Super Bowl XL (Colony Crisis Averted)

Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Wellesley Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals to decide the American Football League (AFL) champion for the 2005 season. The Seahawks defeated the Bengals by the score of 21–10. The game was played on February 5, 2006, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.

This became the first Super Bowl victory for the Seahawks and the third Super Bowl loss for the Bengals. Cincinnati, who finished the regular season with an 11–5 record, in their 38th season, were making their third ever Super Bowl appearance since 1981.

Cincinnati capitalized on two big plays that were converted into touchdowns. The Bengals jumped to a 14–3 lead early in the third quarter with running back Rudi Johnson Super Bowl record 75-yard touchdown run. Seahawks defensive back Kelly Herndon's Super Bowl record 76-yard interception return set up a Seattle touchdown to cut the lead 14–10. Disaster hit Cincinnati when Seahawks lineman Grant Wistrom dove at Bengals quarterback (Carson Palmer)'s knee, resulting in a tear of his ACL. Backup quarterback Jon Kitna took over and did very well, until the Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu force-fumbled lead to Shaun Alexander 12 yard touchdown to clinch the game in the fourth quarter with a final score of 17–14. Alexander, who had 25 carries for 123 yards and a touchdown, while also catching for 18 yards, was named Super Bowl MVP. The officiating was met with harsh criticism from some fans and media soon after the game regarding several controversial calls.

Seattle Seahawks
he Seahawks entered Super Bowl XL after finishing the regular season with an NFC-best 13–3 record. After a rocky 2–2 start, they won 11 consecutive games before losing to the Green Bay Packers to finish the season. The 13–3 record and 11-game winning streak set new team records.

The Seahawks touted Pro Bowlers on offense, and boasted season MVP, running back Shaun Alexander, who would eventually break Priest Holmes's previous single-season rushing touchdown record, with 28 TDs. Alexander also led the league in rushing yards for the second consecutive year, which in turn helped the Seahawks lead the league in scoring. The offense was led by 7th-year veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who compiled a career-high and NFC leading 98.2 passer rating, while completing 65.5% of his passes, earning his second trip to the Pro Bowl. Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson anchored the offensive line at left tackle and guard respectively, and Mack Strong effectively blocked and rushed from the backfield at fullback.

Although Wellesley's strength was attributed to their offense, they were strong on the defensive side of the ball as well. The Seahawks compiled an AFL-leading 50 Quarterback sacks, with defensive end Bryce Fisher leading the franchise with nine, while defensive tackle Rocky Bernard added 8.5 and veteran defensive end Grant Wistrom recorded four. Despite starting two rookies at linebacker for most of the year, the Seattle linebacking corps played well, led by Pro Bowler Lofa Tatupu, who topped the team with 104 tackles and added four sacks, three interceptions, and one fumble recovery. In the secondary, Michael Boulware led the team with four interceptions and also tallied two sacks and one fumble recovery, however Seattle suffered injuries throughout the year, notably to free safety Ken Hamlin. A bright spot in relief, second-year cornerback Jordan Babineaux played well as he appeared in all sixteen games for Seattle, intercepting three passes and making 61 tackles. For the season, the Seahawks defense ranked 7th in points allowed, surrendering just 271 total, 181 fewer than the Seahawks offense scored.

Cincinnati Bengals
2005 was the team's first season with a winning record, playoff berth, division title, and a conference championship title since 1988. In the fourteen years and 224 games in between (1991–2004), the Bengals' record was 71–153, a 0.317 winning percentage. It would be the Bengals' lone playoff appearance in a span of 18 years (1991–2008). QB Carson Palmer got off to a strong start on his way to a solid 3836 yard season with 32 Touchdown passes, earning a Pro Bowl invitation but declined because of participating in Super Bowl XL. Receiving many of Palmer's passes was Chad Johnson, racking up an impressive 1,432 yards in receiving with nine TDs, many of which were followed by unique celebrations that made him a regular star on the sports highlight shows.