The predictions are overwhelming at this point. As the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks prepare to do battle Sunday evening (6:30 p.m. ET, NBC) at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Santa Clara, the experts, observers, and players throughout the league are nearly all big believers that the Seahawks will be lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the game's conclusion.
This is not going to happen. The Patriots may be 4 1/2-point underdogs, but head coach Mike Vrabel's team is going to win the game. The pointspread is irrelevant for our purposes. No bet will be made in this corner, but the Patriots have several areas of strength that will give them the opportunity to win this game. They will not let the opportunity slip through their grasp.
It starts with head coach Mike Vrabel and he is reason No. 1 the Patriots will emerge with the victory. He is a confident and strong leader who earned his second Coach of the Year title this season. The Patriots were a team that made significant mistakes from start to finish under previous head coach Jerod Mayo a year ago. Penalties and turnovers ruined New England's season and led to the coach's demise after one year on the job.
Vrabel knew the first thing he had to do was clean up the team's propensity for mistakes. The Patriots improved from minus-11 on the takeaway/turnover table to plus-3. The Patriots also cut down on their penalties, as they committed 111 in 2024 and just 99 this season.
New England is not going to lose this game on self-imposed mistakes. This is a confident team that believes in itself and is not going to give the Seahawks extra downs because of penalties or turn the ball over.
Drake Maye has stepped up dramatically
The Patriots were hoping they would have their quarterback of the future when they selected Drake Maye with the No. 3 pick in the 2024 Draft.
The former North Carolina quarterback went through a challenging learning experience as a rookie, completing 225 of 338 passes for 2,276 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The Patriots did not have much of a supporting cast for Maye as a rookie, but that changed quite a bit when the Patriots drafted explosive running back TreVeyon Henderson out of Ohio State and signed free agent wide receiver Stefon Diggs.
The improved running game and the big play performances out of Diggs made life much easier for holdovers like RB Rhamondre Stevenson, TE Hunter Henry and WR Kayshon Boutte. Suddenly, Maye had a crew of offensive playmakers he could work with effectively and his numbers shot up dramatically.
He completed 354 of 492 passes for 4,394 yards with 31 TDs and just 8 interceptions. His yardage total nearly doubled from his rookie season and his TD total more than doubled. In addition to his productivity through the air, Maye ran for 450 yards and 4 TDs. It's not just a matter of running to get away from the pass rush. He is capable of reading the defense and sensing where the cracks are in the defense and making big plays with his legs.
The belief here is that he is better than Seahawks QB Sam Darnold and that's reason No. 2 the Patriots will emerge victorious.
Darnold is a quarterback who became one of the better passers and game managers in the NFL last year with the Minnesota Vikings, and his growth continued this year with the Seahawks. However, while Darnold can read defenses and throw the ball accurately to wideouts Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp, he will put the ball up for grabs more than occasionally.
He had 25 TDs and 14 interceptions during the regular season, and most of those interceptions came when opponents came at him with the blitz. Darnold knows he must get rid of the ball quickly, but he can't always read where the pressure is coming from.
Patriots will bring significant pressure
The Patriots are capable of bringing pressure from a number of positions. During the regular season, Harold Landry and K'Lavon Chaisson led the Patriots with 8.5 and 7.5 sacks, respectively. Landry is battling a knee injury and is listed as questionable, but he will almost certainly find a way to get on the field and play effectively.
However, defensive end Milton Williams has been a game-changer in the postseason. He has 2.0 sacks, 2 tackles for loss and he has been able to threaten the pocket regularly.
Chaisson leads the Patriots with 3.0 sacks, 1 pass defensed and 1 forced fumble in the 3 playoff games. CB Christian Gonazlez has 15 tackles, 1.0 sack, 4 passes defensed, 1 interception and 1 forced fumble. He has shown the ability to make big plays in game-changing situations.
Darnold knows the Patriots will bring pressure, but he is not always going to be able to determine where the pressure is coming from prior to the snap. That's when the New England defense is going to be able to force more than its share of mistakes and swing the game in their favor. That's reason No. 3 that the Patriots will beat the Seahawks
The Patriots have won six Super Bowl titles. That number grows to seven at the conclusion of Super Bowl 60.
