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| Super Bowl XLIX will feature the Patriots and the Seahawks (Google Images) |
The matchup for Super Bowl XLIX is finally set. And the two teams duking it out really aren't that surprising. On February 1st in Glendale, Arizona, the defending champion Seattle Seahawks will take on the New England Patriots at University of Phoenix Stadium.
For the Seahawks, this is their second consecutive Super Bowl appearance, making the trip to the desert after an overtime win against the Green Bay Packers last Sunday. Russell Wilson and his team will look to defend last year's Lombardi Trophy against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, fresh off a home field hammering on the Indianapolis Colts. But while the NFC title game was a close battle and the AFC game was simply a blowout, both of these games left us with some storylines heading into the biggest game of the year.
Obviously, the biggest story out of the NFC is Seattle's return to the big dance after beating a Packers team that appeared to be on the fast track to the 49th Super Bowl. That would've made headlines too because, despite the dominance of Aaron Rodgers, his making it all the way with a torn calf muscle would've been a very big surprise.
Mr. Rodgers' Packers held Mr. Wiiilllson's Seahawks scoreless through the entire first half, maintaining a 16-0 lead going into halftime. Rodgers' completed 19 of 34 passes for a total of 178 yards and one touchdown, while Wilson completed threw for 209 yards and 14 completions in 29 attempts. He also connected for one of those 29 passes for a touchdown.
But Seattle was plagued by turnovers and, despite Rodgers' injury, Wilson's inaccuracy made it hard to score any kind of points. But once halftime was over, it was like a switch flipped and Seattle returned and played like the team that scored an improbable Super Bowl win last season. The Seahawks mounted a charge and with just over a minute left in the game, Wilson handed the ball off to Marshawn Lynch. Known as Beast Mode, Lynch exploded from Green Bay's 24 and ran it in for a touchdown. After a two-point conversion, Seattle grabbed it's first lead of the game, 22-19. However, their lead was short lived, as Green Bay rallied to score a field goal and tie the game at 22.
The game proceeded into overtime and, just three minutes into it, Wilson connected wit wide receiver Jermaine Kearse for the improbable game winning score. This was a very impressive, come from behind victory for a Seattle team that was outplayed for most of the game. Speaking of being outplayed, there was another game Sunday; one that has generated much more controversy.
"Deflate-Gate" has been the topic of conversation over the last week. Did the New England Patriots under inflating 11 of their 12 game balls really give Tom Brady an advantage? Should the NFL penalize the team, especially given their history of stepping out of bounds? (Pun intended). But Colts cornerback Darius Butler when he tweeted the NFL, "So we get to play the game again or nah?" ESPN, among other media outlets have been debating this issue for days now and, because of this, the Seahawks-Patriots matchup has been put on the back burner while we delve deeper into what Tom Brady and Bill Belichick knew during Sunday's game.
After the "Spy-Gate" incident a few years back, nobody on the Patriots team is going to be given the benefit of the doubt. They waived that right a long time ago. Hearing Brady and Belichick talk to the media, both have vehemently denied any knowledge of any type of wrongdoing, both saying that they hadn't heard about any under inflated balls until Monday after their 45-7 blowout of the Indianapolis Colts. Belichick "told us everything he knew" and "had no explanation for what happened," said Thursday that he "honestly never touched a game ball." Coming from a man who is almost as high on the New England totem pole as owner Robert Kraft and who is as meticulous as they come when it comes to everything about his team, nobody in their right mind will believe for one second that Bill Belichick had no knowledge of who was handling the team's footballs before the AFC title game. He also proceeded to pitch his star quarterback directly under the bus, saying Brady's preferences are his own and he would be much more knowledgeable about this issue. However, Brady's speech was no better than his head coaches.
The Patriots' signal caller stood at the same podium as Belichick at 4pm Eastern on Thursday afternoon and flat out lied to football fans everywhere, with a fake grin on his face like the cat who ate the canary. Brady has said that he likes his footballs inflated to 12.5 psi, towards the lower end of the spectrum as far as mandated air pressure. There is no way we can be expected to believe that he told the Patriots' equipment managers to inflate the balls to anything other than that and it's even harder to believe that the equipment managers would inflate the balls to any less than that of their own volition.
Brady said after he picks the perfect footballs, they are not to be touched. Why would a rouge equipment manager take it upon himself to let air out of a football and risk the wrath of Tom Brady? There is no way that people as high on the food chain as Brady and Belichick are clueless as to what happened, especially Brady.
