With the 2014 NFL season nearing its end, Super Bowl week is officially upon us as the table is now set for Super Bowl XLIX with the defending Super Bowl champion (12-4) Seattle Seahawks squaring off versus the (12-4) New England Patriots. Though both teams will represent their respective conference as the number one seed, the road to the Super Bowl for these two teams couldn't have been any different from one another. With Seattle coming back and surviving by the skin of their teeth by knocking off the Green Bay Packers in an overtime thriller, New England took a much different route by punching their ticket to the big game and beating the Indianapolis Colts in blowout fashion but not without a little bit of controversy.
As hyped up as the match up has been, all the chatter has revolved around the footballs used in last Sunday's AFC Championship game in New England. During the 41-7 blowout victory by the Patriots, 11 of the 12 balls used came back under-inflated. With someone in or around the Patriots organization deliberately deflating the footballs used, the spotlight has been placed on the duo of Pats QB Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick in what's been appropriately coined, "Deflate Gate." Both Brady and Belichick denied knowledge of the incident Thursday when speaking to the media. While many have found it hard to believe neither Brady nor Belichick were aware of the fix, there's also those who believe this can't possibly be the first time the Patriots or the mastermind behind it all have done this which begs the question -- Is the Patriots' legacy tainted? Having averaged 12 wins a season since 2001, it's not the first time New England has been accused of cheating as we can all recall the 'Spygate' incident.
Though it's often been compared to scuffing a baseball, a practice often utilized by pitchers to gain an advantage over the batter, what I'd like to know is how an official didn't once take notice of the deflated balls considering they touch and prepare the ball before and after every single play. While the league moves forward with their investigation, it's unlikely Commissioner Goodell takes any disciplinary action until after the conclusion of the season which is basically letting the Patriots off Scott free. Then again what could the league possibly do to discipline Bill Belichick at this time, suspend his future Hall of Fame quarterback from the biggest game of the season which would be the equivalent of handing Seattle the Lombardi Trophy? Sure having a Patriots-Colts rematch to determine the AFC Champion would be the ideal outcome, but that wouldn't happen in a million years. Nor should it because regardless of the air pressure in those footballs, I'm not convinced it played that big of a role in the 34-point outcome. With the way Patriots running back LaGarrette Blount was pounding the football, the Colts couldn't have stopped him if he was carrying a loaf of bread.
But back to Super Bowl Sunday where despite all the controversy leading up to the big game, the match-up figures to make for a much more exciting and more competitive game than the 43-8 massacre that the Legion of Boom served up on Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos a year ago. Seattle proved last year that a dominant defense should not be overlooked when facing a high-powered offense. And while we'll basically be seeing the same thing this time around, New England has by far a better defense than the one Broncos head coach John Fox took with him to last year's Super Bowl. But what I think will be the key to the ballgame is whether or not the Seattle defense can get into the head of Tom Brady and the Patriots offense the same way they did Peyton and the Broncos last season. From the first play on when the ball sailed over Peyton Manning's head and into the end zone for a safety, the Broncos played scared and directly into the hands of Seattle's head coach Pete Carroll. And while I'm not betting on this game being anywhere near the one-sided affair that last year's Super Bowl was, I still see the same team coming out on top when it's all said and done. Though I hope I'm wrong, I've seen Russell Wilson and the Seahawks escape from the jaws of defeat and pull out way too many victories when they've been dead in the water and should have been on the losing end which is why I think they still have one more win left in them.
Prediction: Seattle 27-24 New England.
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After three consecutive trips to the NFC Championship followed by a disappointing 8-8 finish in 2014, the San Francisco 49ers brain trust decided to bid a farewell to head coach Jim Harbaugh as the two sides agreed to mutually part ways. With Harbaugh landing a job with his alma mater Michigan, the 49ers were left with a head coaching vacancy. After an extensive search to find the team's next head coach which included the interviewing of 8 other candidates, the 49ers had their man all along in Jim Tomsula. A name not widely known outside of the Bay Area, Tomsula has been on the 49ers' sidelines through the teachings of several head coaches with the likes of Mike Nolan, Mike Singletary and the recently departed Jim Harbaugh. And now, team owner Jed York and GM Trent Baalke will hand the gavel to Tomsula.
Despite his inexperience, Tomsula does however have a 38-7 victory over the Cardinals under his belt in the one game that he served as an interim head coach after the firing of Mike Singletary in 2010. Before that, you'd have to go all way back to 2006 when Tomsula served as head coach of NFL Europe's Rhein Fire who finished the season 6-4 with Tomsula at the helm. But experienced or not, not a single player has expressed their doubts regarding the 49ers new hire. Players took to Twitter to congratulate and express just how happy they are for Tomsula and how excited they are to be playing under him which tells a little about the guy and how much of a players coach he is. Something Jim Harbaugh was not, according to murmurs in and out of the 49ers locker room. Since Tomsula joined the team as the defensive line coach in 2007, only the Baltimore Ravens have allowed fewer rushing yards per rush at 3.6, one tick fewer than San Francisco's 3.7.
From a fan standpoint, the decision comes as somewhat of a surprise given the 49ers aren't too far from being Super Bowl contenders once again and yet they decided to hire someone with little to no head coaching experience. Not to mention the mountain high expectations Tomsula inherits from coach Harbaugh who went 49-22-1 during his tenure with the Niners and led the team to three consecutive NFC Championships in his first three seasons, a feat no other coach has accomplished. But perhaps Tomsula's 8-year familiarity with the team and its personnel will make up for that, knowing from the inside what kinks need to be worked on in order to help the team take that final step. With defensive coordinator Vic Fangio reportedly on his way out and offensive coordinator Greg Roman already agreeing to join the Buffalo Bills under the same job title, the 49ers will feature an entirely new coaching staff under Tomsula.
Whoever Tomsula decides to hire to stand alongside him on the sidelines or in the booth, will be given the task on offense to help mentor and groom QB Colin Kaepernick to regain his form after a down season which I blame in large part on Greg Roman's misuse of the duel-threat QB and poor play-calling. As for the defensive side of things, Vic Fangio's replacement will be taking over a defense which ranked fifth overall this year despite being without one of if not the best linebacker tandems in the league for most of the season.
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Uncertainty in the air - Since the start of the Peyton Manning era in Denver some three seasons ago, the Denver Broncos have done nothing but break records and win games during the regular season. Their success in the postseason, however, not so much. Then again, that's the one knock on one of the game's all-time great signal callers. With just the one Super Bowl victory under his belt, Manning has had the pieces in place during his time with Denver to change that. But a disappointing loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens in his first year with the Broncos in 2012 followed by a 35-point shellacking to the Seattle Seahawks in last year's Super Bowl, has deprived him of that second Lombardi Trophy that he has tried so hard to capture.
And then there was Sunday's loss at the hands of Peyton's former team -- the Indianapolis Colts, the most recent disappointing postseason finish which has many pondering; could we have seen the last of No.18? While there's no denying Manning still possesses the skill set to play in this league despite his age, would he be willing to take on another trying offseason of training, mental preparation and everything in between? When being asked about his future following yesterday's 24-13 loss which eliminated Denver from the playoffs, the 5-time MVP was noncommittal in his answer while leaving us on the edge of our seats. Clouding Manning's future even more so is the news of Broncos head coach John Fox mutually agreeing to step down from his position with the team. Under Fox who signed a contract extension during the offseason, the Broncos have won AFC Western Division titles in each of his first four years with the team. Fox coached the team to an impressive record of 46-18 during the regular season, but it was his 2-3 record during the playoffs coupled with philosophical differences from those of Broncos GM John Elway which led to the two sides parting ways.
With Fox out the door and offensive coordinator Adam Gase likely to follow with offers of a possible head coaching position if he doesn't receive one from Elway himself, the likelihood of Manning deciding to call it quits would most certainly improve assuming Peyton would oppose the idea of welcoming a new offensive system. And with the relationship between Manning and Gase being a close one, who Elway and company decide to go with to fill their head coaching vacancy could be the deciding factor in whether or not the soon to be 39-year old Manning returns. Not to mention the many play-makers on offense that are set to hit the free-agency market including Julius Thomas, Demaryius Thomas and Wes Welker to name a few. Though it's been reported that Manning played Sunday's game with a torn quadriceps muscle, it would be hard to blame the loss on that alone given Indianapolis admitted to stealing a page from Seattle's book by taking away the middle of the field and forcing Manning to try his hand at the deep passes along the sideline that he just wasn't able to make like he so often has in the past.
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