Super Bowl Review.
superbowl review
Super Bowl Review:Summary
With only one game remaining, the Super Bowl—the event every team strives to reach—draws a plethora of storylines from writers covering sports' biggest weekend. As writers shift their focus onto two championship teams, the usual coaching hiring cycle takes a backseat. With less than a week until the game, fans are bombarded with puff pieces about players and coaching speculation.
Both the Patriots and Seahawks had disappointing previous seasons but have defied expectations this year. Seattle’s major overhaul included Sam Darnold replacing Geno Smith. Each team has faced its tests, with the Patriots playing tough defenses and the Seahawks benefiting from advantageous special teams plays.
Seattle's defense has been praised, but their schedule lacked strong competition, facing mostly lower-tier teams. Conversely, the Patriots encountered untested foes, which posed a unique challenge.
As the game approaches, Seattle started strong with a field goal, while New England relied on both ground and aerial attacks, aiming to penetrate the formidable Seattle defensive line.
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With Only One Game Remaining, The Biggest Game, The Game All 32 Teams Work To Reach, the Super Bowl, A Cascade Of Storylines From Writers and Reporters Covering Every Inch of Sports and television's mightiest weekend. With So Many Sports Writers Released From Their Normal Obligations To Specific Sports Teams and Regions and All The Attention Centered On Just Two Teams In The Championship In The Focus With A Blurred Interest In Bloated Coaching Hiring Cycle, And I Don’t Know How Major Publications Work But everyone Has An Idea To pitch. With Less Than A Week To The Game
As fans, we’ve Entered The Puff Piece Place Of The Football Walk Through zone when We Get To Read About Mike Vrabrel’s High School Days—A Piece Some Bostonian Would Love I assume—, Which High School Pieces About Patriots Quarterback Drake Maye, Some Stuff about Sam Darnold in College, A Hypothesis About A Potential Sam Darnold Staying in newYORK Coach-Quarterback Link-Up In New York WITH Mike VrabreWHOM The Jets had Interest In as a coach before Vrablar returned HOME to New England. I'm sure very few Bostonians and Patriots fans wanted to witness a world where Vrabrel landed with the Jets, But Fans Have Entered The Stage Of The Year Where Nothing Pitched Gets Rejected By The Editor. Very few readers will remember most of these pixelated words (A Miasma). Still, as We Learned By The Death Of The Washington Post Sports Department, in a world where content reigns supreme, maybe swinging at every Pitch Could Save A Job, and The Jobs Of Scores Of Other Writers, And The Constants Roll Out Of Content demand Attention. Amid all the details and media coverage, the players have become lost in the complexity of the Super Bowl rollout. The Super Bowl can Get Lost In The Weeds of commercials and Half Time Performances. For much of the two weeks leading up to the big game, how much more talent the Seahawks Hold Over The Patriots, but I’m Not Exactly sure If That’s True or If Talent Even Matters In The Super Bowl, and few analysts or pundits have given the Patriots A Shot In This Game.
