Super Bowl XLIX Preview

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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