HISTORY
This
is the third Super Bowl appearance for the Seahawks having won Super Bowl
XLVIII in a 43-8 blowout over the Broncos and lost Super Bowl XL 21-10 to the
Steelers in Detroit.
For
the Patriots, this is their eighth Super Bowl appearance tying them with the
Steelers and Cowboys. New England lost their first two Super Bowls, both in New
Orleans to the Bears in January
1986 and then to the Packers in January 1997.
The
Patriots first Super Bowl win came on their third trip to the Super Bowl which
was also in New Orleans, a
20-17 win over the favored Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. Two years later, the
Patriots won another
Super Bowl over the
Panthers on another
late field goal by Adam Vinatieri. At the
end of the 2004 season, New England hoisted the Super Bowl trophy and since
then they are the most recent team to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
The
Patriots have had their quest for a fourth Lombardi Trophy come up short in
their last two appearances. In Super Bowl XLII, the
Patriots perfect season ended with a 17-14
upset at the very same stadium where this game is being played at. Four years later, in
Indianapolis the Giants again won the Super Bowl this time with a 21-17 win.
As
for the Patriots and Seahawks matchups, they have split the regular season
series at 8-8.
Since Seattle moved to the NFC in 2002, the teams have played each other three
times (2004,
2008,
2012).
This
is the third Super Bowl to be played in Arizona. The NFC Champion has won the
two previous matchups. Super
Bowl XXX was played with the Cowboys defeating the Steelers 27-17 at the
old Fiesta Bowl where the Arizona State Sun Devils now play. In February 2008
was the previously mentioned Super
Bowl XLII.
BY THE NUMBERS
|
|
New England Patriots
|
Seattle
Seahawks
|
|
RECORD
|
12-4
|
12-4
|
|
POINTS
SCORED
|
4th
|
10th
|
|
OFFENSIVE
YARDS
|
11th
|
9th
|
|
RUSHING
YARDS
|
18th
|
1st
|
|
PASSING
YARDS
|
9th
|
27th
|
|
POINTS
AGAINST
|
8th
|
1st
|
|
YARDS
AGAINST
|
13th
|
1st
|
|
RUSH
YARDS AGAINST
|
9th
|
3rd
|
|
PASS
YARDS AGAINST
|
17th
|
1st
|
WEATHER
The
average high
temperature for the Phoenix metropolitan area in February is 70 degrees.
What's
that…?
University
of Phoenix Stadium has a retractable roof… And the forecast for Sunday is
mainly sunny with a high of 70 and a low of 49. Winds are expected to start out
of the west-south-west at 5 mph and end north-north-west at 3 mph.
So
I guess weather will not be much of a factor.
Well…
watch this clip on how the playing field gets into the stadium.
MATCHUPS & KEY PLAYERS
Bleacher
Report also has their analysis on this aspect of the game. Every Super Bowl
has their unknown player who steps up in the spotlight.
The
player I would watch is Seahawks tight end Luke Wilson. While Patriots tight
end Rob Gronkowski is one to pay attention to given that he caught 82 passes
for 1,124 yards and 12 touchdowns and secured the NFL's comeback player of the
year award in 2014,
Wilson
has shown himself to be a recent valuable weapon for the Seahawks offense.
The
Wilson name was known in the divisional round when he caught 4 passes on 4
targets for 68 yards and a touchdown pass. Wilson also caught the 2-point
conversion pass that gave Seattle their first lead of the NFC Championship
Game.
And
when the Seahawks last played at this stadium, Wilson caught 3 passes for 139
yards in a win over the Cardinals. Two were for touchdowns including an 80 yard touchdown pass that gave
Seattle the lead in the second quarter and a fourth quarter touchdown pass that
widened the Seahawks lead.
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