Super Bowl 2015: Head-to-head matchups

Dec 14, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks middle linebacker

(54) celebrates after making a defensive stop against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half at CenturyLink Field. Seattle defeated San Francisco 17-7. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Seahawks Run Defense vs. Patriots Run offense: 

Seattle has the second best defensive rushing yards per attempt average in the NFL behind the Detroit Lions, and they will attempt to have more success stopping LeGarrette Blount then they did against Eddie Lacy  in the NFC title game. Despite losing their big defensive tackle Brandon Mebane, the Seahawks have continued to shut down opposing rushing attacks. Their defense is built perfectly to stop the run, as they have size on the inside and then very fast and explosive defensive ends in Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett. The linebacking core is also built on speed, as K.J. Wright, Bobby Wagner and Bruce Irvin are all extremely athletic and quick players.

If one excludes the two games against the Colts, the only running back to have a 100+ yard game for the Patriots is Stevan Ridley who is on IR. Jonas Gray was the only back to even surpass 80 yards, and that only happened once. Still, LaGarrette Blount looked terrific last week. Instead of just grinding and pounding, he looked light on his feet making defenders miss, which is very uncharacteristic of him. He is a big key for the Patriots offense, because if they are able to get a running game going, that will really open up the play-action attack and give Brady more time in the pocket. I do expect Blount to be the main ball carrier, as I don’t believe Shane Vereen will be very effective against a defense that has so much speed.

Advantage: Seahawks

Too often I have seen the Patriots running game simply be non-existent for an entire game, like in last year’s AFC Championship. I believe that there definitely is some hope for the Patriots, as Lacy and Blount do have some similarities and Lacy had success against the Hawks in the NFC championship, but the Hawks run defense is great, and the offensive line will have to play extremely well to create gaps for Blount. Blount isn’t the type of who is going to rip off huge gains, but if he is able to consistently gain three to four yards on most rushes, then the Patriots offense will be in a much better position. It will be up to the offensive line, to stop the swarming Seahawks front seven from getting into the backfield and dropping Blount for negative yardage.

Seattle Seahawks 2, New England Patriots 1