Seattle Seahawks (+1) vs. NE

Deflategate is somewhat behind us and the Super Bowl is here. The sports books have this game very evenly matched, although late money this week was going on the Patriots.

When New England has the ball. Look for the Patriots to work in their TEs into the match-up. Rob Gronkowski needs to be a major target and the wild card is backup TE, Tim Wright. The Patriots know they’ll have limited success attacking the Seahawks outside.

They also won’t be able to run the ball. Therefore, the attack must run through their TEs which is a position that has given the Seahawks trouble this year. However, that will be a difficult strategy to keep up over four quarters and against a relentless Seahawks D. The lack of a run threat means Brady will have pressure in his face much of the evening and will be forced to get rid of the ball earlier than he would like.

When Seattle has the ball. They will pound the rock. Justin Forsett had a lot of success against the Patriots run D and Marshawn Lynch is significantly better than Forsett. Seattle will pound the ball but New England will know this and load up the box. CB Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner can lock up the Seahawks outside threats pretty well so Belichick will not have to double anyone.

TE Luke Willson could be a nice sleeper because he has a knack for getting open and making big plays. The Pats Safeties are good, but not great. Expect things to start slow for the passing game but pick up when Wilson incorporates his version of the read option. His ability to make plays out of the pocket and extend them is uncanny and will give the Patriots D all sorts of problems in the 2nd half.

It’s a fairly even matched game but when the clock hits 0:00, look for Seattle to repeat as champions with a 24-14 or 27-17 win. Brady will have trouble with the Seahawks pass rush and Seattle is the more physical team.

Now to the story lines.

The Eagles have been in this game in five of the last eight years, only advancing in one out of the first four tries. Will this be two? Can McNabb keep his hot hand of limiting untimely mistakes and making big plays in crucial situations up?

Can the Eagles get Westbrook un-tracked, something they’ve been unable to do in the first two playoff games aside from the 71-yard TD screen pass vs. Minnesota. Can the defense continue to play lights out against this dangerous Cardinals passing game?

For the Cardinals, will the clock strike midnight for Cinderella? After finishing out an unimpressive final quarter of the NFL season, can they keep up their impressive play from the first two playoff games vs. the Eagles. Can RB James running the football keep the Eagles defense honest and not allow them to key on Warner? Can Arizona’s defense step up once again?

In the late game, featuring two teams that absolutely hate each other, the Ravens and Steelers, will the Ravens finally finish on the right side of the score. Both games came down to final plays this season with the last one featuring a controversial ending.

Can Baltimore get enough out of the ground game to allow Flacco opportunities in the passing game? Will the defense be able to continue to create turnovers and give the offense excellent field position? Will Joe Flacco be the first rookie QB to lead his team to a Super Bowl, and as a wild card team nonetheless?

Will the Steelers be able to take advantage of playing in their home field and beat Baltimore in that very challenging third meeting of the season? Can Pittsburgh keep Roethlisberger upright long enough to make plays? How will RB Willie Parker do against an extremely stout defensive unit?

All of these questions and scenarios will be answered this week when we go through our detailed game analysis. So make sure you check back to find out.