Super Bowl 2014 and 7 other epic sports blowouts

Denver and Seattle were evenly matched with 15-3 records going into Sunday's Super Bowl, but the Seahawks pummelled the Broncos 43-8in a game that paled in comparison to the event built around it.

For a team that had the highest-scoring offence in NFL history, it wasa shockingly poor effort bythe Broncos in what could be the swan song for DenverquarterbackPeyton Manning.

• Read more about Sunday's Super BowlXLVIII

But Denver isn'tthe only team to lose big when it counts the most.

Here is a look at seven other epic sports blowoutsin big games:

Super Bowl XXIV: San Francisco 49ers 55, Denver Broncos 10

Denver has been on the wrong end of a Super Bowl blowoutmore than once.

In 1990, quarterback John Elway and his Broncos faced an even worse defeat than this year's debacle, falling by a whopping45 points, still a record for Super Bowl futility.

San Francisco, led by quarterback Joe Montana,won its second straight NFL final after scoring two touchdowns in every quarter.

Super Bowl XXII: Washington Redskins 42, Denver Broncos 10

Guess who? Two yearsearlier, the Broncos had a slightly less humiliating defeat, this time at the hands of theRedskins.

The Redskins outscored the Broncos 35-0 in the second quarter alone.

By the early 1990s the Broncos had made the finals four times, losing eachand leading to one of the all-time great Simpsons jokes, when Homer is disappointed to learn he hasreceived the Denver Broncos from a wealthy benefactor.

"I think owning the Denver Broncos ispretty good," Marge says.

"You just don't understand football, Marge," Homer replies with asigh.

Hockey's 1981 Canada Cup: Russia 8, Canada 1

The history of Canada and Russia in international hockey is usually characterized by memorablebattles and last-second goals.

Not so during the secondCanada Cup, the only tournament at the time where the world's top players took part.

The Russians dominated the one-game final in Montreal. Sergei Shepelevhad a hat trick as the Russians scored five goals in the third period alone.

The Montreal Gazette wrote that Canada's hockey pride had been "stabbed in the heart."

Canada may have enacted a bit of historic revenge during the 2010 Olympics, dominating the Russians 7-3 in a quarter-finalelimination game.

1996 Stanley Cup finals: Colorado Avalanche 8, Florida Panthers 1

The Stanley Cup finals havehad theirfair share of four-game sweeps in every era, but in the last 20 years, few have been more mismatched than this championship series.

Theseries between aheavilyfavoured Avalanche squad and an upstart Florida club that was a surprise to have made the final went according to script and included a huge blowout in Game 2.

Colorado scored four power-play goals on its way to an easy 8-1 victory.

Though the deciding fourthgame was a thrilling 1-0 win in triple overtime, the series was never in doubt. Florida held a lead in the series for fewerthan 30minutes combined.

UEFA Euro 2012 final: Spain 4, Italy 0

In the widest margin of victory in soccer's European championship, Spain trounced Italy to win its third consecutive major tournament.

Struck by an injury after using all three of itssubstitutions, Italy was forced to play with 10 players for the final third of the game.

Things got so bad for Italy thatSpain's captain and goalkeeper,Iker Casillas,pleaded with an assistant referee to blow the whistle.

"Respect for the rival," he said, according to the Guardian. "Respect for Italy. It's 4-0, yes?"

1998 NBA finals: Chicago Bulls 96, Utah Jazz 54

Michael Jordan won his sixth and final championship with the Bulls in a 4-2series victory over Utah.

The Jazz players should be happy the series will be remembered as Jordan's last hurrah, because their teamset records for ineptitude in Game 3.

The game was the worst loss in NBA finals history, and the Jazz scored what werethen the fewest points in any NBA game since the shot clock was introduced in 1954-55.

The Chicago Tribune reported that Utah's radio play-by-play man, Rod Hundley, dealt with it by switching sides.

"I just became a Bulls fan for the second half," he joked.

1989 World Series: Oakland A's 13, San Francisco Giants 7

This matchup is remembered as the series hit by the "World Series Earthquake."Game 3was delayed 10 dayswhen a deadly earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area.

When thegame was finally played, it was a blowout for Oakland just like the other three games in the series.

Oakland never trailed in the October classic, and outscored the Giants 32-14 over the four games.