In
other news, Bryan
Stork has returned to practice.
As
the playoffs started, the consensus amongst pigskin pundits and bobbleheads was
that it would be Seattle and New England in the big game and the Seahawks would again take home
the Lombardi Trophy. The Patriots were the best the AFC could offer, sure, but
we all saw what the Seahawks did to the best the AFC could offer last
year.
The
Patriots are much improved on defensive side of the line of scrimmage but the Seahawks are the gold standard for defense.
New England has Rob Gronkowski, sure, but ehy also have their usual assortment of below average options at wide
receiver. Even if Richard Sherman is playing with one arm tied behind his back,
will the Patriots be able to pass the ball against the league’s top passing
defense? They couldn’t run the ball against the Ravens and the Seahawks have a
better rushing defense. Can Bryan Stork make that much of a difference at the
line of scrimmage? The Seahawks would have the chance to beat Peyton Manning
and Tom Brady in back-to-back Super Bowls and you have to think that would mean something to them. The only question was whether or not
the Patriots could make a game of it.
I
was surprised with the
initial line on the Super Bowl. The Seahawks were only 2.5 point favorites? Everything I had read and heard in the run up to the conference
championship games argued for making Seattle -6.5 points if not more. Had
Russell Wilson’s poop-in-his-pants performance against the Packers spooked
Vegas? That and Richard Sherman’s injury? And the fact that Seattle needed
overtime to beat a one-legged quarterback? Within hours the line had moved to
pick ‘em meaning people who make their livelihoods by investing in sports
futures were buying the Patriots.
What?
These
guys know the Patriots won’t be able to underinflate the footballs they use in
the Super Bowl and that’s the only reason they win football games, don’t they?
I
digress. [Check the video at the end of the post; you’ll be glad you did.]
Where
was I?
Oh,
right. So you’re telling me the Patriots have a chance? Without extra video
cameras? Without underinflated footballs? New England could win their fourth
Super Bowl in six tries with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady?
That
could happen?
Lost
in the hysterical rush to judgment against the team that everyone outside of
Patriots Nation loves to hate is the fact that this is the best all-three-phases-of-the-game
team the Patriots have had in ten years.
The
Pats may not have a WR1, but they have three WR2s in Julian Edelman, Brandon “JoJo”
LaFell and Danny Amendola. And they have Gronk. (Now watch; it will be Brian
Tyms and Tim Wright who come up with the game-changing plays in the Super
Bowl.) They have power backs in LeGarrette Blount and Jonas Gray and a
versatile 3rd down back in Shane Vereen. And they have The Real Slim Shady, Tom Brady.
New
England’s defense can’t match Seattle’s statistically but they finished in the
Top 10 for points and made their share of big plays along the way. You know
their names; Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner, Devin McCourty, Jamie Collins, Dont’a
Hightower, Chandler Jones, Vince Wilfork and the versatile yet underrated Rob
Ninkovich, all of them a highlight waiting to happen.
They
make plays on special teams, too, blocking kicks and scoring touchdowns. No
offense wants to settle for field goals but when the Patriots have to, it’s
good to have Stephen
Gostkowski and his 94.6% conversion rate trot onto the field. It doesn’t
hurt having Julian Edelman, one of the best
punt return men in the history of the NFL, either.
But
the Seahawks are a scary team led by God’s
chosen quarterback, Russell Wilson. They have Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch toting
the rock and the Legion
of Boom on defense. Their head coach, Pete Carroll, is permanently pumped.
And jacked. Seattle doesn’t beat opponents, they destroy them. They are
brutally effective running the football and Wilson – compared by Belichick to
Roger Staubach – is a SportsCenter Top 10 clip waiting to happen. And if you
don’t know who Richard Sherman is or why he became the face of Campbell’s
Chunky Soup then I’m not sure how you found your way to this blog or why
you kept reading this far.
Maybe
the pick ‘em line is right. Maybe this will be the first Super Bowl that goes
to overtime. These are two pretty good teams and if both of them play their
best, we could see some remarkable football.
I
hope not. I hope it’s a terrible game. I hope people are tuning out before the
start of the 4th quarter because the Patriots are leading 45-3.
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