Kurt’s Keys: what to watch for Super Bowl Sunday

Earlier this week Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat caught up with Super Bowl MVP Champion quarterback, Cardinals legendary signal-caller and now NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner to get his thoughts on Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVIII.

Below are some hi-lights from the conversation as the Seahawks and Broncos look to take home the trophy.

What intrigues you most about Sunday night’s game? “The one, obviously, is Peyton Manning. You want to see him in the cold weather, if there is some wind, are they going to come out slinging it like they did all year long? The other thing would be the big wide receivers of the Denver Broncos. As good as they are, they have problems with press coverage. There’s so much space to be able to jam them. That’s what Seattle does so well. They jam you at the line of scrimmage, they throw off your timing. It’s a timing-oriented offense. To see the cat-and-mouse game between these great defenders and Peyton Manning.”

What advice would you give Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson about playing in the windy outdoor conditions at MetLife Stadium?   “The biggest key is to just try to stay within your game. You try not to let those kinds of things affect you too much. You have to gauge it and you have to understand, ok…when I’m throwing into the wind I need to keep that nose [of the football] down and I gotta try to fight it through the wind…throw it a little harder. But I think, for the most part, it’s so easy to allow weather conditions to get into your mental framework and start to affect you.”

Do you think the Seahawks youth, lack of playoff experience means anything? “I don’t think it means a whole lot. I think the biggest thing for me is the week leading up to the Super Bowl, not just the game itself. Being able to handle the Super Bowl and the festivities that go with it : the media coverage and everything that’s focused on you. I think it’s easy to get caught up in all of that stuff…I relate it to when I went with the Cardinals…as far as playoff and Super Bowl experience, we didn’t have that much…it’s a very overwhelming situation. The key is handling emotions leading up to the Super Bowl. Once you start the game it’s going to be business as usual.”

To hear the rest of the interview click here.