The players are entirely different, the coaches are different, and 12 years have passed since the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots last met in the Super Bowl. But for Seahawks fans everywhere, Super Bowl LX provides an opportunity for some catharsis.
On February 1, 2015, the Seattle Seahawks looked prepared to write the definitive legacy of a team that had won the Lombardi Trophy the year before and now had the New England Patriots on the ropes in the final minute of the game. After Tom Brady led a Patriots touchdown drive to put New England up 28-24 with two minutes to play, Russell Wilson then orchestrated a magnificent drive for the Seahawks, including a miraculous juggling catch by Jermaine Kerse to get the Seahawks to the Patriots’ 1-yard line with 26 seconds left and a timeout in hand. The next play has been etched into NFL lore. Instead of handing the ball to the great Marshawn Lynch, the Seahawks passed. New England cornerback Malcom Butler intercepted Wilson at the goal line, and the Patriots held on to win.
This will be the Seahawks first Super Bowl appearance since that fateful day.
This time around, the Seahawks are overwhelming favorites. Their defense has held some of the best offenses in the league to a minimum this season. Quarterback Sam Darnold answered the bell in the NFC championship game, besting the Los Angeles Rams with a 346-yard, 3-touchdown performance with no turnovers. The Patriots, meanwhile, had the league’s easiest schedule this season, and barely made it to the Super Bowl after a sloppy, snowy 10-7 win over a Denver Broncos team using its backup quarterback in the AFC championship.
The Seahawks are the resounding betting favorites to win this game, but you can bet they’ll still be playing with a chip on their shoulders. Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay already provided plenty of bulletin board material in claiming that the Seahawks were “lucky” when they got a key fourth-down pass breakup in the end zone to stop the Rams’ last best chance to score in the NFC championship. The video of Butler’s goal-line interception in Super Bowl XLIX has already been everywhere this week, and its airtime will only increase as kickoff draws closer.
The Seahawks, owners of the fourth-hardest schedule in the league, already crushed the team with the third-hardest schedule (San Francisco) and the hardest schedule (St. Louis) in the playoffs. It’s not a stretch to say the NFC West was the hardest division in the NFL this year, and that it was home to the three best teams in the league. The Seahawks have run a gauntlet like no other to get where they are, and if they are going to end it with a title, they cannot overlook the Patriots or take their foot off the gas pedal.
Three keys to a Seahawks win:
- Keep up the pressure on defense. Three times this season, the Los Angeles Rams have provided a guidebook for beating the Seahawks. Terrifyingly enough for the rest of the league, the Rams went 1-2 in those games. To beat the Seahawks defense, you absolutely must protect your quarterback and then hit on enough big plays to force the Seahawks offense to keep up. The Seahawks’ defense starts with its front four. Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, Byron Murphy, and DeMarcus Morris have overwhelmed offensive lines this season. When those four get pressure, it frees up the Seattle linebackers to jam up the middle, hunt running backs, or spy the quarterback. That, in turn, allows the Seahawks safeties to help in deep coverage. In the NFC Championship, the Rams kept the Seahawks’ defensive front bottled up and provided a clean pocket for Matthew Stafford to operate from. This, in turn, allowed Stafford to pick on the Seattle quarterbacks in deep one-on-one coverage against Puka Nacua and Devonte Adams. However, the Patriots do not have the Rams’ offensive line, and while they do have Kayshon Boutte and Stefon Diggs, those two are not Nacua and Adams. And perhaps most importantly, Drake Maye is not Matthew Stafford.
- Keep Sam Bradford and the offense unchained. The Seahawks beat the Rams because the offense went to work. The Rams turned the game into a track meet, and the Seahawks offense responded accordingly. In an ideal scenario, the Seahawks’ offense will be operating on a short field thanks to good special teams play or turnovers. However, they can’t rely on that. Early in the season, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak tended to get cute with play design when the Seahawks had the lead. He briefly reverted to that tendency against the Rams in the NFC Championship on the Seahawks’ opening drive of the second half, with Seattle leading 17-3. Kenneth Walker tackled for a two-yard loss, and then Darnold was sacked and lucky to hang on to the football on third down, forcing a Seattle punt. The Seahawks would then take advantage of a muffed punt return by the Rams to set up a short field and score a touchdown.
- Avoid catastrophic mistakes. As the underdogs, the Patriots will need the Seahawks to make mistakes. Against the Rams, the Seahawks largely avoided mistakes. The lone exception came in the waning moments of the third quarter when it appeared the Seahawks had finally gotten a stop when Riq Woolen broke up a third-down pass intended for Adams. However, Woolen then proceeded to jaw at the Los Angeles sideline, drawing a soft, but inevitable, taunting penalty that gave the Rams a first down. On the next play, Wollen compounded his error by getting torched by Nacua in single coverage, leading to a Rams touchdown that kept Los Angeles in the game. The Seahawks can’t make those kinds of mistakes on Sunday and allow the Patriots to hang around. If the Seahawks are on the A-game in all three facets in the Super Bowl, the Patriots will struggle to keep pace.
Prediction: This game appears to be a complete mismatch across the board. Do the Patriots have a chance? Of course. They earned their spot in this game, and if they can force the Seahawks into mistakes, anything can happen. However, a Seahawks team that has already beaten a swath of playoff teams in the regular season and faced two of the best teams in the league in the playoffs is likely ready for anything the Patriots will throw at them.
Final score: Seahawks 27, Patriots 10.
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