The biggest day in American sport is upon us, with the Seattle Seahawks to take on the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX.
The Patriots are no strangers to football’s big day, appearing in five and winning three since the turn of the millennium. The Seahawks have less of a Super Bowl pedigree, but are of course the reigning champions.
We will take a look at each side, and tell you everything you need to know about the big game.
Seattle
Last Super Bowl appearance: 2014 versus Denver, a 43-8 win
The Seahawks seek to be the first back-to-back Super Bowl champions since, ironically, the New England Patriots squads a decade ago. Last year’s 43-8 triumph over Peyton Manning’s Broncos was a startling score line, and a victory driven by a defensive performance for the ages.
It was 22-0 at half time, and 36-0 into the third quarter before Denver’s first points.
If the ‘Hawks, who forced two Peyton Manning interceptions (one of which was returned 69 yards by Malcolm Smith, the eventual MVP) in the first half a year ago, can produce something similar on Monday morning inside University of Phoenix Stadium, they’ll be well on their way to a victory.
Without the same white-hot offense that New England can boost, the Seahawks rely heavily on a brilliant, ball-hawking defence to force turnovers – which they do with startling regularity – and set up their offense with a short field.
Then Russell Wilson invariably hands the ball off to Marshawn Lynch and the running back known as Beast Mode (watch him, and you’ll see why he has that nickname) does the rest. Seattle are also capable of the occasional big passing play on Wilson’s deceptively strong arm. Look for Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse on such deep-field throws.
New England boasts a strong rushing attack, to most likely be spearheaded by LeGarrette Blount, who ran all over Indianapolis in the AFC Championship Game, and will look to do the same against the Seahawks. It won’t be easy. Seattle’s defensive front is sold. Indeed, they haven’t given up more than 73 rushing yards since a game against Kansas City, which is also their last loss.
That game? Back in mid-November.
If you believe in the notion of teams starting the way they finished their last game, then Seattle are going to be threatening from the outset. Their final 5:00 of regulation and overtime in the NFC Championship Game against Green Bay was nothing short of incredible, a finish for the ages that included a trademark Marshawn Lynch touchdown run, a fortuitous bound of an on-side kick, and a stunning overtime drive that ended in a game-winning touchdown.
Prior to that, the Seahawks didn’t look like their usual selves. Russell Wilson threw multiple interceptions and Lynch had been well bottled up. What Green Bay learnt, and what New England will have to be aware of is that Lynch is rarely bottled up for the entire time.
The Seahawks offense, like their defence, has the great ability to wear opposition teams down, and strike with a big play.
Defensively, there are some questions – not talent-related questions, but questions still. There are a few players carrying injury niggles into the game, and star Richard Sherman might end up having to choose between playing in the Super Bowl and being bedside as his girlfriend is expected to give birth to their son, potentially on game day.
Big games in any code are littered with underdone players taking a chance to be on the field, and more often than not it blows up in the face of the team taking that risk.
For the sake of this game, brilliant offense versus brilliant defence, I hope that won’t happen here, but you never know, and the prospect of underdone defenders against Tom Brady must give Brady chills of excitement and give Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll sleepless nights.
Make no mistake, if the Hawks defence are on song, watch out New England.
New England
Last Super Bowl Appearance: 2012 versus New York Giants, a 21-17 loss
The Patriots, after winning three Super Bowls, lost their last two. They lost in 2008, against the New York Giants, spoiling an otherwise-undefeated season, and four years later to a Giants squad with many returnees – they were favourites in both.
They will certainly be glad that they aren’t facing their recent nemesis, the Giants in the big one.
Even the most casual NFL fan knows Tom Brady, he of 20 playoff victories and 47 playoff touchdown passes. The Patriots quarterback is one of the all-time greats, and a win on Sunday will make him just the third signal caller to win three Super Bowl titles, following Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw, two legends.
His time in New England with head coach Bill Belichick has been particularly fruitful – they are the most successful coach-quarterback tandem in NFL history.
Brady’s favourite weapon, and the man who will likely need a big game to carry his team to victory, is Rob Gronkowski, a prototypical tight end, with all the physical intangibles you could want. He is a tough man to stop, and his productivity (or lack thereof, perhaps) will be crucial throughout Super Bowl XLIX.
If Gronk can get the better of the Seattle defence, the Patriots will be in a good position. It’s one of those duels that will decide the fate of the game.
Three years ago, against the Giants, he was underdone, and had minimal impact on the game. The Patriots’ have other weapons, like speedy receivers Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola, who can pop up and make a play here or there, but there’s no doubt that Brady and Gronkowski are the focal point of the New England pass game, and their production speaks for itself.
Just as New England will seek to limit the game-winning ability of Seattle’s running back Lynch, the Patriots will be hoping that their own, Blount, has the same sort of success he had two weeks ago, steamrolling Indianapolis.
I’d be very surprised if Blount repeats that effort. As for the Patriots stopping the run defensively, they allowed only 83 total rushing yards against the Colts, but Lynch figures to be an entirely different and more daunting prospect. If he comes out of the gates and has early success, it only gets harder for the Patriots.
Prediction: Last year, I picked the better offense over defence, and was burned like so many who thought Denver would win. I won’t make the same mistake twice. I’ve got Seattle winning a tight, defensive game by somewhere between 7 and 10 points.
Overtime? Yeah, wouldn’t surprise me.
Join The Roar for live coverage of Super Bowl XLIX from 10.00am AEDT on Monday.
Who: AFC Champion New England Patriots versus NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks
Where: University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona
Half-time entertainment: Katy Perry and Lenny Kravitz
When: Monday 2 February 10.30am (AEDT)
Key players: Tom Brady (New England), Marshawn Lynch (Seattle), Rob Gronkowski (New England) and Richard Sherman (Seattle).
Last time they met: Seattle def. New England 24-23 in Seattle, October 14 2012
Join The Roar for live coverage of Super Bowl XLIX from 10.00am AEDT on Monday.
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