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New England Patriots’ Defense Outplaying Seattle Seahawks’ Offense Will Be Key To Super Bowl XLIX Victory

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By @calling_allfans

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Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

On Feb. 1, the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will square off in Super Bowl XLIX in Arizona. Much of the talk in the two weeks leading up to the big game will center around Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and the Patriots’ offense facing Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and the Seahawks’ defense. This is understandable, given how New England’s offense and Seattle’s defense have performed this season, particularly in the playoffs. But the Patriots being victorious in the Super Bowl will not truly hinge on their offense. New England’s defense will be the difference.

New England’s offense averaged 29.2 points per game during the regular season and 40.0 points per game in the playoffs so far. Seattle’s defense allowed opposing offenses to average 15.9 points per game this season and 19.5 points per game in the playoffs. Let’s call that a wash. Both the Patriots’ offense and the Seahawks’ defense are excellent.

Brady is one of, if not the best QB of all time, and he has a healthy Gronk to throw to for the first time in a Super Bowl; but New England gains a larger advantage when their defense takes the field. They have allowed an average of 19.0 points per game in the playoffs, including holding Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts to only seven points in the AFC Championship game. In the regular season New England allowed teams to average only 19.6 points per game. Seattle’s offense averaged 24.6 points per game in the regular season.

Those numbers do not tell the entire story, however. Russell Wilson is a really good QB who, for the most part, takes care of the football (the NFC Championship game not withstanding). But the Seahawks averaged only 203.1 passing yards per game (27th) this season. Seattle’s offensive strength is their ability to run the football, particularly with Marshawn Lynch, where they averaged 172.6 yards per game (1st) this season. Darrelle Revis will probably be locked on Doug Baldwin for much of the game and more than likely he will nullify Baldwin’s effectiveness. That will allow the rest of the defense to be more flexible and put another man in the box to stop the run, if needed.

In the playoffs the Seahawks have thrown the ball 52 times (one was on the fake field goal in the NFC Championship), but they have had 63 rushing attempts. Wilson clearly has talent, but the Patriots’ defense knows they will have to stop the run if they hope to win the Super Bowl. If Revis can effectively take Baldwin out of the game and the Seahawks’ offense becomes anything close to resembling one dimensional because they run the ball too much, Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia will have a field day.

There is a good chance this game is an extremely competitive one, but if both the Patriots’ offense and Seahawks’ defense play as expected and it comes down to the New England defense vs. Seattle’s offense, the advantage goes to the Patriots.

Justin Patrick is a New England Patriots writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @calling_allfans, like him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google. You can also email him at [email protected].

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