Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos will “pick apart” Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

That is the bold prediction of Ron Davenport, the Bermudian and former Miami Dolphins running back.

“Denver is going to win it and the reason why is because, even though Seattle has a great defence, I just do not think they will have enough offence to score enough points to beat Denver,” said Davenport, who played for Miami from 1985 to 1989, scoring 11 rushing touchdowns in his rookie season out of the University of Louisville.

“Denver is not going to score a lot of points, but I do not think Seattle is going to be able to score enough points.

“On any given Sunday anything can happen, but Denver is on a mission and Peyton Manning is on a mission, and I think they are going to get it done.”

Both teams posted identical 13-3 records during the regular season to ensure the top seeds in their conference and guarantee home-field advantage through the play-offs.

Denver, the AFC champions, have the NFL’s top-ranked offence, having broken the single-season scoring record en route to becoming the first team in league history to surpass 600 points.

Seattle. the NFC champions, boast the league’s top-rated defence with their secondary allowing only 172 passing yards per game and a single touchdown through the air during the regular season. The Seahawks also racked up 44 sacks and 28 interceptions.

Davenport, whose NFL career was cut short by injury, believes the Super Bowl has all the ingredients of a thriller.

“The whole thing is you have a great mixture,” he said. “You have great offence, great defence, an old quarterback [Manning, 38] that is proven and a young quarterback [Russell Wilson, 26] that is just getting his feet under him.

“You know you are going to have a mind game with Peyton Manning against that great defence and then you are going to have great athleticism with Russell Wilson.”

Davenport is of the opinion that Seattle’s defence will have to be at its best if the NFC champions are to prevail. “The key for Seattle is whether they can get their hands on Peyton Manning,” he said. “Put some hits on him and get him on the ground a few times to get him out of his rhythm.

“If they do not touch him and get him out of his rhythm, he is going to pick them apart. I do not care how good your defence is — if you do not get to Peyton Manning, he will pick you apart.

“Seattle’s defence is pretty darn good. They are athletic in every position, even their defensive line, so I think the chances he [Manning] will not get hit are very slim. He will get hit and they will get to him. But the question will be how much will they be able to get to him and will they be able to rattle him.”

With the Super Bowl being staged outdoors for the first time this year, weather conditions could play a significant factor on the day.

“It is going to be cold and windy, which is going to affect both quarterbacks trying to throw the ball,” Davenport said.

“The other situation with that is the ball gets hard as a rock and very slippery, so you may see some fumbles and tipped passes.”

Attempting field goals in strong winds at the exposed MetLife Stadium may also prove tricky for the placekickers.

“It is an open stadium, so whenever you kick it is going to be an issue for coaches,” Davenport said. “They are going to wonder do they have enough range to be able to kick the field goal when they need to. You may see the coach that will go for it on fourth down because they are not close enough to the goalpost to kick one if they have a lot of wind.

“If there is no wind and it is just cold, it will be fine — it will not be an issue for the kickers. But if there is wind and cold, then it becomes a problem.”