Superbowl Sunday Breakdown/Prediction

It's here. It is an unofficial holiday to sports fans and other citizens alike. For people who love football and/or silly commercials, this is a day that is very much looked forward to in American Culture, and judging by the title, you already know, it's Superbowl Sunday. It's the Patriots and the Seahawks. Let's get into my breakdown of this game. First, let's get into a recap of each teams season up to this point.

Patriots
The Patriots 2014 journey got off to a very rocky start, as they were beaten in Miami in Week 1 by a score of 33-20. After 2 unconvincing wins over Minnesota and Oakland, the Patriots were completely steamrolled in Kansas City on a Monday night by a score of 41-14. If somebody had told me after week 4 that the Patriots would be playing in this game tonight, I would have laughed it off. But after this game, New England began laughing as they won their next 4. This set up a week 9 showdown with Peyton Manning and the Broncos at home. The Pats proved up to the task, as they smacked Omaha and his crew by a 43-21 margin. Going into their bye week, the Patriots were in a good place at 7-2.

After the bye, the Pats had a marquee Sunday Night match up in Indy against Andrew Luck and the Colts. The Pats again proved up to the task, led by running back Jonas Gray, and came out with a 42-20 win. The next week would be another easy win, this time over the Lions. New England would finally come back to earth in Week 13, as Aaron Rodgers and the Packers were victorious 26-21. New England would bounce back with 3 straight wins before falling to Buffalo in Week 17, a game in which the Pats starters saw limited action in an effort to get them rest for the playoffs.

In the Divisional Playoffs, the Patriots overcame 2 14 point defects to defeat the Baltimore Ravens 35-31. This brought up a rematch with the Colts, this time in New England. The Pats won 45-7, in a game marred by controversy which I will briefly discuss later, and earned their 6th AFC title in the past 14 years.

Seahawks
The Seahawks were fresh off their first ever Superbowl win. Many expect them to suffer a "Superbowl Hangover". The Hawks got of to a good start, pounding Green Bay 36-16 in Week 1. However losses to Dallas, St. Louis and San Diego put them at 3-3. It looked like these people would be proved right.  However, the Hawks would reel off 3 in a row, before a loss at KC again instilled doubt. However, the Hawks responded by winning their final 6 games, highlighted by drubbings of San Francisco and Arizona. They finished the regular season at 12-4 and earned the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs.

In the Divisonal round of the playoffs, the Seahawks handled Carolina 31-17. In the NFC title game, the Seahawks, aided by an onside kick  rallied from 12 down in the last 3 minutes to defeat Green Bay 28-22 in Overtime.

So I have covered the long road for both teams to the dance. No I will compare how these 2 match up against each other.

Offense
The Patriots are known for being steady on offensive year after year. Led by Tom Brady, as well as well as TE Rob Gronkowski, WR Julian Edelman and RB
Lagarrette Blount the Pats offense is known for putting points on the board. The Seahawks have a different style offense designed to chew out the clock. Although Marshawn, Lynch is a fantastic running back and Russell Wilson is a solid QB, I'm gonna have to give the edge to the Pats
Edge: New England

Defense
The Sehawks are known for being a top-notch defensive football team. The most notable part of the Hawks D is their secondary. CBs Richard Sherman, Byron Maxwell and Jermery Lane are all very good and Sherman is in my opinion the best defensive back in the league. They are complimented by FS Earl Thomas and SS Kam Chancellor. Thomas is one of the best safety in the NFL and Chancellor knows how to deliver the big hit. The Seahawks also have KJ Wright at linebacker, who is very solid. Although the Patriots have a nice secondary, led by Darrell Revis and Devin Mccourty, as well as a strong defensive line led by Vince Wilfork and Rob Ninkovich, I give the edge to Seattle
Edge: Seahawks

Special Teams
I will give New England the edge here. Steven Gastowski is a fantastic kicker, and I also believe that New England is better with punting.

Edge: New England

Coaching: No brainer. Both teams have outstanding coaches, but Bill Belichick is one of the best of all time, while Pete Carroll has just recently become successful.

Edge: New England

Overall
It will be a very close and exciting game. I will give Seattle the edge because of this. The Seahawks secondary is the best Tom Brady has faced, and he will have a hell of a time trying to get a lot of yards against it. The Patriots have a very good running back in Blount, but at the end of the day, through the air is where the Patriots win. The Sehawks are more than capable of stopping Brady, and Russell Wilson and the O will chew out the clock, and this will lead to a Seahawks win.

Winner and 2014 Superbowl Champs: Seahawks

Also about Deflategate, I really don't care. If it is true that the Patriots deflated the footballs before the AFC title game to get am edge, it is very wrong. However, instead of focusing on something so negative, I'm going to focus on the game, which will be one to look foward to.