Patriots vs. Seahawks on Super Bowl Sunday -- Mike Detillier (1 Viewer)

Dan in Lafayette

Staff member
Administrator
Diamond VIP Contributor
Joined
Aug 1, 1997
Messages
69,484
Reaction score
55,311
Age
69
Location
Lafayette, LA
Offline
askmike.jpg


Patriots vs. Seahawks on Super Bowl Sunday

By Mike Detillier

The Super Bowl has become our nation's biggest sports holiday. I remember as a kid the early Super Bowls were not treated in quite this manner. Super Bowl Sunday has become the biggest one-day sports event in the United States and now it is also a world-wide event.

It is a time to gather with friends and family. For a little over three hours we watch one show like it is the single-most meaningful event of the year. Most are watching for the game, but many watch for the commercials and for the halftime show.

The Super Bowl has become the "event" to watch each and every year no matter who is playing. And lets be honest, we all know a host of folks that are involved in "number pools" that keep the gambling element in play.

What brought the Super Bowl to the level it is today was Super Bowl III. The AFL/NFL merger was in its infancy stage and the AFL was looked on as the far inferior league. The first two Super Bowls were dominated by Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers of the NFL. Joe Namath and the New York Jets upset win over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III stunned the football world, but it also made the Super Bowl a "must watch event." The following season Hank Stram, Len Dawson and the Kansas City Chiefs proved that the AFL was for real in their upset of another old-guard NFL team in the Minnesota Vikings.

Just as the AFL had hit the Mount Everest of football, it all ended because now the merger was complete and it would then be the AFC/NFC showdown forever. Those two historic games have set up our version of a national sports holiday today.


This Super Bowl is one for the record books

Last week the local headlines were dominated by the power struggle of the Tom Benson family to see who would be in control of his money and the two teams he owns - the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans. I expect a resolution to this issue quickly and Gayle Benson will be set as the owner of the Saints and Pelicans when Tom Benson is no longer in a position to do so.

All that talk took away from something you will never see again in your lifetime. The head coaching and quarterback combination of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are now playing in their sixth Super Bowl.

A few years back, in an interview before Super Bowl XLVI between the Giants and the Patriots, I told Fox Sports journalist and spokesperson for Thibodaux Regional Hospital's Jennifer Hale that I would not live long enough to see a quarterback and a head coach play in 5 Super Bowls. Jen Hale is a little younger , so she has a shot.

I was reminded of that comment last week by a news colleague and now that same quarterback/head coach combo are playing in another. Now with 6 Super Bowls, you will never see this happen again in your lifetime if you are 3 or 83.

We have seen some great quarterback/head coach combinations like Chuck Noll & Terry Bradshaw with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Roger Staubach & Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson & Troy Aikman had the same success with the Dallas Cowboys. Bill Walsh & Joe Montana did it with the 49ers, but none of those above combinations were together for 6 Super Bowls.

The Belichick & Brady combination is playing in what is now the commuter world of free agency. The other four combinations didn't have that free agent element in play when they got to participate in their Super Bowls. You will be watching history play out before your very eyes in watching the best head coach/quarterback combination in modern times play in the biggest game of the year for the sixth time.

The Patriots are 3-2 in Super Bowls, but consider the fact that they were two passes away from being 5-0. It took a great catch by Giants wide receiver David Tyree from quarterback Eli Manning to defeat them in one Super Bowl and a tipped pass just inches away from tight end Rob Gronkowski on the final play of Super Bowl XLVI to defeat them in the other.

And this year the New England Patriots have pieced together a defense that in many ways resembles the team they are playing in the Seattle Seahawks.

While Brady and Belichick have been the constant duo in New England, what has also been there over the last 9 years has been the Patriots' ability to collect turnovers on defense. It is the most important statistic in football today. Seattle has built their team in a similar manner.

The other stat is scoring touchdowns and squeezing opposing teams to settling for field goals. In 2014, the Patriots scored 52 touchdowns and opposing teams against them scored only 32 touchdowns. The Seahawks scored 43 touchdowns in 2014 and the opposing teams scored only 27 touchdowns against them.

Since 2006 the Patriots are a plus 122 in the most important statistic in pro football in the giveaway/takeaway category. They have been on the plus side of this most important stat since 2006 and have been on the plus-side double-digit wise five out of the last nine years.

Over the last four years, under Pete Carroll, the Seattle Seahawks have been in the plus category in this most important stat every year, and they are a plus 51 total.

Consider the fact that the New Orleans Saints under Sean Payton, in the best nine year run ever for the Black and Gold, have been on the plus side of the giveaway/takeaway ratio just twice. Once was in 2012 when Payton was suspended for the year due to the BountyGate issue and the other was 2009, the year they won the Super Bowl. For the Saints to get back to the divisional championship and Super Bowl level again, that one statistic has to be put on the plus side.

You have to go back to the Super Bowls in 2004 and 2005 before a team (the New England Patriots under Belichick and Brady) have won back to back Super Bowls. The Seahawks are a very dangerous football team, but this weekend my pick is for the Patriots to win.

For the Seahawks to win they have to control the clock and get turnovers. The key player to establish control of the clock is halfback Marshawn Lynch. The Seahawks have rushed for 2,762 yards and have averaged 5.3 yards per rush in 2014. That is impressive in controlling the clock and tempo of a game.

If the Seahawks win, I hope Marshawn Lynch has a huge game. The NFL has had so many misfires dealing with the on and off the field matters concerning the mercurial Mr. Lynch. The league just might have to hand him the MVP Trophy. Then they would have to turn around just to hear him utter, "I'm going to Disney World" or "I'm going to Disney Land." That would be very interesting.

This game has all the earmarks of a classic because it is so evenly matched.

Whatever you might think of Bill Belichick and how he walks a fine line about getting his team prepared, he is indeed the best coach of our generation and Tom Brady is the best quarterback of our generation.

My prediction: New England Patriots-23 Seattle Seahawks-20


Bobby H. on NFL Hall of Fame DE Charles Haley

Last night former San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys defensive end Charles Haley was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a five time Pro Bowler, five time winner of a Super Bowl ring and he registered 100 1/2 quarterback sacks during his pro career.

Former New Orleans Saints quarterback and current WWL-870 Radio host Bobby Hebert says that Haley was one of the most dominant defensive players he ever played against.

"He is deserving to be in the Hall of Fame. He wasn't necessarily the best guy to be around and had an attitude on the field that he took with him off the field. He didn't care what others thought of him, but in my time in the NFL with the Saints and the Atlanta Falcons the only two players we specifically schemed up to block was Lawrence Taylor with the New York Giants and Haley."

"He was a menace every time we played him. He was not known to go all out on each play, but when he was cranked up he was almost unblockable. In 1986 in back to back plays he broke the foot of Jim Dombrowski on one play and the next snap he broke my foot. When he wanted more money and was tough to deal with in San Francisco they dealt him to Dallas. At that time the move made Dallas' defense as formidable as any in the NFL. He was quick, nasty, very difficult to throw over and he was a playmaker on defense. One of the toughest guys I ever played against."


Follow Mike on Twitter at @MikeDetillier
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Users who are viewing this thread

    Back
    Top Bottom