Jeremy Anderson
MC301 Contributor/Staff
Deflate-gate and blizzards will not stop the 49th Super Bowl matchup between the New England Patriots and the defending champion Seattle Seahawks.
Both teams ended the regular season with a 12-4 record and both teams are No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences. Although both teams share similar records and seeds, the two teams had two different journeys to the Super Bowl.
The Patriots started their playoff run against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens proved to be a tough test for the Patriots as the Baltimore held a 14-point lead two different times in the game. But the resilient Patriots team, led by Quarterback Tom Brady, rallied to win 35-31.
In its fourth consecutive American Football Conference championship, the Patriots had what seemed like a much easier game. The Patriots faced off against Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots had already beaten the Colts earlier and the season, and had no problem doing so once again.
The Patriots dismantled the Colts 45-7 in a matchup in which the Colts looked simply overmatched.
The Seattle Seahawks had a decent test to begin its road to the Super Bowl. Its first round matchup was against Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers. Seattle overpowered Carolina for much of the game, and the 31-17 final score did not indicate the difference in levels of play between the two games. Although Carolina fought valiantly, Seattle controlled the game in every phase of the game.
In the National Football Conference championship game, Seattle couldn’t have faced a tougher opponent on that day. Aaron Rogers and Green Bay Packers entered Century Link Field in Seattle with no plans of letting Seattle cruise to another Super Bowl.
Seattle struggled all game against the Packers. Quarterback Russell Wilson threw four interceptions in regulation of the game. Yet still, the Seahawks managed to come back from 15 points in the final 2 minutes of the game to send it into overtime and eventually win the game.
With the Seahawks riding off an emotional victory, I expect the Seahawks to be teeming with the same raw emotion when kickoff time arrives.
Although Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have been to five Super Bowls and have won three of them together, their last appearance was in 2008. A large portion of the current Patriots roster was not a part of any of the Super Bowl appearances. I believe this gives a slight advantage to the Seahawks being that they were in the same exact position just last year.
The most interesting part of this game will be seeing how the explosive New England offense fares against Seattle’s stingy, hard-hitting defense. In last year’s Super Bowl, Seattle held a Peyton Manning-led Denver Bronco offense to just eight points.
I expect the Patriots to fare a little better than the Broncos did last year, but I still expect Seattle to control the game on the defensive side. Cornerback Richard Sherman and the rest of the Seattle defense play best when the light is as big as it can get. And at no time are the lights brighter than the Super Bowl.
Also, with the game being in Glendale, Ariz., the rowdy Seattle fans should outnumber the New England faithful to make it a little harder for Brady to operate his offense.
I expect Russell Wilson to play well enough, with the aid of Seattle’s stifling defense, to lead Seattle to a second straight Super Bowl. Seattle would be the first Super Bowl champion to repeat since 2005 when Tom Brady’s Patriots defeated Philadelphia.
With the average price of tickets reaching $4000, most football fans will be catching the game on NBC on Feb. 1st at 5:30 p.m.
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