After taking on the No. 1 seed in the AFC on Sunday, the New England Patriots will take on the No. 1 seed in the NFC in two weeks. The Seattle Seahawks beat the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 in their conference
championship to set up a meeting with the Patriots in Super Bowl XL on Feb. 8.
We will have in-depth analysis into the Seahawks throughout the next two weeks. For now, however, here are some quick-hit thoughts on the matchup.
Ghosts of the past
The last time the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl, they came within a yard of winning back-to-back titles. Of course, that opportunity was spoiled by the Patriots: cornerback Malcolm Butler famously undercut a quick slant from quarterback Russell Wilson to secure what was at that point New England’s fourth championship. Eleven years later, the two Super Bowl XLIX opponents will cross paths again on the game’s biggest stage.
The rematch character extends beyond the teams, however. Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold also has a history with the Patriots. A first-round draft pick by the New York Jets in 2018, he went 0-3 in his tenure in the AFC East, including a 33-0 loss during his sophomore campaign that was highlighted by him admitting on the sideline that he was “seeing ghosts” on the defensive side of the ball.
Top-notch defense
By now, the Patriots have probably gotten used to playing against some of the best defenses in the NFL. Using expected points added as our metric of choice, they went up against the sixth-ranked team in the wild card round (Chargers), the second-ranked team in the divisional playoffs (Texans), and the eighth-ranked team in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday (Broncos).
They have saved the best for last. Seattle’s defense finished the year in the top spot overall, while ranking fifth against the pass and first against the run. The Seahawks also ranked first in the most important metric of them all, giving up just 17.2 points per game.
Needless to say, this is as formidable a unit as Drake Maye and the Patriots offense have faced all year. It also is one filled with some of the best players their respective positions have to offer: defensive lineman Leonard Williams, linebacker Ernest Jones and cornerback Devon Witherspoon were all named second-team All-Pro.
Big-play offense
While Seattle’s defense is as good a group as any in football, the team’s offense is no worse. Led by the aforementioned Sam Darnold, who keeps showing that he was indeed worthy of the first-round draft pick the Jets had spent on him, the Seahawks finished third in the NFL in scoring this year with 28.4 points per game as well as 14th in EPA per play.
Darnold’s performance in his first season with the team naturally played a major role in that, but so did his supporting cast. The group is headlined by first-team All-Pro receiver Jaxson Smith-Njigba, who finished the regular season with a league-high 1,793 receiving yards on 119 catches; his upcoming matchup against secondary led by stalwart cornerback Christian Gonzalez will be a heavyweight battle.
Complementing Smith-Njigba and the aerial attack is a ground game that also cannot be underestimated. Kenneth Walker III is a 1,000-yard rusher whose size and elusiveness makes for a rare combination.
