Why They Are Here

Why are the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks in Arizona getting ready for the Super Bowl? Because THEY were the best teams in each of their respective conferences. Period.

They both survived the playoffs. Each of them were able to win one white knuckler of a hotly contested playoff game in the post season. Seattle over Green Bay in a miracle finish. And New England against Baltimore in a close game that they trailed most of the way, and that they could easily have last.

And each of them was the best team in their respected leagues during the regular seasons also. Both were number one seeds. Both tied for the best records in all of football.

Every other team had some form of flaw that came into play during the regular season. Most teams simply lost too many games to even make the playoffs. THEIR problems were mainly that they weren’t good enough.

The ones that made the playoffs had SOMETHING wrong with them also. The Packers couldn’t stop Seattle when they had to and couldn’t make a first down when they needed to. Dallas couldn’t “catch” a key pass without juggling it and allowing it to hit the ground. Detroit couldn’t make any key plays on offense or defense down the stretch of THEIR game against Dallas. Baltimore supposed great defense couldn’t stop New England’s offense worth a damn. The Broncos and Colts were exposed as teams lacking in enough consistent offense or defense to stand up to the big boys. And the Steelers, Bengals, Panthers and Cardinals were simply not good enough to beat ANY of the good teams.

The Pats and Seahawks were the two best teams. We can agree on that. But, what was it that made them the best?

Looking at each team, you see a Patriot receiving corps that would be considered only league average at best. Half the teams in the league would take THEIR wide receivers over New England’s receivers any day of the week. For that matter, Seattle’s wide receivers would rank right around the middle of the pack next to New England’s. It ain’t the wideouts that made these teams great. Tight end Rob Gronkowski is one of the BEST tight ends in all of football, though, while Seattle’s tight end would only rank somewhere around league average.

The running backs at New England are a conglomeration of free agents and low draft picks that underscore the Belichick theory that ANYBODY can play running back on HIS teams. The Pats can run the ball (and they pass block for Brady extremely well too), so that must mean that their offensive line must be pretty good.

Seattle’s running back Marshawn Lynch is one of the best running backs in all of football. But their offensive line has its moments of poor pass blocking and a lot of Lynch’s running is his own bull in a china shop style, so the Seattle line can only be considered slightly above league average.

Both New England and Seattle have very good, above the rest of the league average level of defensive lines. New England has very large offensive tackles that clog up the middle of most teams’ running games. Seattle has smaller, quicker defensive linemen that can both stop the run pretty well and rush the passer well. You cannot be in a Super Bowl without a good defensive line (and for that matter, offensive line also).

Both teams have very good, above average linebacking corps. Neither is anything other than BETTER than the league’s average. Same with the special teams. You can’t reach the Super Bowl without solid special teams and kicking games.

A big advantage for the Seattle Seahawks is their pass defense. They simply have three of the BEST defensive backs (at their positions) in all of football in Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas at strong and free safety and Richard Sherman at cornerback. The Seahawks would not be in the Super Bowl without their great pass defense and that secondary might be the difference in the game.

But the reason these two teams are in the Super Bowl is because of their quarterbacks. And the two in the game are completely different in their styles. Tom Brady is the great pocket passer who can throw any pass, deep or short, to any spot on the field, and carve up a defense that way. Russell Wilson is the most mobile quarterback of this, or maybe any era. He can run the football (from the quarterback position) as effectively during key third down plays as any running back. He can scramble around and evade the pass rush until he can find enough time to find an open receiver to make HUGE plays at critical times in big games.

Both teams have such good quarterback play that they both have a chance to win the game solely because of THEIR quarterback. The Patriots can be trailing in a game and then pass, pass and pass their way up the field and come back against anyone. Russell Wilson can run and pass and direct the Seahawks up the field and come back to win games they have no business winning (see Green Bay game).

The game is going to be won by the team whose quarterback is allowed to play best on Super Sunday. Who gets the most time to throw? Whose pass defense plays the best against the opponent’s great quarterback? Who produces the best running attack? Whose kicker might crack under pressure? Which coach comes up with the best game plan? And maybe, who has the ball, with enough time, for one last drive that gives them a chance to win the game?

We have followed this whole season on this column. You want to know what’s the best thing about pro football this year? The two best teams are playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday.