Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has hailed his side's maturity despite their relative inexperience in the latter stages of the playoffs.
The Seahawks have been to the Super Bowl only once as a franchise, losing in 2005, while only one of their current players - backup wide receiver Ricardo Lockette - has any experience in the NFL's showpiece event.
However, Carroll believes that his side have built up the mental strength throughout the season to be able to cope with the occasion when they face the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday.
"We're well aware we just crossed the country to play in the biggest game of the year. But we never talked about going to the Super Bowl or getting a ring. We just talked about playing well every week," he told reporters.
"We wanted to stay balanced throughout. We've had a championship mentality all season. We've had a long standing process to be able to deal with this.
"It's been a process in preparing to be a championship team. We're young, but I think our team mentality is strong. They have a mature perspective."
The match will pit the league's best defensive this season against the record-breaking offense of the Broncos.