Both Teams Defied Expectation By Different Lengths As Neither The Patriots Nor Seahawks Made The Playoff Last Season,n But The Seahawks Suffered The Hardest Overhaul From Last Season To This Season, Replacing One Forlorn, Reclamation Project Former Jets’ Highly Touted Quarterback with Another, In Sam Darnold Taking Over For Geno Smith. Every Human and AI platform Has A lot More Time To Fuss Over Two Teams. The argument exists that both teams passed their greatest test of the season, And Maybe The Patriots passed two, facing both the Houston and Denver defense, while the Seahawks had another special teams possession bounce into their hands, creating a massive swing in the game. Special teams are important, as the Rams learned, but their impact is not easily measurable or replicable. A special teams coach cannot simply design a play to create a turnover opportunity. The game would be overly simplified if focused only on the opponent's red zone. If that were the case, football would be reduced to merely red zone efficiency, similar to how college football adjusts its rules over time. Seattle's defense was praised as the top scoring defense, but the Seahawks had an easy schedule. New England Gets Burned For Playing The Easiest Schedule In Football. The Seahawks Ranked Middle Of The Pack In Terms Of Strength Of Schedule But Number One In Terms Of Average Win Probability
(The Patriots Finished Second.) A Metric That Indicates how much better one team operates or executes than their opponents. Seattle has consistently faced teams that are in a lower class than itself. While the win-loss records of these teams haven't negatively impacted Seattle's Strength of Schedule, the overall schedule lacks depth and challenges. Notably, only two teams had winning records over the final ten games of the year. The Seahawks Notched Early Wins Over The Jags and Texans, But Nothing Substantial Outside Of The Rams in Week 16. The Seahawks tooled, Spurred By A Special Teams Swing. The Seahawks outplayed the NFC South, Where No Team Finished With A Winning Record, the AFC South(Mediocre Division), The Rest Of The NFC West outside of Los Angeles, And More. The Seahawks Also Defeated Two Division Foes, Two Teams They Knew Inside Out, Which Cut The Degree Of Difficulty In Half
In some respects, having an already established game plan for those foes. The Patriots had to face three completely uncharted foes to the point where they faced the Chargers, Texans, and Broncos in Three Consecutive Weeks Without A Bye. The Seahawks' offense got off to a hot start; Sam Darnold connected on a few downfield passes in tight windows. Despite an early red zone drive by Seattle, the Seahawks notched the first points of the game with a field goal. New England's pressure and Pass Rush Unit Didn’t Win Much Early. The Patriots Offense Started The Game On The Ground and Through The Air With Rhamondre Stevenson, Who Attack Right Up The Middle Of This Vaunted Seattle Defensive Line, The Drive Stalled Inside The 50 As Seattles Pressures get The Better Of Drake Maye, Registering A Ten Yard Sack, Forcing Maye To Scramble Then Sending A Blitz Forcing Maye Into an Incompletion As The Promising Drive Stalls. Patriots Left Tackle Will Campbell looks overwhelmed, and the fourth overall pick has stood out as The Weak Link Of The Protection. The Patriots Defense Force A Three And Out By Seattle Inside Their Own Ten. The Seahawks Blitz Muddled Drake Maye On Back-To-Back Drives As A Defensive Scrum Breaks Out. Maye and the Patriots' offensive line struggled to recognize the blitz. The quarterback struggled to find options under pressure, causing the Patriots to average less than three yards per play. They ended up with all punts, no drives in the red zone, and three sacks. This performance reflects a stark contrast to the ideal expectations we may have had for the season. New England Held Sam Darnold to five straight incompletions, but gave up runs of 30 and 29 Yards And. Seattle scored a field goal, giving them a 6-0 lead. Walker gained over 80 yards in the first quarter and a half, but Seattle out-gained New England 149 to 39, maintaining an early six-point lead. The Seahawks entered halftime with a 9-0 lead, as neither offense could consistently overcome the defense. Although the Patriots made several plays to reach this point, they were ultimately unable to keep Seattle out of the end zone, which highlighted the defensive success they could muster. Drake Maye looked like he had never seen a blitz before, because he could not locate an outlet, Because He Could Not Locate An Outlet, and play with anticipation on throws downfield. The Offensive Line, particularly Will Campbell, Got Pushed Around Much Of The Game. Sam Darnold Finished The Half 9/22 Worse Than Maye, But The Different Between The Veteran Darnold and The Second Youngest Quarterback To Start A Super Bowl became Palpable As The Game Wore On. Maye Looked Uncomfortable, Unprepared, and unfamiliar with the game of football, and not the MVP runner-up, while Darnold Hung In The Pocket, took hits, dodged rushers, and created downfield. I hypothesized that playing against high-level defenses like Denver and Houston would better prepare Maye for the Seahawks' defense. The play-calling may have failed because McDaniel installed too many downfield progressions while his offensive line clearly struggled to block. Drake Maye Suffers A Sack Fumble In The Third Quarter, And This Leads To The First Touchdown Of The Game For Sam Darnold To Tight End AJ Barner In The Fourth Quarter As The Seahawks Take A Convincing 19-0 Lead In The Fourth Quarter. Team Offenses Could Only Draw Up Plays With The Personnel On Their Roster, But The Game Didn’t Work. The Patriots didn’t address the protection. Drake, after fumbling all throughout the playoffs, didn’t Wear Gloves to Add Another Layer Of Protection, and Those Fumbling Problems Of Maye’s Will Need Monitoring. The Patriots chose Will Campbell Over Several Other Credible Left Tackle Prospects And Kicking Him Inside To Guard Will have To Start Next Season. Drake Maye Finished The Game 27/43 for 295 passing yards, one touchdown, two picks, Two Fumbles, 16.3 QBr, 79.1 Passer rating, and somehow this stats line (as Bad As It is) doesn’t showcase how bad Maye Played Because He Tacked On Some Garbage Time Numbers. In The Fourth Maye Suffered Back-To-Back Turnover Drives, Two Picks One For A Touchdown For Seattle By Uchenna Nwosu That All But Ended The Contest In Seattle’s Favor. Seattle Gained A 17 Point Lead Off Those Turnovers, -19.6 EPA Turnover Advantage In Favor Of The Seahawks. The Patriots And Maye Set The Record For Sacks Suurrendered Over A Postseason Run With 21, Six By The Seahawks. Two Weeks Ago, Matthew Stafford proved, “The Seahawks defense isn’t unsolvable,” But The Patriots didn’t Have The Answers Like The Talented and Experienced Veteran.
