Brandon Marshall: Broncos Find Success By Being 'Tight Knit'

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) - Many players on the Denver Broncos roster were with the team during their loss to Seattle two years in the Super Bowl, and for most it's something they'd like to forget.

"There was a lot of bad in that game," Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall said on Xfinity Monday Live.

Marshall, who proudly was wearing his Conference Champions hat for his guest appearance on the CBS4 show, played sparingly in that game and said "there was a lot that went wrong and it went wrong fast."

So how do the Broncos avoid another poor showing?

"It think we've just got to settle down, really focus throughout the week and in the game," Marshall said. "We just have to believe we can get it done."

There's a theme emerging in this playoffs for these Broncos: "play for somebody other than yourself."

"Play for your family -- your daughter, your son. Play for Peyton (Manning), play for DeMarcus (Ware). I really believe that when you play for somebody else, you're going to go harder. Because you want to win that bad for the next man. And I really want to win for Peyton, for DeMarcus. Those guys deserve it," Marshall said.

Marshall says Coach Gary Kubiak has frequently told the players that this is the closest football team he's ever coached.

"We're so tight knit, which I think partly explains our success this season," Marshall said. "We care about each other. We're all brothers on the team."

That good chemistry has certainly helped the Broncos throughout the season. So has being an underdog for some of their big games.

The Broncos opened as 3 point underdogs in Las Vegas in their Super Bowl matchup with the Carolina Panthers, a team that only has one loss this season.

"They like to run the ball, they're physical. They have a great defense. But we're up for it," Marshall said.

And as far Panthers quarterback Cam Newton?

"I'm sure he's (going to be chosen) as the MVP. But we've got to shut him down. We've got to keep him from (having much success) in the game and we'll win."

Shutting Newton down, Marshall says, means "you've got to wrap him up, bring him down.

"The guy is big and strong, so it's going to be tough."