Super Bowl 2015: Good News/Bad News for Seattle Seahawks

As previously mentioned, we are all hoping that this Super Sunday proves to be super indeed.

The Seattle Seahawks are in the Big Game for the second straight year and the third time since 2005. They are in positon to become the first repeat Super Bowl champion since the New England Patriots turned the trick in 2003 and ’04 (Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX).

But can Bill Belichick and his club prevent the champions from becoming Super again?

We’ve already taken a look at the New England Patriots. Now we’ll give you the good news and bad news regarding Seattle’s chances this weekend.

The Good News:

The formula that has fueled the team’s recent run worked once again vs. Mike McCarthy’s Packers.

During their current eight-game winning streak, the Seahawks have allowed a total of six touchdowns and 78 points while giving up only 235.1.0 total yards per game of total offense. In their two playoff wins, Pete Carroll’s club has forced five turnovers.

All told, Seattle has totaled 24 takeaways in its last 12 outings and the team has lost only once over that span. This turnaround comes after the cub forced only five turnovers in the team’s first six games (3-3).

But what was really lost in the Seahawks’ extraordinary comeback was the fact that even though the team trailed 16-0 at intermission and was limited to 59 total yards in the first half (51 yards rushing on 13 attempts), Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and company never abandoned the run. By game’s end, Seattle had rolled up 397 total yards in the overtime win and the league’s top-ranked ground attack had gained 194 yards on 35 carries (157 by Lynch). In fact, the Seahawks wound up outdoing Green Bay’s running game in terms of attempts (30) and yards.

Lynch has proven to a big-time performer in the playoffs with Seattle. In nine postseason games with the club, he’s rushed for 100-plus yards five times and scored at least one touchdown in seven outings.

If New England’s run defense can’t slow down the hard-charging runner, it could be a long day in Glendale.

The Bad News:

Was quarterback Russell Wilson’s performance against the Packers the very rare exception or a sign of things to come?

We have to give him the big-time benefit of the doubt. After all, the third-year quarterback turned over the football only seven times in his first 17 outings this season (including the playoff win over the Carolina Panthers)—all seven of those miscues being interceptions—and was then picked off four times in the NFC Championship Game vs the Green Bay Packers.

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What is also extremely interesting is that the Seahawks only turned over the football a total of 14 times in the regular season and Divisional Playoffs and then coughed it up five times two weeks ago against the Green Bay. Seattle became the first team to win a playoff game with five turnovers since the 1982 New York Jets turned the trick against the Los Angeles Raiders.

Back to Wilson, who fumbled 11 times in the regular season and two more times in the playoffs and didn’t lose any of those bobbles.

So can New England’s defense force the young signal-caller into the same kind of mistakes that the Packers managed to do in the NFC title game? Don’t rule against it. But can the Patriots capitalize on those errors? That could wind up being the key to the game.

Synopsis:

As the world knows by now, the last time we saw a team win consecutive Super Bowl was when the Patriots prevailed in XXXVIII and XXIX (2003 and 2004 seasons). The Seahawks are certainly capable but it will be interesting to see if they get away with giving up so many rushing yards (132 vs. Carolina, 132 vs. Green Bay) for a third straight playoff game. And can Pete Carroll’s club win the turnover battle against a New England team that gave up the football only 15 times in 18 overall games in 2014? It adds up to a tall order for the defending champs.