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The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks when they clash at Gillette stadium in Sunday Night Football. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 12:30pm (AEDT).
Both teams come into the game leading their respective division, with the Seahawks holding a 2-game lead from the Arizona Cardinals atop the NFC West and the Patriots sitting at an NFL best 7-1.
This is the first meeting between the teams since their epic Super Bowl XLIX, which ended in Malcolm Butlers’ game-winning goal line interception.
Why the Seahawks decided to throw on 1st-and-1, with the leagues best short yardage back raring to go, was baffling then and only gets more perplexing with the passing of time.
Despite their lofty positions in the standings, both teams have glaring and exploitable weaknesses. For the Seahawks, it is their now annual offensive line problems, exaggerated by the injuries to Russell Wilson which have sapped him of his mobility, the retirement of Marshawn Lynch and the injury to last years revelation Thomas Rawls.
However, these may not be such a concern in this match up due to the Patriots trading away their two most explosive defensive players, Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins, in separate trades, effectively robbing the team of much of their pass rush.
It is highly doubtful the Pats will be able to present the same type of test that Seattle’s much-maligned O-line was presented with three weeks ago against the Cardinals, when they gave away a staggering 10 penalties.
However, you doubt Bill Belichick and his game planning at your peril, and he will have cooked something up just for this match up.
Both teams come into this game at near full strength. Kam Chancellor was a full participant at practice this week and is expected to play, however the Seahawks will be missing DE Michael Bennett (knee) and RB Thomas Rawls as he continues to recover from a broken fibula.
For the Patriots, they look set to regain the services of Dion Lewis, however this could be tempered as he is expected to ease his way back after an Achilles tendon injury.
This game has all the makings of a classic, as I am sure the Seahawks will be keen to for some payback for their Super Bowl meltdown and stamp themselves as one of the NFL’s elite teams.
For the Patriots, this marks Tom Brady’s first true test after returning from suspension. So far this year he has been nothing short of sensational, and despite playing only four games to date has already stamped himself as one of the favourites for the MVP.
While he has already won thee of these awards, Peyton Manning won five, and we should never discount Brady’s ability to find a new slight, real or imagined, to use as motivation.
After announcing their support for Donald Trump earlier this week (one of the very few celebrities to do so), one could argue that Belichick and Brady have done a deal with the devil to guarantee themselves another Super Bowl title.
If they are to lose this game don’t be shocked if the new President-elect announces a rematch due to poor score counting! (I’m 97 per cent joking).
That, and more importantly their home-ground advantage, should give the Patriots an edge in this one, but I expect it to be far closer than the markets suggest.
Tip: Patriots by 6
Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 12:30pm (AEDT).
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