittedly, it might be because it is still fresh.

XL hurt because we should have won that game and the holding call on the stevens ball was a momentum killer. But, XL for me was still "ok" because I was happy to simply be there after having convinced myself after 20 years plus we were probably not super bowl material.

XLIX was atrocious because "being there" was no longer special. Instead, we were looking to repeat, and the game was historic in that regard. For it to end in a loss the way it did was crushing.

Although, I think XLIX will ultimately prove less painful than XL if we make it back soon and win it. If we never make it back to the Super Bowl, XLIX is going to prove significantly more painful as a result of the ending.

The loss at XL* was NFL inflicted.

The loss at XLIX was self (Bevell) inflicted.

XL really felt like a fix from the get go.. But XLIX is more painful imo. We had that game in the bag at 2 different times. Up 10 in the 4th and of course the last play.

Superbowl XL was so brutal because of how many years we all waited to get there then to have it ripped away like that was gut wrenching. I had a similiar feeling heading into the Bronco Super Bowl that somehow the NFL just wouldnt let us win. It took 8 long years to finally make it back and nothing will ever overshadow the feeling I had that year. While this years loss will haunt me, Im still more than happy to finally have a team that is respected and is building an identity and legacy. A win in Santa Clara next year will erase last years loss accordingly, especially if we get the rematch with the Patsies and keep our foot on their necks for 60 minutes.

Both will stick in my craw forever but XL was my first taste of glory and the way it ended was an international travesty,

I couldn't disagree more, Superbowl 40 was painful sure, But Seattle didn't play well and the Steelers deserved to win. I don't want to hear about the refs. Yes, there was several bad calls, but those bad call didn't allow Trufant to get thoroughly beat on a reverse pass play, nor did the refs have anything to do with "fast Willey Parker" gashing us for a 70+ yard TD.

This loss is much worse considering the range of emotion Seahawk fans suffered through. Consider the nervousness on that final drive, that turned into elation as Kearse caught that pass. All of a sudden the possibility of a 2nd straight super bowl victory was actually tangible. When we ran the ball on 1st and got to the 1 I was SO HAPPY because we DIDN"T score, didn't want to leave 1 minute on the clock for Brady to work his magic.

I was starting to grasp the reality that we had done it, capped of the most magical season in the best way possible. I said to my dad, "Let's run it, then run it again if need be, the game is ours!" It was just a formality as Belickick ridiculously let the clock roll refusing to use his timeouts. Then we throw and it's a pick and the VICTORY that was assured was ripped from our hands.

Instead of being the kings of the NFL and enjoying the afterglow of a 2nd title, we become the mockery of the league, with so many questioning our coaches, players, ect. To make matters worse it was Tom Brady and the PATS who luck out and get the victory.

IMO, there's simply no comparison this loss was far and away worse than Super Bowl 40.

jlwaters1":2chminhh said:

I couldn't disagree more, Superbowl 40 was painful sure, But Seattle didn't play well and the Steelers deserved to win.

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Pot is legal in Washington. Crack isn't.

XL almost had me stop watching football,everyone I knew said we got screwed and that game still raises my temp if I think about it..This last SB had no zebras trying anything funny which made the game fun to watch..I can't be mad about it..The loss did hurt at first but nowhere near XL by far..

XLIX will always be more painful to me. 1 yard and 1 common sense play away from back to back titles. I will say that XVIII helped ease a lot of the pain of XL, though XL will never be forgotten.

The Darrell Jackson offensive pi was a good call, he clearly pushed off. The holding call is one you will see called sometimes and not called others. If you were to analyze every pass play in the NFL, you will see something pretty much identical to that probably a thousand times. The Roethlisberger td, whatever was called on the field, was going to stand, as it should have.

And someone wrote that the Steelers played like crap and still won, hmmmm, kind of like the seahawks against Green Bay.

I prefer XXX vs XXX LIX. I'll have to go with XXX LIX.

&^%$ SB XL. Just &^%$ it! I'll never get over that ripoff. SB 49 no where near compares. Was a great game. Sucked we lost. but just ^%$#$ SB XL.