Patriots vs. Seahawks.
Just the way everyone predicted before the season started that the Super Bowl match-up would go.
No Mahomes. No Allen. No Saquan. No Lamar. No Stafford. No Dak (just kidding).
No Eagles. No Chiefs. No Bills. No Ravens. No Rams. No Cowboys (just kidding again).
For all the "lack of star power" maybe it is time for the NFL to look itself in the mirror and ask "On what planet are two teams with Drake Maye, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp, Stefon Diggs, Christian Barmore, Milton Williams, Leonard Williams, Nick Emmanwori, Devon Witherspoon, Marcus Jones and Christian Gonzalez lacking star power?"
The real answer is that neither of these two teams have been regulars going deep in the playoffs the last few years, and neither had much media attention before the season. In fact, both teams had minimal national media exposure prior to the playoffs this season and for much of the general viewing population, these are teams that their own fans watched regionally with the D-Team announcers.
Out with the old. In with the new, I say.
Of course, New England and Seattle faced off a decade ago with Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Darrelle Revis, Malcolm Butler, the Legion of Boom, Beast Mode, Russell Wilson and more in a battle of the unmovable object (Seattle Defense) against the Unstoppable Force (New England Offense) in a classic Super Bowl.
While most of America has no issue with Seattle, they HATE the New England Patriots. No Brady, no Gronk, no Belichick, no matter--the hate is real. Why should 31 other fan bases care that kids in kindergarten in New England can't remember a Patriots Super Bowl? Like post-Spygate and Deflategate, the NFL Nation has decided that the Patriots and their fans have not suffered enough.
Which is great for betting on the Super Bowl. Las Vegas is cleaning up on bets for Seattle as they roll in across the nation, giving great odds to the Patriots. It's almost a crime NOT to take the points.
I will go further than that. This Seattle defense is great, but not as great as Houston's. They are versatile, they are fast, they are stout up front, they have great pass defenders, but they have not had to deal with an offense like Josh McDaniels' Erhardt-Perkins offense that will take this cover-two/cover-four/cover-six zone all day.
Take the points. Take the over. Cash in.
Picks Recap:
Much like NFL teams, I've stepped up my game in the playoffs and cashed in some sweet parlays.
Conventional wisdom (aka commentators paid a ton of money to not do any research and make idiotic comments) has this as a low-scoring Super Bowl and Seattle to cover. Sure, that's what Las Vegas wants you to think. Don't throw your money away.
Each week during the season, I made my picks for every NFL game with my buddy David on his SportsKrunch with DKrom podcast as we’ve done regularly for the past five years (and many appearances pre-pandemic as well).
While David and I took a well-deserved break this week, we both channeled our inner-Public Enemy and said "Don't Believe the Hype" (I know I am dating myself with this reference, but I don't care if everyone knows I was born in the 1970s), both picking the Patriots to upset the heavily favored Seahawks.
We will be getting ready for free agency and the draft still, so the NFL content is going to be plenty of content all offseason. Please bookmark the site and give a listen on your preferred podcast provider. All back episodes are available here at Apple podcasts.
PLAYOFFS AND REGULAR SEASON RECORD:
Wild Card Weekend Last Week: Straight up: 2-0; Against the Spread: 1-1
Playoffs Totals: Straight up: 10-2; Against the Spread: 10-2
Regular Season Totals: Straight up: 170-103-1; Against the Spread: 131-140-3
Playoff and Season Totals: Straight up: 180-105-1; Against the Spread: 141-142-3
Now, on to the SUPER BOWL pick!
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