Peyton Manning: John Elway ripped Broncos after preseason loss

Peyton Manning said John Elway wasn't pleased after a blowout loss in August. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Super Bowl XLVIII won't be the first meeting between the Broncos and Seahawks this season.

The teams also met in the preseason, with Seattle handing Denver a 40-10 loss in the Great Northwest in August.

Teams don't generally take much stock in preseason games, but Peyton Manning said executive vice president of football operations John Elway took the team to task after the loss.

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“John pretty much laid it on us after that game — that was a butt kicking,” Manning said, according to Pro Football Talk. “He talked about what he thought our potential could be and didn’t want to see that wasted. I think guys got the message.

“He might have been giving a message to coaches as well as the players, and everybody in the room got the message. It was the first time he had addressed the team, and when he had something to say it was important.”

Denver won its first six games of the regular season and nine of its first 10.

"[It] was just one of those things where you think something needs to be said at that time," Elway said, according to Jeff Legwold of ESPN. "We want this team to have a mindset that want to be world champions.

"What I said was if you want to win a world championship, you don't go anywhere and lose 40-10. To me, it seemed like some people thought it was OK, so I made sure to say it wasn't OK. At least I didn't think it was OK."

Manning finished 11-of-16 passing for 163 yards and a touchdown that day, but Denver's defense and special teams struggled.

Said linebacker Wesley Woodyard: "He's John Elway. You can't live here or work here and not know what he means to this team and this city. Whenever he talks, of course you're going to listen."

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