It’s been a while since Russel Wilson has seen Malcolm Butler (outside of his nightmares of course), but the time is now for a Super Bowl rematch. While the teams are not the same as they were that fateful night, the concepts and key players remain largely the same. Belichick himself said that there was much to glean from their last meeting so let’s hope the result is the same.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Seattle Seahawks, aka, “The Dirty Birds”
Week 10 vs Seattle Seahawks
Sunday November 13
8:30 pm EST, NBC
Low 40’s 0% chance of rain, 6 mph winds
Opponent/Patriots Stats
Seahawks: 5-2-1
Notable Games: A nail biter Monday night against Buffalo, the team squeaked out a win over Rex Ryan’s squad. The game was marred by bizarre officiating and a controversial foul where it appears Richard Sherman lunged at Dan Carpenter‘s legs during a kick. The team also played in one of two (!) ties in the NFL this season versus the Cardinals with 6 (!!) points apiece.
Common Opponents: Arizona Cardinals (Pats win, SEA tied), Miami Dolphins (Both teams won), Buffalo Bills (SEA won, Pats won 2nd time, lost 1st match up).
History vs. Pats: Super Bowl XLIX in 2015 (Pats won 28-24). This is Seattle’s 2nd game at Gillette Stadium, the first coming in 2004. The last 3 contests between the teams have been away from Foxboro. The most recent Seattle victory against the Pats was a 24-23 game in 2012.
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Notable Players
Russell Wilson QB: 178/267 comp (67%), 2,094 yds, 8 total TDs, 28 carries, 54 yds, 1.9 avg.
Christine Michael RB: 112 carries, 447 yds, 4 yd avg, 6 TDs
Doug Baldwin WR: 44 reception, 570 yds, 13 yd avg, 2 TDs
Jimmy Graham TE: 38 reception, 545 yds, 14.3 avg, 3 TDs
Richard Sherman CB: 33 total tackles, 3 INTs, 7 passes defended
Injury Alerts
Patriots:
Dion Lewis is inching closer and closer to a return for the first time this season after starting on the PUP list. He would be a huge asset to an already formidable offense led on the ground currently by Blount.
Woodrow Hamilton was out again against Buffalo but Vincent Valentine made his triumphant return to the defensive line. If Hamilton was back, it might provide a nice boost but no need to rush him back here.
Seahawks:
Kam Chancellor was out again this week, making it 4 games missed with a groin injury but look for him to play on Sunday. Pete Carroll said he expects Chancellor to play barring any setbacks
Michael Bennett had arthroscopic knee surgery on November 2nd off an injury suffered Week 6 against the Falcons. The timetable Carroll put on the player was optimistically 2-3 weeks so bennett playing New England sounds to be optimistic at best.
Key Matchups:
Patriots:
vs. WR1: 16th—– vs. Malcolm Butler vs. Doug Baldwin
vs. WR2: 18th—– Logan Ryan vs. Jermaine Kearse
vs. TE: 24th—– Devin McCourty vs. Jimmy Graham
vs. RB: 16th—– Pat Chung vs. Christine Michael
Seahawks:
vs. WR1: 9th —– Julian Edelman vs. Richard Sherman
vs. WR2: 25th —– Chris Hogan vs. DeShawn Shead
vs. TE: 23rd —– Rob Gronkowski vs. Earl Thomas III
vs. RB: 9th —– James White vs. Bobby Wagner
What’s at stake?
This is an out of conference game, and with a 2 game lead on the third place team, New England is in no danger of falling out of a first round bye with a loss to Seattle. The Seahawks are barely holding on to 2nd in the conference and could fall behind in the race for a first round bye. However, they hold a decent division lead, currently up by 2 games over Arizona. Neither time is in a dire situation with a loss here.
Early thoughts:
-The Seahawks are awesome in the punting game. Their coverage is tough as nails and they tackle incredibly well. The team allows 4.6 yards per punt return when they’re defending so it’ll be hard to break one out against them. Tyler Lockett is a dangerous man with space and the ball in his hand, capable of scoring on any punt. I see this playing a pivotal role in this game.
-The Seattle defense is incredibly physical. Their front seven is so big and freakishly athletic capable of making things difficult for the Patriots undersized OL. They’re also incredibly emotional and can be taken advantage of if NE can get under their skin.
-Prime Time likes Jimmy Graham and Jimmy Graham likes Prime Time. His hands are unreal and not to be discounted. He had a successful hurdle, two one-handed TD grabs, and a back shoulder catch in the first half of Monday’s game.
-The team is pretty weak on the OL. Buffalo was pretty effective with some DL stunts and it seems New England could do the same with some success.
-Dicky Sherman will HURT you. He sure plays like he feels like he’s being disrespected all the time.
-If Dion Lewis plays, look for him to have a big game. LeSean McCoy was incredibly successful against the aggressive Seattle defense and would be a great way to slow down the pass rush. If not, James White needs to have a good game.
This looks to be a great matchup between two of the better teams in the league. Hopefully it isn’t another snooze-fest like almost every other game this season.
