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Five Reasons Why the Patriots Should Beat the Seahawks Tonight

Ian Logue
Ian Logue on Twitter
Feb 1, 2015 at 8:00am ET







It's finally game day, and if the Patriots were ever going to capture that elusive fourth title, having a healthy Rob Gronkowski should be one of several reasons to hopefully allow them to do that against the Seahawks tonight. (USA TODAY Images)

Raise your hand if this has been the longest two week stretch ever.

Having seen Bill Belichick's teams in the Patriots previous Super Bowls appearances, these are weeks that are generally spent focusing on players, match-ups and analysis leading up to what should be one of the most exciting periods of the year.  We talk about stories about players who overcome big obstacles or hardships to get to where they are, along with other heartwarming tales that help make the week a fun one for fans of both teams.

Yeah...well, not this week.

Instead we got to hear about an accusation involving air pressure in footballs based on assumptions instead of facts.  To top it all off, the officials finally admitted Friday that they didn't even perform an actual psi check on them before the game and signed off on them, which would lead you to believe that when this "investigation" ends, the NFL is going to be in a tough spot when it comes to trying to prove any wrongdoing.

The result?  We've seen and heard Belichick, Tom Brady, and Robert Kraft more angry and animated than we've seen them during their entire 15-year tenure together, with all three delivering some pretty powerful and memorable press conferences over this span.  Those three, along with the entire team, looks to be more united than ever and as kickoff continues to creep closer, it's hard not to quietly wonder if we're about to see something special and historic go down later this evening.

Aside from that, here are some actual football-related reasons to believe that may actually happen:

1) Tom Brady's had a good postseason: Unlike some recent postseasons where Brady hasn't exactly been "Brady-like", the veteran QB has played well, completing 66% of his passes along with having thrown six touchdowns.  He's coming off of a three touchdown pass performance against the Colts two weeks ago in the AFC Championship game and has looked about as good as we've ever seen, although one would have to believe having a few more players in his arsenal this time around certainly helps, which leads us to the next reason...

2) A healthy Rob Gronkowski is going to be a difference-maker tonight: One day removed from being named "Comeback Player of the Year", the veteran tight-end is finally entering a Super Bowl completely healthy, something he didn't have the luxury of after Bernard Pollard's tackle in their AFC Championship three years ago made Gronkowski a non-factor against the Giants.  This time around he's healthy and he's playing at a level that most of us who watch him week-to-week can't quite appreciate because of just how good he really is. One of the reasons why he's so good is the fact that he's such a good blocker that teams often can't tell exactly when he'll sneak out and take off downfield, and that's one of the things that makes him so dangerous. Plenty of tight ends can catch passes but Gronkowski is such a complete player, and right now he's really playing at the top of his game. He'll be a factor tonight, even if he doesn't have a big night in terms of numbers. His mere presence and the threat he provides is going to open up things for other guys to play well.

3) Patriots Finally Have a Relatively Deep Receiving Core: Tonight this team heads into this match-up with all of their receivers healthy, and all of them are capable of getting open one-on-one and making a play.  Julian Edelman and Brandon LaFell are obviously the Patriots' top pass-catching threats, but tonight could also be a game where we see someone like Danny Amendola come up with a big game against a Seattle secondary that is going to be tough to deal with.  This is the best group the Patriots have taken to a Super Bowl in a while, and with Gronkowski likely to see additional attention, the odds are probably pretty good it's going to leave someone else open to make plays.

4) Darrelle Revis Will Be an Equalizer Against the Seahawks - Obviously adding Revis has played a key role to getting the Patriots to where they are right now, but it's hard not to believe that having him in the secondary tonight is going to play a big factor in helping them close out the game if that's what it comes down to.  As we've seen, that's been an issue in past years when the Patriots have squandered a late-game lead on this stage, but this is the first time we've seen guys across the entire secondary making plays and playing at a high level at this point in the year.  Having Revis out there has had such a huge impact and has helped make Devin McCourty even better at the safety position. Guys have said repeatedly that having him on the team have made them better, and with Revis likely able to at least handle his side of the field, there's certainly enough talent overall to allow them to be effective enough to win.  Overall this secondary has played well when it's mattered this year, and expect that to potentially become one of the story lines by the time this one is over.

5) Having Vince Wilfork Back is Bigger than You Think for this Defense: It's hard to believe there were so many people ready to write him off coming off of his Achilles injury last season, and having Wilfork back up front has been so huge for this football team this season.  Having a big, strong, smart veteran player like Wilfork leading other guys around him in the trenches is one of those things that gets overlooked because they do a lot of the dirty work on a play-to-play basis.  He often sees a lot of double teams, which puts the onus on other guys to make plays one-on-one, and this is a group that has been able to do that this season.  They'll face a big challenge tonight against Marshawn Lynch but if the going gets tough, having someone like Wilfork to help this group weather the storm is just so important, and they're fortunate to have him out there.

Overall tonight's game is going to be a good one, but if the Patriots were ever ready to go into a tough game against a good opponent, this is about as prepared as they're ever going to be.


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