Based on what I've seen this year, I do think the two best teams in the NFL will be playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Since some early season ups and downs, the two teams have been red hot to close the season, combining to go 24-3 in that time-frame (including the playoffs). The Patriots offense has been one of the league's best since their early season struggles and the Seahawks defense, after not appearing to be quite as dominant in the early going, again established themselves as the best in the league toward the end of the year and in the playoffs. Speaking of the playoffs, these two teams both pulled off miraculous comebacks to get to the Super Bowl. New England was down two touchdowns to Baltimore in the second half before Tom Brady and the Patriots offense took over. Seattle's comeback against Green Bay in the NFC Championship game was even more miraculous. The defending Super Bowl champions turned the ball over 5 times in the game and trailed 19-7 until 2:09 was left in the 4th quarter. Somehow, some way, they managed to score 15 points in the final 2:09 to send the game into overtime, where they won with a touchdown on their first drive to cap the insane comeback.
The two match-ups that I think will be of the most importance are: 1) Rob Gronkowski vs. the Seahawks defense and 2) Marshawn Lynch vs. the Patriots defense. If Gronkowski is severely limited by the staunch Seahawks defense, then Tom Brady will have to look elsewhere - to other targets which have been less consistently reliable this season for him. On the other side of the ball, if Marshawn Lynch isn't a big factor in the game, it could be rough sledding for Seattle's offense. Two other things to watch out for in this game are: 1) New England's run game and 2) Russell Wilson extending plays. If New England can establish a decent ground game like they did against Indianapolis in the AFC Championship game, this will likely pay huge dividends in the passing game. Don't be surprised to see Bill Belichick and company attempt to go this route early in the game in order to hopefully open things up against Seattle's great secondary, the "Legion of Boom," and keep them off-balance. On the other side of the ball, as is often times the case, whether or not Russell Wilson is able to get away from pressure and make something out of nothing will likely play a decent-sized factor in the game's outcome.
When predicting the Super Bowl last year, I don't think I realized just how good Seattle's defense was. Like in baseball where I believe good pitching tends to beat good hitting, I often times hold that same belief in football with regard to good defenses beating good offenses. While I felt Seattle's defense was good, I just had a difficult time believing they were going to limit Peyton Manning and the record-breaking Denver Broncos offense enough to pull out the victory. Boy, was I ever wrong. From the first snap of the game for the Broncos, I thought to myself, "Okay, this isn't looking good... Is Seattle's defense really this good?" Apparently, yes they were, they still are, and even though New England's offense has really turned it around in the second half of the season, I'm having trouble making the same mistake twice and going with the great offense over the great defense. Tom Brady isn't the most mobile of quarterbacks (that's being nice) and unless the Pats are able to establish some semblance of a ground game, expect the Seahawks to bring the pressure and plenty of it. When Seattle has the ball, expect to see a much less erratic Russell Wilson. Until late in the 4th quarter of the NFC Championship game, he was awful, he knows that, and he's going to want to follow his very worst game with his very best. Given all of that and the fact I think, no matter how much the team wants to deny it, deflategate has been a distraction for the Patriots, I'm going to go with the Seattle Seahawks in this one.
Prediction: Seattle Seahawks 23 New England Patriots 16
Result: New England 28 Seattle 24
Week Record: 0-1 (.000)
Overall Playoff Record: 7-4 (.636)
Regular Season Record: 163-93-1 (.637)
Overall Record: 170-95-1 (.642)
The two match-ups that I think will be of the most importance are: 1) Rob Gronkowski vs. the Seahawks defense and 2) Marshawn Lynch vs. the Patriots defense. If Gronkowski is severely limited by the staunch Seahawks defense, then Tom Brady will have to look elsewhere - to other targets which have been less consistently reliable this season for him. On the other side of the ball, if Marshawn Lynch isn't a big factor in the game, it could be rough sledding for Seattle's offense. Two other things to watch out for in this game are: 1) New England's run game and 2) Russell Wilson extending plays. If New England can establish a decent ground game like they did against Indianapolis in the AFC Championship game, this will likely pay huge dividends in the passing game. Don't be surprised to see Bill Belichick and company attempt to go this route early in the game in order to hopefully open things up against Seattle's great secondary, the "Legion of Boom," and keep them off-balance. On the other side of the ball, as is often times the case, whether or not Russell Wilson is able to get away from pressure and make something out of nothing will likely play a decent-sized factor in the game's outcome.
When predicting the Super Bowl last year, I don't think I realized just how good Seattle's defense was. Like in baseball where I believe good pitching tends to beat good hitting, I often times hold that same belief in football with regard to good defenses beating good offenses. While I felt Seattle's defense was good, I just had a difficult time believing they were going to limit Peyton Manning and the record-breaking Denver Broncos offense enough to pull out the victory. Boy, was I ever wrong. From the first snap of the game for the Broncos, I thought to myself, "Okay, this isn't looking good... Is Seattle's defense really this good?" Apparently, yes they were, they still are, and even though New England's offense has really turned it around in the second half of the season, I'm having trouble making the same mistake twice and going with the great offense over the great defense. Tom Brady isn't the most mobile of quarterbacks (that's being nice) and unless the Pats are able to establish some semblance of a ground game, expect the Seahawks to bring the pressure and plenty of it. When Seattle has the ball, expect to see a much less erratic Russell Wilson. Until late in the 4th quarter of the NFC Championship game, he was awful, he knows that, and he's going to want to follow his very worst game with his very best. Given all of that and the fact I think, no matter how much the team wants to deny it, deflategate has been a distraction for the Patriots, I'm going to go with the Seattle Seahawks in this one.
Prediction: Seattle Seahawks 23 New England Patriots 16
Result: New England 28 Seattle 24
Week Record: 0-1 (.000)
Overall Playoff Record: 7-4 (.636)
Regular Season Record: 163-93-1 (.637)
Overall Record: 170-95-1 (.642)
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