The Seattle Seahawks narrowly escaped Sunday’s NFC Championship Game with a victory over the Green Bay Packers. They are now set to face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX. If they have the same performance against the Patriots, they won’t be earning themselves another Lombardi Trophy. Here are five keys for the Seahawks to be victorious:
Marshawn Lynch Has To Carry the Ball Early and Often
Marshawn Lynch is the key to this offense, he’s what makes everything work. If the Seahawks want to have any success on offense it’s going to have to start with Lynch. He has been the best running back in the league all season and the Seahawks need to continue using him as their workhorse. Lynch averages 2.96 yards per attempt after contact. So basically the Patriots have to make first contact with Lynch behind the line of scrimmage every play just to hold him to a few yards per carry. If the Seahawks can feed Lynch the ball early and often, everything else will fall into place.
Russell Wilson Can’t Turn the Ball Over
For the whole season Russell Wilson only threw seven interceptions. Last Sunday against the Packers (who have an average secondary) he threw four interceptions. He can’t have another game like that or the Seahawks won’t be able to win against a team as complete as the Patriots. They have a much better secondary than the Packers, the best coaching staff in the league, and two weeks to prepare. Wilson has to take care of the ball much more carefully.
Seattle’s Linebackers Have to Excel in Coverage
The Seattle linebackers will have the task of covering the best tight end in the game, Rob Gronkowski. Gronkowski is an absolute matchup nightmare for any team. He’s too big and strong for any safety or cornerback to cover him consistently and too athletic for any linebacker to cover him. Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright will most likely get the majority of coverage snaps against Gronkowski in this game and they have to be on top of their game at all times if they hope to stop him. Out of the 40 qualifying 4-3 outside linebackers, Wright had the fourth best PFF (subscription) coverage rating. Out of the 60 qualifying inside linebackers, Wagner had the ninth best PFF coverage rating. As good as that is for each one, they both need to have even better games than that when lined up with Gronkowski.
Tom Brady Can’t Have a Clean Pocket
The key to beating a Tom Brady led team is and has always been to get pressure on him. Brady is good at climbing the pocket while keeping his eyes downfield and making subtle movements to avoid pressure but the Seahawks have to get pressure on him. According to PFF, the Seahawks had the seventh best pass rush in the NFL this season while the Patriots had the fifth worst pass blocking. Against the Packers, who have the best pass blocking according to PFF, the Seahawks were able to get only one sack, five hits on the quarterback, and nine quarterback hurries. They will need to do better than that against Brady. When Brady is under pressure, he is much worse, his quarterback rating drops to 53.4.
Seattle’s Wide Receivers Have to Get Open
Possibly the worst part of this Seattle team is their lack of a top wide receiver. Jermaine Kearse, Doug Baldwin, and Ricardo Lockette will be matched up against the likes of Brandon Browner, Darrelle Revis, and Kyle Arrington. Baldwin was the Seahawks’ top rated receiver according to PFF and his receiving grade was only a 2.4, good for 31st in the league. Their next best was Paul Richardson, who is out with a torn ACL, and his grade was -2.5 (67th in the league). Their wide receivers have struggled this season but need to step it up against such a complete secondary. Russell Wilson can only scramble so much before he needs guys to start getting open on their own.