Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots: Super Bowl XLIX Preview

Two Sundays ago, the Seattle Seahawks beat the Green Bay Packers to claim their second consecutive NFC Championship. The Seahawks will play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 49.

Last Game: Seattle Seahawks vs. Green Bay Packers

It was one of the most epic games of football that many of us have ever seen, and one of the greatest comebacks in recent memory. Coming out of the half, the Seahawks looked done. There was no salvaging this game.

The leader of this team, QB Russell Wilson, was having the worst game of his young career. As he threw interception after interception in the direction of WR Jermaine Kearse (four to be exact), the collective heart of the 12th Man sank, and Century Link was as quiet as it had been in years. And then Seattle’s kicker Jon Ryan threw a touchdown pass to a lineman to break the shutout. The 12th man awoke from its slumber, and exploded. From that moment on, the Hawks did not look back.

With Green Bay up 19-7, Wilson ran in for a one yard score to bring the ‘Hawks within five, after Lynch and Baldwin hauled in passes to get the ball downfield. At the end of that drive, there was 2:09 remaining in the game.

Seattle’s next move was expected, but the result of that move was not. Seattle’s onside kick attempt looked to be a failure as it dropped into Packers TE Brandon Bostick’s arms; but then it bounced off of his chest and into the hands of ‘Hawks WR Chris Matthews. That drive was capped off with a 24 yard touchdown run by Marshawn Lynch, putting the Seahawks up 20-19.

The Hawks went for the two point conversion to extend their lead. As they went for the two point conversion, it looked like all hope was lost, as the Packers chased down Russell Wilson. Russell found his opening, and lobbed the ball to TE Luke Willson, who somehow hauled the ball in to give Seattle a three point lead.

The Packers forced overtime with Mason Crosby’s fifth field goal of the game.

Seattle won the coin toss, and opted to receive the ball. Russell Wilson kept his faith in Jermaine Kearse and lobbed up a deep pass, which Kearse hauled in to end the game, sending Century Link Field into frenzy. The Packers were left in disbelief, as they were going home as victims of one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history.

Super Bowl XLIX: Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots

Game Day: Sunday, February 1, 2015

Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. PST

TV: CTV / NBC

Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium – Glendale, Arizona

Halftime Show: Katy Perry & Lenny Kravitz

Stats

Regular Season Record: 12-4 (both Seahawks and Patriots)
Post Season Record: 2-0 (both Seahawks and Patriots)
Passing Offense: Seahawks – 27th / Patriots – 9th
Rushing Offense: Seahawks – 1st / Patriots – 11th
Passing Defense: Seahawks – 1st / Patriots – 17th
Rushing Defense: Seahawks – 3rd / Patriots – 19th

In Super Bowl 49, the Seahawks will face the New England Patriots. This game has its fair share of back stories and side stories:

These teams have an interesting rivalry between them. Well the rivalry is mainly between CB Richard Sherman and Patriots QB Tom Brady. In October of 2012, after the Seahawks upset the Patriots, Richard Sherman had some words with Tom Brady on the field, which resulted in the infamous “U mad bro?” tweet that Sherman sent out.

This is a game between the number one seed in the AFC and number one seed in the NFC. Both teams finished with a regular season record of 12-4.

At the moment, DeflateGate seems to be the big story surrounding the Super Bowl. The New England Patriots were busted using deflated balls. Everyone is wondering how NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will punish the Pats.

Patriots CB Brandon Browner played for the Seahawks last season. Browner knows Russell Wilson’s tendencies very well, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out in the game.

It will be a matchup of the two best cornerbacks in the game: Richard Sherman and Darelle Revis. Sherman has become a household name over the past few seasons, and his accolades allow him to claim the title of the best cornerback in the game. However, Darrelle Revis and his stats may have something to say about that. It will be entertaining to see the two go head to head this Sunday.

Russell Wilson has taken out elite quarterback after elite quarterback. Last year, he beat Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl, and this year he has the chance to knock off another legend in Tom Brady.

Keys to the game

Richard Sherman has stated that he will play in the Super Bowl, as has Earl Thomas. Sherman has a sprained left elbow, and is expected to play. If he is not 100%, the injury will totally change the complexion of the game. Richard Sherman’s strength is his physicality with receivers, so it will be interesting to see how his injury affects his game. Look for the Pats to get physical with Sherman

To win this game, the Seahawks will need as much Beast Mode as possible. The Hawks need to establish the run early. They have had some slow starts this season, and it is very important that they don’t fall behind against the Pats.

Their strength is the run and they will need to stick with that on offense. They need to use the zone-read offense that has made their run game so effective. This was very effective against the Packers in the 4th quarter last week. This is a solid New England secondary, so the Seahawks don’t want to become one dimensional, forcing Russell to throw.

Getting pressure on Tom Brady will also be critical, as he can’t be given time to throw to his weapons. The Seahawks will have to keep a careful eye on WR Julian Edelman and TE Rob Gronkowski. It will be interesting to see how the ‘Hawks contain those two.

The Hawks also need to stop RB LeGarrette Blount. He is a runner who is similar to Marshawn Lynch, and gets a lot of yards after initial contact. Seattle hasn’t been very effective against the run this post-season, so they will have to bring their A Game against Blount.

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