Superbowl 49: Patriots vs Seahawks Predictions

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for, Superbowl 49. The Patriots have fought hard and overcome a lot of obstacles this season. Now there’s one more game left to play, against one of the best defenses in the league.

Match-Ups

There’s so much to go into here. I want to see Gronk against the Seahawks’ secondary. I want to see Lynch against the Patriots defense, but most of all I want to see the two coaching staffs going head to head.

The two teams are night and day really. The Seahawks run a predictable scheme on both sides of the ball, however they do it very well. They run basic a defense scheme and a power running attack with the read-option thrown in. The Patriots on the other hand throw everything except the kitchen sink at you. They run crazy formations, they constantly change personal, and they change their entire scheme at halftime if needed. That’s what I want to see more than anything. If the game is close at halftime, something like 14-10 or 10-7, I want to see the adjustments going into the second half.

The Seahawks really get their running game going late in games, they have the best yard per carry average in the second half, and the Patriots come out an entirely new team after halftime. They could spend the entire first half trying to run the ball, and contain Marshawn Lynch then come out throwing all over the place and trying to contain Russell Wilson. There’s no telling what’s going to happen. Both teams get better in the second half.

Thoughts

Man, I really don’t know what to expect. The Seahawks haven’t been looking a dominant in the playoffs this year. They beat the Panthers 31-17, but that’s only because of a pick-6. If Cam Newton threw a touchdown rather than the ball to Bam Bam Kam the game would be tied 24 all. So that score looks more skewed than it was. Then the Packers game, man, that was heartbreaking. The Seahawks didn’t win that game, the Packers lost it. No question about that. If the Patriots get up on the Seahawks like the Packers did, don’t expect them to try to run out the clock at the beginning of the 4th quarter like Green Bay tried. The Packers’ coaching staff blew that game.

Now the Patriots narrowly escaped defeat against Baltimore, and completely blew the Colts out of the water. However, with all of this ‘deflate-gate’ nonsense still floating around, it will do 1 of 2 things to the Patriots: fortify them, or tear them apart. A team with an ‘us against the world’ mentality is usually a scary team to face, but it literally is Patriots’ nation against the rest of America. During media day, I’m sure that’s all the Patriots will be asked by the thousands of reporters that will be present. Will it piss everyone off, or will doubt start to creep in the Patriots’ minds?

Predictions

First off, I want to say that this game will not be like last year’s Superbowl. The Patriots will not lay down and die like the Broncos did. They will put up a fight and could very well win the game. Vegas betting odds went from Seattle -2.5 to Patriots -1.5 now (That’s the last I checked, it may have changed again). Vegas thinks that the ‘deflate-gate’ is going to make the Patriots fired up, and man do I hope so.

I don’t know if the Patriots can win the game. The Seattle defense plays really tight and the Patriots have had issues with zone running attacks. Plus Lynch is a freaking truck, he’ll be hard to take down. I think the Patriots will put up a fight and keep things interesting, but I don’t know if they can overcome this big media mess on top of having to face an incredibly talented team. This breaks my heart, but I think the Patriots lose the Superbowl.

Final

Seattle-24

Patriots-20

I hope I’m wrong, I REALLY do.