Former Steelers great Jerome Bettis put it best on ESPN's NFL Live when he said that this is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. The only reason this has incident has been blown out of proportion so badly is because Brady and Belichick insist on playing dumb and not acknowledging that they ran afoul of the rules. While it was a competitive advantage for New England, it was not the deciding factor in their game against Indy. Again, they won 45-7. The Colts just did not show up to play. Brady could've been throwing basketballs and it wouldn't have made tackling Rob Gronkowski any easier. The best thing the Patriots organization can do is stop assuming we're stupid, admit to this misdemeanor, take their fine and move on to the Super Bowl.
So now, as this "Deflate-Gate" controversy comes to a head and we try to determine who in Foxborough ordered the Code Red, we move onto the biggest game of the year. Well, we actually move onto the Pro Bowl. Then we get into Super Bowl XLIX, a matchup of two teams with a lot to prove.
The Seahawks are looking to prove that last season's Lombardi Trophy was not a fluke and that they can contend for years to come. Meanwhile, the New England Patriots are simply looking to prove that they can win a game with balls that are inflated to the proper level.
Mr. Rodgers' Packers held Mr. Wiiilllson's Seahawks scoreless through the entire first half, maintaining a 16-0 lead going into halftime. Rodgers' completed 19 of 34 passes for a total of 178 yards and one touchdown, while Wilson completed threw for 209 yards and 14 completions in 29 attempts. He also connected for one of those 29 passes for a touchdown.
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| A very clever Krispy Kreme doughnuts ad inspired by the Pariots (Google Images) |
The game proceeded into overtime and, just three minutes into it, Wilson connected wit wide receiver Jermaine Kearse for the improbable game winning score. This was a very impressive, come from behind victory for a Seattle team that was outplayed for most of the game. Speaking of being outplayed, there was another game Sunday; one that has generated much more controversy.
"Deflate-Gate" has been the topic of conversation over the last week. Did the New England Patriots under inflating 11 of their 12 game balls really give Tom Brady an advantage? Should the NFL penalize the team, especially given their history of stepping out of bounds? (Pun intended). But Colts cornerback Darius Butler when he tweeted the NFL, "So we get to play the game again or nah?" ESPN, among other media outlets have been debating this issue for days now and, because of this, the Seahawks-Patriots matchup has been put on the back burner while we delve deeper into what Tom Brady and Bill Belichick knew during Sunday's game.
After the "Spy-Gate" incident a few years back, nobody on the Patriots team is going to be given the benefit of the doubt. They waived that right a long time ago. Hearing Brady and Belichick talk to the media, both have vehemently denied any knowledge of any type of wrongdoing, both saying that they hadn't heard about any under inflated balls until Monday after their 45-7 blowout of the Indianapolis Colts. Belichick "told us everything he knew" and "had no explanation for what happened," said Thursday that he "honestly never touched a game ball." Coming from a man who is almost as high on the New England totem pole as owner Robert Kraft and who is as meticulous as they come when it comes to everything about his team, nobody in their right mind will believe for one second that Bill Belichick had no knowledge of who was handling the team's footballs before the AFC title game. He also proceeded to pitch his star quarterback directly under the bus, saying Brady's preferences are his own and he would be much more knowledgeable about this issue. However, Brady's speech was no better than his head coaches.
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| Fans have also been having fun at the Pats' expense by creating different memes (Google Images) |
Brady said after he picks the perfect footballs, they are not to be touched. Why would a rouge equipment manager take it upon himself to let air out of a football and risk the wrath of Tom Brady? There is no way that people as high on the food chain as Brady and Belichick are clueless as to what happened, especially Brady.
Former Steelers great Jerome Bettis put it best on ESPN's NFL Live when he said that this is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. The only reason this has incident has been blown out of proportion so badly is because Brady and Belichick insist on playing dumb and not acknowledging that they ran afoul of the rules. While it was a competitive advantage for New England, it was not the deciding factor in their game against Indy. Again, they won 45-7. The Colts just did not show up to play. Brady could've been throwing basketballs and it wouldn't have made tackling Rob Gronkowski any easier. The best thing the Patriots organization can do is stop assuming we're stupid, admit to this misdemeanor, take their fine and move on to the Super Bowl.
So now, as this "Deflate-Gate" controversy comes to a head and we try to determine who in Foxborough ordered the Code Red, we move onto the biggest game of the year. Well, we actually move onto the Pro Bowl. Then we get into Super Bowl XLIX, a matchup of two teams with a lot to prove.
The Seahawks are looking to prove that last season's Lombardi Trophy was not a fluke and that they can contend for years to come. Meanwhile, the New England Patriots are simply looking to prove that they can win a game with balls that are inflated to the proper level.
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