Super Bowl: Pats vs the defending champs

A couple seasons ago Pats did hang with the Seahawks in their house and lost on a big play to a guy who is no longer with the team. Brady threw for almost 400 yards on that very same defense minus Browner. That has to count for something yes?

Rivers and Gates took them to school earlier in the year. Short passes and out of the backfield. Edelman and Vereen say hi. I don't think their run defense is all that it's cracked up to be either. Luck was a very nice prep for Wilson.

Probably in the minority but I don't hate this matchup at all.

This is an extremely tough matchup for both sides. This is the opponent that scares and intrigues me the most. It should be a tight game from start to finish.

sb1 said:

Brady threw for almost 400 yards on that very same defense minus Browner. That has to count for something yes?

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They don't have Browner any more, but they've got an improved Sherman, Chancellor and Wagner

TBR said:

They don't have Browner any more, but they've got an improved Sherman, Chancellor and Wagner

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The Patriots are also improved since then. I certainly don't expect Brady to put numbers like that up again but just shows that this is far from an unwinnable matchup. After what BB and the Pats did to the Rams 13 years ago you can bet BB is looking for something to exploit.

This is the measuring stick matchup and it doesn't get better than this. I think we'll see we measure up quite well...

Simply put, Seattle's chances will depend entirely on Lynch and the Pats will be on Blount. Whoever gets the running game going will win.

Has the Seahawks faced a power back like Blount yet? Haven't looked up the breakdown of their schedule. I know they gave up big rushing games this year.

Should be interesting to see if they have faced a guy like Blount.

sb1 said:

Has the Seahawks faced a power back like Blount yet? Haven't looked up the breakdown of their schedule. I know they gave up big rushing games this year.

Should be interesting to see if they have faced a guy like Blount.

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First, the guy who caught the last minute td was Doug Baldwin and he's their leading receiver and gunner.

Second, they've played Knile Davis, Jonathan Stewart, Frank Gore

sb1 said:

Has the Seahawks faced a power back like Blount yet? Haven't looked up the breakdown of their schedule. I know they gave up big rushing games this year.

Should be interesting to see if they have faced a guy like Blount.

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Lacy.

Gore maybe?

At this point I am not sure about strategy, match-ups, etc but one thing I am convinced...this game will be very physical and neither team will cower or play to lose.

Before yesterdays game I was scared to face them. Now I am not. They are not invincible and can be beaten. We will have to play our best but we can definitely win.

Honestly.. Did Wagner n Kam play yesterday?

TBR said:

Lacy.

Gore maybe?

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I don't consider Gore a power back per se. Maybe Demarco Murray might be a better comparison as he had 28 carries vs these guys.

With that said, Jamal Charles shredded these guys back in mid- Nov.

The way the Hawks play their secondary. Chancellor plays more in the box, Thomas roams around like Ed Reed and their corners (Maxwell, **** Sherman) stay more on the outside and their rely on their fast LBs to cover the middle of the field suits our offense well.

Brady is so patient in the pocket and lets plays develop that it's difficult for their big corners or LBs to stay with players like Edelman/DA for long periods of time. Also Gronk requires a double team and TB will take advantage of any mistake they make in coverage with Gronk.

Those pick plays they ran vs. Indi were awesome. Until Sea can prove it can stop them I d keep doing that with a mixture of Blount.

On D..Lynch led the league in APC after first contact. Need to gang tackle him.

SalemPats said:

The way the Hawks play their secondary. Chancellor plays more in the box, Thomas roams around like Ed Reed and their corners (Maxwell, **** Sherman) stay more on the outside and their rely on their fast LBs to cover the middle of the field suits our offense well.

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Yep. Thomas is very good but I don't consider him in Reed's catagory.

SalemPats said:

Brady is so patient in the pocket and lets plays develop that it's difficult for their big corners or LBs to stay with players like Edelman/DA for long periods of time. Also Gronk requires a double team and TB will take advantage of any mistake they make in coverage with Gronk.

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SEA will throw everything they have at Gronk. Chancellor, Wagner, Wright will all take shots at at him.

Lafell against Maxwell could be a good matchup for us. Edelman against Sherman is not bad either since Shermans strength is defending sideline routes. I wonder if the Seahawks consider moving sherman around to get him matched up with LaFell

robertweathers said:

SEA will throw everything they have at Gronk. Chancellor, Wagner, Wright will all take shots at at him.

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I think it will be very obvious early on that Gronk is too fast for them.

sb1 said:

Has the Seahawks faced a power back like Blount yet? Haven't looked up the breakdown of their schedule. I know they gave up big rushing games this year.

Should be interesting to see if they have faced a guy like Blount.

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eddie lacy is a big physical back, and he ran for 73 yards last night.

Gonna be a physical one, but I believe this team can match that. This team can be anything it needs to be in any game to match any opponent. It morphs like no other team I've seen ever. This is BB's most athletic and versatile team, even including the championship teams, IMO. Those guys were smarter than this younger group, but this group is far more athletic and multiple.

With all that said, this game is pretty simple to me on both sides. Keep Brady upright on O and contain Lynch on D. I think Wilson will get his with both his arm and legs, but I think the key cog is Lynch. Keep him in check and I think we'll be in decent shape. I'm not close to guaranteeing a win or anything crazy, though. I just feel special about this group and we've faced tough teams all year and beat them. This team is special.

The narrative with the Seahawks this year was that they struggled defensively early in the season but righted the ship and finished really strong. On the face of it that is true, but when you look at it closely you see what could be the real struggle.

The period where they struggled included games against the Packers, Broncos, Chargers and Cowboys. The period of dominance they had was against a who's who list of bad QB's/Offenses.

Dont get me wrong, they are definately a good Defense, probly the best in the league. I just dont agree with some ideas that they rank among the best of all time.

Their Offense will have much more trouble with our Defense than the other way around. Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse just dont scare me. We see it time and time again when we go into a game and everyone is talking about some player on offense that can take over the game, these 2 weeks that player will be Marshawn Lynch. Bill Belichick will take that away like he always does, he wont let Marshawn Lynch beat him, if the Seahawks beat them somewhere else so be it, but it wont be Lynch.