The Seahawks board is VERY confident

The game will be won by the team that scores the most pts.

PatsFanSince74 said:

If I were a Seahawks fan, I'd feel really good about my team too.

They have a damn good team.
They have a damn good coach.
They finished the season strong.
They played badly and still beat the Packers (i.e., survived a scare and won't likely come out flat again) in the NFCCG.
They demolished the Broncos in last year's SB.
They are playing in a stadium with which they are familiar because they already play one game a season there and have won their last two games on site 35--6 and 34--22. Not to mention the fact that they are playing a team that is still haunted by its last SB in the same stadium.
They are playing against a team that has been distracted for the last ten days.

That's not to say that I'm not confident in our guys, just that it ain't crazy to feel confident if you're a Seattle fan.

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Add in the fact that about 90 percent of the public outside the New England area wants them to win, I'd say they have reason to feel confident.

I almost feel the NFL would prefer Seattle wins outright or they would rather we win, but only if it means Belichick and Brady retire the next year.

scott99 said:

Good point, plus they were 20th in sacks (37), so it's not like our O-Line is facing the Steel Curtain. I really feel it's all about the Pats O-Line. If they play well, the Pats should win. Seahawks have a small, fast D-Line, so if they can open up holes for Blount/Vereen/Gray, and keep Brady from getting hit TOO much, I think the Pats can win. Also, to beat the blitz, I hope the Pats use screen passes as well. It's worked well vs teams who blitz in the past.

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I think the Hawks D is pretty good at sniffing out and defending screens, but if they put 8 or 9 in the box I can see the Edelman to WR play working (a way to get enough time for the receiver to get downfield).

BadMoFo said:

Add in the fact that about 90 percent of the public outside the New England area wants them to win, I'd say they have reason to feel confident.

I almost feel the NFL would prefer Seattle wins outright or they would rather we win, but only if it means Belichick and Brady retire the next year.

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Actually it's not as bad as you might think.

http://espn.go.com/espn/fp/flashPollResultsState?sportIndex=nfl&pollId=4681910

everlong said:

Actually it's not as bad as you might think.

http://espn.go.com/espn/fp/flashPollResultsState?sportIndex=nfl&pollId=4681910

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That's odd. Maybe all of Gronk's college buddies helped us win Arizona.

Double TE said:

Name the last dominant D to lose a SB. I can't. They should be confident. But GB had them on the ropes in their building. On neutral ground we'll see how they fare.

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Carolina in 2003.

The Brandon Five said:

I don't think the Hawks have been tested that much this season. Some pretty sorry QB's down the stretch. They beat a mediocre Panthers team and then needed all-universe-bad coaching from McCarthy and some luck to beat a gimpy Rodgers at home. I don't think they are as dominant as they were last year. Without Bryant, Mebane and Clemons up front they will not be able to apply as much pressure and having a banged-up Sherman and Thomas is not going to help them against our passing attack.

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Not so sure that the earlier games are as important as you allow (even the GB game, which they were lucky to win), but I do think that your last sentence contains the reasons why the game is either "Pick-em" or "Pats -1."

BadMoFo said:

That's odd. Maybe all of Gronk's college buddies helped us win Arizona.

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Ya I was thinking Gronk gave us AZ, Tom gave us MI, GB hates Seattle more thus WI, Saints fans hate Seattle thus LA, the Dakotas Josh Boyer and Adam? But a lot of the states are really close.

BadMoFo said:

That's odd. Maybe all of Gronk's college buddies helped us win Arizona.

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Nah seahawks arent very popular.. a lot of arrogant players over there turning people off, hell look no further then sherman, plus their fans are even worse then their players.. hell look no further then PFT

They should be very confident. Their team just won a SB last year and now they are in the SB again. They have zero reason to not be confident. Outside of the fact they probably should have lost to the packers if they didn't choke, but.......yeah. That's kind of irrelevant now.

I would have thought more Patriot support in California due to the 49'ers being in the Seahawk division and hating them. In any case their board will change when Sherman's arm is hanging like a noodle.

upstater1 said:

Carolina in 2003.

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8th in total D in the NFL --- good but not dominant.

Double TE said:

8th in total D in the NFL --- good but not dominant.

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Well, they came on late in the season and shut people down. A lot of stars on that team.

Remember, the Patriots D of 2001-2006 probably averaged about 8th in the league, but they were definitely dominant.

Double TE said:

Name the last dominant D to lose a SB. I can't. They should be confident. But GB had them on the ropes in their building. On neutral ground we'll see how they fare.

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http://espn.go.com/nfl/superbowl/history/winners

The better defenses tended to win the Super Bowl, but I look at this game as similar to the Ravens - 49ers in 2013, the Packers over the Steelers in 2011, the Steelers over the Cardinals in 2009, and the Giants over the Patriots in 2007. All the losers had excellent defenses, and all of those games were close.

The Patriots had more takeaways (25-23), a better takeaway difference (12 - 9) than the Seahawks in 2014, and kept that up in the playoffs. The Patriots were the Seahawks equal down the stretch in preventing opponents from scoring in the second half. I'd argue that the Patriots have a better defensive line than the Seahawks, and are every bit their equal in the secondary, and match up well at linebacker.

The Seahawks have a great defense, but not so much better than the Patriots that this is a lock. The Patriots faced a number of very good defenses all season and have ways to handle a team like this, especially with Stork back to buy time for Brady or open holes for Blount.

This should be a great game.

They have every right to be. Their team won the Super Bowl handily last year and they continue to have a great defense.

Double TE said:

8th in total D in the NFL --- good but not dominant.

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What about 2007 Giants (#7) vs. 2007 Pats (#4)? Is being 4th less dominant than 7th?

In 2012, #3 San Fran lost to #17 Baltimore.

In 2010, #2 Pittsburgh lost to #5 GB.

In 2006, #5 Chicago lost to #21 Indy.

I guess it becomes a question of how you define or measure"dominance".

No different than us, they should be confident they have an great team, so do we

Nitro said:

Nah seahawks arent very popular.. a lot of arrogant players over there turning people off, hell look no further then sherman, plus their fans are even worse then their players.. hell look no further then PFT

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I think Lynch is the one that the media and fans are turned off by. He won't talk during interviews, unless it comes time to plug his own clothing line.

Triumph said:

A lot of the media talk is all Seahawks.

Whats Lynch going to say if he wins MVP

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"You know why I'm here, right?"

PatsFanSince74 said:

Not to mention the fact that they are playing a team that is still haunted by its last SB in the same stadium.

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About two-thirds of this Patriots team wasn't even in the league when that happened. Most of the FO and staff, sure, but it's basically Brady, Wilfork, and Gostkowski.

Heck, the majority of this team didn't play in the previous SB appearance, either.