Super Bowl XLIX is only days away. The unofficial national holiday will feature one of the best matchups in Super Bowl history. The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots both went 12-4 in the regular season, and rolled to victories at home throughout the playoffs. Now they will meet Sunday, Feb. 1, and if predictions are true, be a part of the single most watched television event ever.
Last year’s Super Bowl broke records for ratings, with a 43-8 blowout win for Seattle over the Denver Broncos. Although last year had its own eye-catching headlines, this year’s Super Bowl has a multitude of different controversies and great players.
With quarterback Tom Brady taking on the ‘Legion of Boom,’ specifically cornerback Richard Sherman, this year’s bowl is an all-time matchup. Sherman began making a name for himself after a breakout game against New England back in 2012, when he intercepted one of Tom Brady’s two picks for the game in a Patriots loss. He then ran after Brady, who headed into the locker room, shouting, “You mad bro?”
This encounter became a national headline back in October of 2012. Since Sherman has been one of the NFL’s biggest stars, making all-pro teams and winning a championship in 2013. Brady has been awaiting his shot to get back at the ‘Legion of Boom’ since that 2012 game in Seattle. Now he gets the chance with a more complete team around him, and with the ‘Boom’ possibly missing in the secondary for Seattle. With safety Earl Thomas playing with a dislocated shoulder and Sherman playing with a sprained elbow, the New England offense could have an advantage.
Thomas and Sherman are two of Seattle’s top five players. It’s difficult to win a Super Bowl with your superstar players injured. The Patriots experienced a similar plight in Super Bowl XLVI, when tight end Rob Gronkowski was nursing a serious ankle injury and was a non-factor throughout the contest. This year, Gronkowski is injury-free along with the rest of the Patriots squad.
Former member of the Seahawks and current member of the New England secondary Brandon Browner stated that the Patriots should be targeting those injuries to get an edge in the game. But Browner has reason to go just a little harder in Super Bowl XLIX, with the bitter taste still in his mouth from the Seahawks’ Super Bowl championship last year. Browner played in eight games with the Seahawks last season, but he was suspended for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy in mid-November, keeping him out for the entire Seahawks’ Super Bowl run.
The wild card heading into the game is the infamous “deflate-gate” accusations made against New England. It remains to be known how much deflated footballs have helped the Patriots win games. However, it has become arguably one of the biggest Super Bowl distractions ever for a team. It could cause doubt to creep into the players’ minds, but most great teams thrive in ‘us against the world’ situations. Head coach Bill Belichick has never let his teams get distracted before. The 2007 “Spygate” incident and the Aaron Hernandez murder scandal didn’t slow the Patriots down.
It is all going to come down to a game of wills. Who wants it more? Who is willing to give the most blood, sweat, and tears? At the end of the day, whoever lifts that Lombardi trophy is going to be a team that deserves to be Super Bowl XLIX champions.