No Patriots in SB Thread? (professionals, vs., moving)

[lrfox]

Hard to fault Seattle for their opponents. They can only play the teams they're playing. I agree that they played a shell of the Green Bay that we saw earlier this season, but even an injured Aaron Rodgers is one of the best QBs in football. GB is the type of team that rises up to the occasion (unlike the Colts team we played in the AFC Championship) even with injuries. It's a well coached group that can play above its talent level. Yesterdays NFC Championship was a sloppy, ugly game, but it takes guts and determination to score three touchdowns in the last 4 minutes against any NFL team, let alone the Green Bay Packers fighting for their playoff lives. It's a true championship team. They deserve to be in the Super Bowl and they're going to give the Patriots a run for their money. They pose matchup problems for the pats (good pass rush against our hobbled O-Line, physical secondary that will beat on our receivers, and a big physical runner like we've had trouble with) and they're well coached. It's not the same Pete that coached the Pats before Bill.

Wilson reminds me a bit of a more mobile Tom Brady early in his career. A good game manager playing with a tough defense. He and his team are tough to beat. They're battle tested and they're tough.

Personally, I think Seattle is the favorite and they should be. This game could go either way. It really could. I could see the Pats winning in a route, the Seahawks winning in a route, or either team winning a squeaker. I want our guys to blow them out of the water for a million reasons. However, I think Seattle has better matchups on paper than we do. In either case, I can't wait.

*Edit*
Re: Bandwagon Seattle fans- If you're a Patriots fan and you're griping about bandwagon Seattle fans, you're forgetting what the Patriots franchise was like less than 20 years ago. We had arguably the worst stadium in modern NFL history and we rarely sold it out. The Patriots were the 4th most important team in this town and they almost moved to freaking Hartford. Kraft, Brady and Belichick made the team relevant and that's recent history to anyone who isn't a teenager or younger. Boston's a city of storied and historic sports franchises. When you're talking baseball, hockey or basketball, it's tough for most franchises to compare when it comes to longevity and history of diehard fans. Not so when it comes to the Patriots. The fanbase we have now is a recent phenomenon and it's only this way because the team has had success in recent years... not unlike the Seahawks at all. When you make fun of the Seahawks fans for being bandwagon fans, it's sort of the pot calling the kettle black. There are some franchises in the NFL that have rich, rich histories (Packers, Cowboys, Giants- whom many in this area were fans of before the Patriots, Steelers, Niners, etc.) and the Pats aren't one of them. I love this team, but I'm certainly not getting on my high horse when it comes to talking about a history of great fans.

[wheelz]

I like Wilson, but there is no comparison to Brady that can be made other than they both wear helmets.

I like the fact the Patriots don't talk smack and are humble. I feel it shows they are extremely well managed and have great discipline.

Sherman doesn't seem very convincing with an arm hanging out of its socket.

[personalensign79]

High horse seriously?! Every team that is successful has bandwagon fans. I think we all know that. It's that these have been particularly annoying IMO. Almost as annoying as Rays fans when they started getting wins. Again, just an opinion.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by wheelz

I like Wilson, but there is no comparison to Brady that can be made other than they both wear helmets.

There is a lot of comparisons that can be made if you look at their first three years, actually. Good ones.


Wilson is no joke. He had a bad bad game and came up and made the plays that needed to be made at the end.

I'm a Pats fan, but Wilson went to my University. I can't really lose with this one.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by timberline742

There is a lot of comparisons that can be made if you look at their first three years, actually. Good ones.


Wilson is no joke. He had a bad bad game and came up and made the plays that needed to be made at the end.

He's also more mobile, which is a big advantage on busted plays. Brady has shown some surprising wheels this year, but he's not a threat to bust out a 40 yard run.

I'll be cheering for the Pats, but from a pure matchup standpoint I think it's a tossup to a slight edge for Seattle.

While a Seattle blowout is possible, I think it's unlikely. Last year they had two weeks to prepare a Denver team that was certain to be predictable, and with good tools to matchup. Belichick is at least likely to make them guess, and it will be interesting to see how they try and counter the eligible/ineligible formations the Pats have used so effectively the past few weeks.

[PrincessoftheCape]

Originally Posted by bler144

He's also more mobile, which is a big advantage on busted plays. Brady has shown some surprising wheels this year, but he's not a threat to bust out a 40 yard run.

I'll be cheering for the Pats, but from a pure matchup standpoint I think it's a tossup to a slight edge for Seattle.

While a Seattle blowout is possible, I think it's unlikely. Last year they had two weeks to prepare a Denver team that was certain to be predictable, and with good tools to matchup. Belichick is at least likely to make them guess, and it will be interesting to see how they try and counter the eligible/ineligible formations the Pats have used so effectively the past few weeks.

I think the most likely approach we'll see from the Pats is a short yardage, high-percentage pass game, heavy on screen plays and dump-offs to Edelman, and quick strikes over the middle to Gronk. With Stork out (or not at 100%), they'll probably have difficulty protecting Brady against a strong Seattle pass rush, which means down the field opportunities will be limited.

On the defensive side, I doubt we'll see much commitment to blitzing -- they just haven't been a blitz-oriented defense much at all this year, or this decade, for that matter. Besides, blitzing is what Seattle wants -- pull guys out of the zone, have them rush Wilson, he rolls out, and burns them downfield for 30 yards. Belichick is way more wily than to play into Pete Carroll's hands.