Credit Seattle and Mike McDonald for breaking his tendencies and blitzing a bit more than usual. The Patriots' defense swung the tide in all of their previous Victories during this postseason run for New England. Every Sack Missed. New England should’ve Had Five Sacks Instead. The Patriots' defense missed opportunities and came away with just one sack. The Patriots' defense held the dam shut through three quarters, but Seattle Moved The Ball Effectively Enough, Including Four Trips to the end zone, Indicating The Seahawks Had The Edge In Terms Of Execution. Credit to McDonald and His Staff For “Outperforming” New England on the sideline and In Terms Of Preparation. Kenneth Walker Won The Super Bowl MVP with 27 Carries For 135, and His Two Explosive Runs Of 30 and 29 Yards In The First Half Made This Game interesting Over The course of the mostly tepid offensive showcase by both teams. Sam Darnold FinishedThe Game 19/38 for 202 passing yards, one passing touchdown, 74.7 Passer Rating, and 18 Pressures Faced On 40 drop-backs. Sam Darnold became the first quarterback of the 2018 Draft Class To Win A Super Bowl. The Seahawks Produced A Collective Effort In The receiving game, led by Cooper Kupp with 61 Receiving Yards. Tight End AJ Barner broke the ice in the game with his fourth-quarter touchdown, as He Finished With 54 Receiving Yards.
The Patriots' defense shut down Offensive Player Of The Year Wide Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who finished with 27 Yards On Four Catches, And Left The Game Briefly With An Injury. The Patriots Deserve Applause For Climbing From The Basement To The Top Of The Mountain, but Now The Climb Back Will Prove More Arduous As Teams Prepare To Face New England As A True Threat In The AFC and Not Just A Side Quest. New England Will Draft Outside Of The Top 20 Picks In The Draft For The First Time In Half A Decade and Despite Making The Super Bowl The Roster Lacks Talent But The Improvements Start On The Offensive Line Whether Through The Draft Or In Free Agency.
Free Agency Built The Seahawks Roster For This Postseason Run, But Seattle Could And Will Lose A Fair Amount Of Talent To Free Agency This Offseason, Including Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, Who May Have Driven His Price Beyond Seattle’s Budget. Seattle, Like The Eagles, will have their team stripped down in free agency, and what worked for them so well on this run will be dissected like a high school frog project.
Making it to the Super Bowl may have made the Patriots a more appealing destination for attracting multiple free agents over the past two years, particularly at the receiver position. This includes players like Calvin Ridley in 2024 and Chris Godwin in 2025, even though they were offered more money from other teams in each case. In many ways, the Patriots settled for this AFC Championship roster, and hopefully, this improved pedigree makes Boston More Attractive To Free Agents. This Super Bowl won’t go down as an all-time classic, and the last time a Patriots quarterback drafted in the top three picks (Number one Overall, actually) Reached The Super Bowl “Prematurely”, He Never Set Foot On The Super Bowl Stage Again As A Starter. Could Drake Maye Suffer The Same Fate?
