Let's get right to it.
New England (-1) vs. Seattle
In the famous words of George W. Bush as well the Who, “Fool me once…well I won’t get fooled again”.
Last year, all signs pointed to Seattle dominating the entire season. They were the clear best team in the league. As everyone knows, great defense typically beats great offense. But along the way, I and many others decided that this Denver team was too good to be slowed by even the best defense in football. Aaaand about ONE PLAY INTO THE GAME, we knew it was all over with. I promised I wouldn’t let that happen to me again if Seattle was back in the big game this year. As we’ve seen in recent seasons, the defending Super Bowl champ hasn’t even been able to make the playoffs, let alone make it to the Super Bowl and potentially win. But this is an historic defense we’re witnessing here, and it feels like they aren’t getting enough credit. And a lot of that has to do with last weekend.
Caught up in all the hoopla about footballs and the like, I think we kind of lost sight of how ridiculous that comeback was against Green Bay. The Packers were an awesome team pretty much all season long, had the game all but sewn up, and Seattle comes out on top anyway. Russell Wilson throws four interceptions, and they find a way to advance. Granted you can’t just deny the fact that it happened, but if Wilson throws maybe one interception instead of four, there’s an excellent chance Seattle wins that game by three scores. Meanwhile over in the AFC, New England beat the Indianapolis Lucks. A team that has three, maybe four players who would start on most other teams, in an AFC Championship Game it probably had no real business being in. Sorry Colts fans, but you know it’s true. Your team is not a legit contender until the front office realizes that Andrew Luck alone doesn’t make you a contender. So the Patriots come out and blow them out of the building and look awesome while the Seahawks struggle and look terrible for 56 minutes at home. So one can understand why the Patriots would be a touch overrated headed into the big game.
I just look around both rosters and I don’t see very many areas where New England carries an advantage. Quarterback is obviously one, but that is at least somewhat offset by Seattle’s pass defense against New England’s secondary. When you factor in rushing offense and run defense, Seattle’s advantage spreads that much wider. There are a few items here and there where the Pats can claim advantages, but special teams and rule-bending (HI-OOO!) aren’t significant enough to offset the other factors.
This is a different New England team than we’ve seen in the playoffs over the last decade or so. This one actually plays some defense, and they’ve been a legit contender all season long. But this Seattle team is putting up stats and performances that rank amongst the greatest teams of all-time. I believe when all is said and done, we’ll be wondering why in the world the Patriots were favored coming into this game.
Pick: Seahawks
BEST BETS: Duh
LOCK: Seattle Seahawks
LAST WEEK
Overall:2-0
Best Bets: 2-0
Lock of the Week: 1-0
YEAR TO DATE (final regular season stats)
Overall: 146-124 (54.0%)
Best Bets: 43-36 (54.4%)
Lock of the Week: 11-9 (55%)
POWER RANKINGS
Team Name W/L (Preseason rank)
1. Seahawks 14-4 (1)
2. Patriots 14-4 (4)
3. Packers 13-5 (8)
4. Cowboys 13-5 (21)
5. Colts 13-6 (9)
6. Broncos 12-5 (2)
7. Lions 11-6 (15)
8. Ravens 11-7 (16)
9. Steelers 11-6 (12)
10. Bengals 10-6-1 (10)
11. Panthers 8-9-1 (11)
12. Cardinals 11-6 (13)
13. Eagles 10-6 (6)
14. Texans 9-7 (17)
15. Chiefs 9-7 (18)
16. Bills 9-7 (27)
17. Dolphins 8-8 (28)
18. Chargers 9-7 (5)
19. 49ers 8-8 (3)
20. Falcons 6-10 (24)
21. Giants 6-10 (25)
22. Rams 6-10 (22)
23. Browns 7-9 (30)
24. Saints 7-9 (7)
25. Vikings 7-9 (23)
26. Jets 4-12 (20)
27. Bears 5-11 (14)
28. Redskins 4-12 (26)
29. Raiders 3-13 (31)
30. Bucs 2-14 (29)
31. Jaguars 3-13 (32)
32. Titans 2-14 (19)
