Super Bowl XLIX Preview

Who will win this battle of football titans*?
*Obviously I don't mean the Tennessee Titans, they suck. 

I don't want to toot my own horn* about correctly predicting this Super Bowl five months ago so let's just get straight to talking about this fascinating game.

*Actually, I do. I'm 8-2 against the spread (Naturally, I haven't been betting), & straight up, in these playoffs. Only 6 of 64 ESPN experts correctly predicted this Super Bowl at the start of the year. In seven years of making preseason predictions I've got at least one Super Bowl team right in all but one year. I've now nailed 8 of the 14 teams during that span. King Kong ain't got s*** on me!
 
I know a lot of people aren't thrilled this game is between the Seahawks & the Patriots, the two most hated teams in the league, give or take the Cowboys & Steelers, but who cares what the haters think. The further this season went on the more apparent it became that this was the most interesting potential matchup. Sure, Denver fans would've loved a rematch, until it ended in another double digit loss. It was always a matter of time before the Colts got blasted by a better team, better for it not to be in the big game. Dallas... F@#$ that. Green Bay would've been fun though. Rodgers vs. Brady, a rematch of one of the few marquee matchups of the regular season that lived up to the hype, no one would've objected to that. This is even better though. Pete Carroll's shot at revenge on the team & owner that fired him. Tom Brady versus his successor in the clutch category, Russell Wilson (Who's 10-0 against Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, though that has a lot to do with the defense). The two best cornerbacks in the league demonstrating just how good they are. The Seahawks can become the first repeat champions since the Patriots. Belichick & Brady* can become only the second coach/QB combo to win four Super Bowls (Chuck Noll & Terry Bradshaw were the first). Brady gets a shot at beating the team that massacred his rival the year before, & in doing so cement himself as the best quarterback of his generation. They're also just the two best teams in football.** That's a lot of great storylines, & it's going to be awesome getting to see which ones play out.

*Listen, if you want to always see an asterisk next to those two names because of spygate & deflategate go ahead. You're being either extremely stupid, or biased if you do, because neither of those was A. exclusive to the Patriots or B. that big a deal, but go ahead & let your Patriot hate flow.

**Certainly some Packers fans will take exception to that claim what with Rodgers being hurt & Seattle needing a miracle comeback to win on their home turf. I'd counter that Russell Wilson quite possibly played most of that game with a concussion & the Seahawks turned the ball over 5 times & the Packers still couldn't beat them. You don't get better opportunities than that & if you can't capitalize you're simply not good enough –– at least not with your coach asleep at the wheel.

Now who's going to win this game? All I can say for sure is it will be close. Of course I expected last year to be, but I felt fairly confident Seattle would win, certainly more confident than I feel in either team coming out victorious in this one. Football Outsiders favors the Patriots, giving them a 50.5% chance of winning. This game really is a coin flip.

Now normally I'd go into detail about each team's offense versus the others' defense, & both their special teams, but I've been sick all week & I've got to get up at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow so I can go work security at this game (Makes you feel safe, right?), so if you want the most comprehensive breakdowns of how this game might play out go here & here. As for me, I'll leave you with two things.

First my preseason prediction of how this game would play out:

This New England team proves much more ready for the Seahawks than last year's Broncos as the Patriots pound the ball into the Seattle defense in long, time consuming drives & their improved defense proves difficult to penetrate as Revis picks off an early Wilson pass. Losing at the half to his former team Pete Carrol puts the game firmly in Wilson's hands & he answers the call. He brings them within a field goal early in the 4th & after the Patriots offense stalls following a Gronkowski injury he leads Seattle to the game winning score. 

Seahawks 24, New England 20

MVP: Russell Wilson

Now, my current take:

This New England team proves much more ready for the Seahawks than last year's Broncos as the Patriots use their quick passing game to attack Seattle's defense in long, time consuming drives. Their improved defense proves difficult to penetrate in the first half, wining the battle on third down, & forcing an early Wilson turnover. Once again when facing defeat the Seahawks lean heavily on zone reads & Wilson's deep ball, & it proves just as effective, giving them a late lead. Looking down the barrel of another blown fourth quarter lead in the Super Bowl Brady flips the script, marching his team down the field & finding Danny Amendola (or Shane Vareen) for the winning score.

New England 23, Seattle 20

MVP: Tom Brady