Sunday, February 1, 2015

Super Bowl Preview and Prediction

Seattle Seahawks (+1) vs New England Patriots

Seattle looks to have had a tougher road getting into the Super Bowl while New England has been clicking on all cylinders especially against the Indianapolis Colts.

While Seattle did struggle to put up points against Green Bay's defense, New England also had their missed opportunities in the regular season against the Packers in a 26-21 defeat.

The last time these two teams played in 2012,


At the heart of this comes two teams that no one likes to bet against.  Tom Brady has been clutch throughout his career with numerous upsets and 3 Super Bowl rings.  Same thing goes for Russell Wilson who has already having a better career than the guys from his 2012 draft class including the highly touted Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin and not so bad Ryan Tannehill, and that 28 year old rookie Brandon Weeden.

A lot people are saying this is going to be a close game simply based on past Super Bowl history from Tom Brady and the Patriots.  The Patriots last 5 Super Bowls have been decided by 4 points or less.  Then again, Seattle pretty much destroyed the Broncos 43-8 who had more weapons than this Patriots' offense.  The Seahawks will not have Percy Harvin this time around though.

Seattle already faced a good passing offense with the Packers- which showed more resolve as the game went as they only gave up 6 of 22 points in the 2nd half.  While Seattle does not have any big name targets, this should be the toughest test for the Patriots defense in this postseason.  Marshawn Lynch has averaged 5.5 yards per carry in his two games so far this postseason and will look to take out all his media rage against the Patriots.

I am picking Seattle to win this game- not only was their defense ranked statistically at #1 but their offense is also higher ranked (9th compared to 11th).  The Patriots have put up good offensive numbers this postseason but Seattle has faced tougher defensive opponents in the Packers and Panthers than the Colts and the Ravens.

While Brady has been great this season and has better targets most notably Rob Gronkowski, Seattle's defense is among the best and the statistics back this up as they are ranked number 1 defensively in yardage.  Brady has struggled against teams like the Chiefs and the Jets (yes the Jets!) who have been able to generate a pass rush.

Russell Wilson has had a couple of sub-par postseason games but he is nonetheless a strong performer in crunch time.  He still needs to eliminate miscues which he committed against the Packers.

That being said, New England could make this a close game and win if the Seattle cannot slow down the Patriots quick play calling and use of odd formations which utilize passing to the tight end or offensive linemen. We will see if Seattle's defense is prepared for this test in what could be a great game.  I have Seattle winning this game 27-21.



Hopefully, this game can be as entertaining 
as this video game review  featuring 
Conan O'Brien, Marshawn Lynch, and Rob Gronkowski.  

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