Patriots – Seahawks Key Matchups, Who Has the Razor’s Edge?

Steve Balestrieri

7 years ago at 6:00 am ET

Kevin Hoffman - USA TODAY Sports

Patriots RBs vs Seahawks Front Seven – Razor’s Edge New England
The Patriots have been running the football much better this season and the offensive line has much to do with that.

LeGarrette Blount is off to the best start of his career. He’s rushed for 609 yards and nine touchdowns, already a career high. With Brady’s return, however, the running game hasn’t been used as often, being relegated to a supporting role.

Seattle’s run defense has been good overall this season allowing only 98.7 yards per game. The front seven is very good and the strength of the unit is the outstanding linebacker play of both Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright. The front four slow things up and allow the athletic LBs to clean up and make plays.

The Patriots will try to be creative with the running game and keep mixing things up. But they don’t want to get too pass happy and allow an excellent front seven to pin their ears back. They’ll use Blount as a battering ram and keep the balance that they’ve enjoyed thus far. The “X-Factor” here, Dion Lewis. If he’s activated and actually plays a few snaps on Sunday night, he could be another weapon for the Patriots to bring to bear.

Patriots WRs vs Seahawks Secondary – Razor’s Edge New England
The Patriots passing game is operating on a very high plain with Tom Brady back and under center. With tight ends of Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett, they present matchup issues for opposing defenses to deal with. Add in Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola outside and James White out of the backfield, they have a plethora of weapons for Brady to use.

Seattle’s pass defense has been outstanding allowing just 233.8 yards per game and only six touchdown passes on the season. The front four led by Cliff Avril do a great job of pushing the pocket and pressuring the QB. They are missing one big piece however as DE Michael Bennett, is still recovering from an injury and won’t play. But the secondary led by Richard Sherman is outstanding. Safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor are arguably the best pair in the NFL. And Chancellor is expected back this game after missing some time with an injury.

Look for Brady to go to the short-medium passing game with the quick Edelman, Hogan, and Amendola early in this one, to slow down the pass rush and try to work on the zone coverages. In the second half, then they’ll try to stretch them out down the middle with the tight ends.

Seattle blitzes only on about 25 percent of opponent snaps but they’re very effective when they do. They mix things up and bring it from different places and will bear some watching as they may look to make up for the loss of Bennett.

Next up the Seattle offense: