I can understand why people are picking the Seahawks. They're a well-constructed team at every level. They've also been hyped through the roof for the last half of the season. Look at their last six games for a reality check - the biggest reason everyone thinks the Seahawks are unbeatable right now are the two games against the 49'ers, who I'd argue were grossly overrated this year, particularly near the end of the year, when half their team was on IR and the other half limped onto the field before the game started.
The Seachickens beat them twice and beat the Rams twice in - no easy feat! - in those last six games. Both of those Rams games could have gone either way, and both were in Seattle, which has a huge homefield advantage up there. They were impressive against the Panthers, yep, and barely beat the Colts.
They are a very good team. But here's something you don't hear about: the NFC West played the AFC South and the NFC South this year.
Both of those division SUCKED - with caveats: the Jaguars and Texans gelled at the second half (the Seahawks played both in the first half of the year), and Tampa was bad early and fell off a cliff late...and they beat Seattle. The Colts were good early and atrocious late (when the Seahawks played them and beat them 18-16 in Seattle). Everyone talks about the Pats' strength of schedule, but ignores the reality that it matters WHEN in the season you play a team. There's a reason that three teams in the NFC West looked like SB teams. They played half their games against each other and the other half against arguably the two worst divisions (particularly given WHEN in the season they played the only good teams).
Still, they are a really good football team and I can understand why many people think that they, or the Rams, had it been the Rams, would be favored. Okay, cool.
But then this:
Eric Moody, fantasy and betting analyst: Seahawks. Seattle's defense has been formidable all season, and defense still wins championships. The Patriots are averaging just 18.0 points per game this postseason, the fourth fewest by a team entering the Super Bowl and the fewest since 1979. Two of the three teams went on to lose the Super Bowl.
This might be the dumbest take I've ever read, proof positive that statistics will tell you anything you want if you torture them long enough. I mean, does this guy actually watch the games?
The Chargers defense was healthy at the end and were legitimately a top 6 unit.
Houston was the best defense in the league at the end of the year. I watched them every week and kept hoping we wouldn't have to play them. Incredibly physical. Their corners are top-notch and their edge guys are both fantastic. They were brutalizing opponents down the stretch. Eye test: nightmare match-up for any offense. On top of that, the game was played in sleet and wind. Terrible conditions.
Denver was another top defense, great at every level, and with the thin air advantage, and the game was shortened by a blizzard.
Those three defenses combined gave up 946 (315 av) points this year. The two defenses the Hawks faced gave up 717 (359 av). The best defense Seattle has faced since November 30 (the Vikings, where Darnold had 128 yards, net 94 after 4 sacks), is the Rams, who ranked 17th.
Seattle is very good. I hope they're reading the picks and measuring thier rings. This game is no gimme. Go Pats!
I mean, here's the reality of 2026.
People in these media outlets aren't here to speak objectively. They're here to craft narratives that they think (or are focus-tested) to generate the most interest.
This has made the shift over time from these people being open to new narratives, or to admit they were wrong if something else happens - to doubling, tripling, and quadrupling down on terrible takes,
Cam Newton tripling down on "Fool's Gold' after the AFCCG was the most obvious thing ever. Of course he did. He's the Fool's Gold guy.
Let's look at the narratives to start the season (and have been repeated throughout):
-AFC is all about Mahomes, Jackson, Allen and Burrow. Well they're all out of the playoffs, so this narrative has been discarded (even though they tried to pimp objectively mid-to-bad teams like the Chiefs and Ravens all season until they were mathematically eliminated)
-NFC is so much better than the AFC (this one would still be alive until the Super Bowl no matter what), despite the two worst divisions in football are in the NFC.
-Rams are the best team in football (this one started around midseason, just died last week)
-Patriots have an easy schedule (Again, still alive, since they're still playing)
-Patriots have the worst roster in football (This is from last year, but people still can't get past this), this is also why Drake Maye isn't going to win the MVP, which, goes counter directly to this, even though he has the 'worst roster in football' and they still win, but it is what it is.
-Everyone hates the Patriots outside of New England (This is proven over and over again, and just gets more ridiculous over time)
So, taking all these things into consideration, of course the National narrative would be if the Rams ("best team in football"), were beaten by the Seahawks - and the Patriots have the worst roster in football, and had an easy schedule, of COURSE Seattle will be built up as an unstoppable juggernaut. This is completely predictable.
Now, Seattle may well win the game, they're a very good team, and have a couple of really A+ players in Smith-Njigba and Byron Murphy. But I've been saying this since about halfway through the season - trust your eyes. Are the Patriots good? Yeah, they're a ****ing good team, and that defense is on an absolute historic heater. National media is handwaving this away, but it's no mistake that once the Patriots got healthy defensively, they're as good as they have been. You also don't go 9-0 on the road with the worst roster in the league and an easy schedule.
It's a coin flip game, and I like the Patriots coaching staff more than Seattle's. A lot of it will come down to how Maye handles the pressure of the game, but really, that's true of a lot of these players.