Instead, they'll attempt to do what Green Bay did: play zone and try not to give up any big runs/pass plays. I don't think the Packers' have as good a defensive front as the Patriots, and I also don't think much of Carroll as a flexible coach, so if it worked last week, it in all likelihood will work again. Remember: Seattle is a formulaic ball club -- they don't make a lot of effort to disguise what they do. Bill, on the other hand, is the master of slight of hand. So while he probably knows pretty much exactly what Seattle will do, they are going to have to prepare for an enormous variety of offensive and defensive looks that the Patriots have been coyly flashing all season.

I don't think you can count on Wilson coughing the ball up 4 times, but we've seen defenses worse than New England's repeatedly shut down this Seattle offense over the course of this season -- I have no reason to expect it cannot happen again. And, contrary to the crowing in the Pacific Northwest, I believe the Pats will be able to move the ball against the Seattle D; this is just the kind of defense that Brady and this offense are structured to tear up.

All things being equal, I anticipate a Patriots victory. I don't think it will be a blowout, but I feel like Seattle has a lot of flaws that teams have exposed and exploited over the course of the season, and that they aren't even a shadow of the juggernaut they were last year. 31-14 Pats.

[UKWildcat1981]

Patriots should win the Super Bowl, Seattle is over rated.

[Urban Peasant]

The good thing is the Patriots seem to be playing with a lot more confidence than the last time they were in the SB. Someone correct me but weren't the Giants favored to win SB XLVI? There was a degree of trepidation on the part of the Pats that year with a lot of "Do you think we'll win?" feelings even among the players. One couldn't blame them for this because Gronk was not 100%, the defense was subpar, and Chad Ochocinco was no help thereby limiting Brady's passing options. Then on the other side, the Giants were truly lit up, they had just beaten opponent after opponent including a 49er's team with a stifling defense (albeit lousy offense), while the Patriots just squeaked by on Cundiff's shank. It seemed that the Giants were more confident than the Patriots that year.

Anything can happen in the Superbowl and the Seahawks can very well hoist the Lombardi Trophy but the Patriots are not the same team as in 2011-2012 this time around. Edelman, Amendola, Blount, LaFell, Gronk, and even Brady seem to be more relaxed and having a lot more fun. As for the Seahawks, I cannot imagine they do not have any worries about Sherman's injury, of their five turnovers, or the notion that they could have lost the NFC Championship had Green Bay played the game to their fullest. This is sort of like backing into the Superbowl as the Patriots did in SB XLVI, i.e. not winning entirely on one's own merits. This kind of also reminded me of Superbowl XLV when there was all this hype about the Steeler's league best defense even when that defense sort of let their guard down in the AFC Championships against the Jets who scored 19 unanswered points in the second half, even when the Jets were tired, and nearly had a chance to win.

Well, we shall see in a week and a half what happens I guess.

[PrincessoftheCape]

Originally Posted by Urban Peasant

The good thing is the Patriots seem to be playing with a lot more confidence than the last time they were in the SB. Someone correct me but weren't the Giants favored to win SB XLVI? There was a degree of trepidation on the part of the Pats that year with a lot of "Do you think we'll win?" feelings even among the players. One couldn't blame them for this because Gronk was not 100%, the defense was subpar, and Chad Ochocinco was no help thereby limiting Brady's passing options. Then on the other side, the Giants were truly lit up, they had just beaten opponent after opponent including a 49er's team with a stifling defense (albeit lousy offense), while the Patriots just squeaked by on Cundiff's shank. It seemed that the Giants were more confident than the Patriots that year.

Anything can happen in the Superbowl and the Seahawks can very well hoist the Lombardi Trophy but the Patriots are not the same team as in 2011-2012 this time around. Edelman, Amendola, Blount, LaFell, Gronk, and even Brady seem to be more relaxed and having a lot more fun. As for the Seahawks, I cannot imagine they do not have any worries about Sherman's injury, of their five turnovers, or the notion that they could have lost the NFC Championship had Green Bay played the game to their fullest. This is sort of like backing into the Superbowl as the Patriots did in SB XLVI, i.e. not winning entirely on one's own merits. This kind of also reminded me of Superbowl XLV when there was all this hype about the Steeler's league best defense even when that defense sort of let their guard down in the AFC Championships against the Jets who scored 19 unanswered points in the second half, even when the Jets were tired, and nearly had a chance to win.

Well, we shall see in a week and a half what happens I guess.

I think you're right: it's the superbowl, and anything can happen. Having said that, I don't buy on the Seattle defense being as good as it appears on paper given the caliber of opponents they played in the second half of the year. And I do think that their offense is pretty poor -- certainly no better than either of those Giants teams.

It will likely come down to the Patriots' defense, which is both stronger and healthier than it has been since our last superbowl win. New England by no means possesses a lock-down, stifling defensive corps, but they seem to play up to the moment, and often provide the offense with a short field. If we can generate even a single turnover, it would help Brady immensely to put his boot on the Hawks' collective necks. Despite fourth quarter drama in the last two NE superbowls, I expect this one will be won or lost in the third.

[lrfox]

Should point out that even with the whole deflate gate situation we have yet to see a Seahawks fan trolling this thread. As far as things to make fun of or points to pick on when it comes to the Patriots, it couldn't be much easier. On the flip side, we have Patriots fans in the Seattle forum trolling Seahawks fans. I'm a lifelong Patriots fan, I'm embarrassed by this football situation (we're soooo much better than the Colts... why do it?), and I have a hard time knocking Seattle fans for hopping on the bandwagon. That's what Pats fans did after 2001 and even more so after 2003. Before that, the team was essentially an afterthought.