Happy Super Bowl Sunday, Seattle Seahawks fans!<\/p>\n
We\u2019re going to do something a little different for Super Bowl 60. Usually I give you a bold prediction, Seahawks offense and defense predictions, opposition prediction, and the game prediction. I\u2019ll switch it up for the Super Bowl in a way that is at least adjacent to prop bets, and we\u2019re more than doubling the predictions from five to 12. Before we get into that, let\u2019s review my NFC Championship predictions!<\/a><\/p>\n Bold prediction: Cooper Kupp scores his first Seahawks home touchdown<\/p>\n Seahawks offense prediction: Kenneth Walker clears 100 scrimmage yards again<\/p>\n Seahawks defense prediction: Finally, Matthew Stafford gets sacked<\/p>\n Rams prediction: Colby Parkinson has his own revenge game in mind<\/p>\n That drop sure was critical. I said he\u2019d score a touchdown and he did not.<\/p>\n Game prediction: The Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl<\/p>\n I even said the score would be 31-24, which was really close to what happened.<\/p>\n First points: Andy Borregales field goal<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t take much to get in field goal range under the current kickoff rules, although Seattle is typically not persuaded into kicking for deliberate touchbacks. We may see the Patriots throw the first punch, hit a few explosives off play-action boundary throws and passes into the flat, only for the drive to stall in the red zone. Borregales will put the Patriots on the board first.<\/p>\n I know in the staff predictions<\/a> I said the Seahawks would win 24-14. I\u2019m changing that to 27-17 to give both teams a little extra something and to make bettors sweat that over\/under total. Borregales has impressed as a rookie kicker after the Patriots had a horror show in recent years at the position. Seattle has not allowed their opponents to score first since the Indianapolis Colts game, which the Seahawks kicked their way to victory anyway.<\/p>\n Fewer adsCreate community posts<\/a>Comment on articles, community postsRec comments, community postsNew, improved notifications system!<\/p>\n First Seahawks touchdown: Jaxon Smith-Njigba reception<\/p>\n The NFL\u2019s Offensive Player of the Year led the Seahawks with 10 receiving touchdowns in the regular season and has since added to his tally in each playoff game. In other words, he fittingly has 12, but I don\u2019t want him to finish with 12.<\/p>\n New England ranks 31st by DVOA<\/a> against No. 1 wide receivers, which doesn\u2019t mean this is on Christian Gonzalez, but instead the defensive scheme in which Gonzalez doesn\u2019t travel with receivers. Smith-Njigba has been able to get the better of Derek Stingley Jr. and other top corners, so I\u2019m not worried about his impact. I think the Seahawks counter New England\u2019s early field goal with a JSN touchdown in the high red zone.<\/p>\n First turnover: Drake Maye lost fumble<\/p>\n The MVP runner-up has fumbled a lot in this postseason. Of his 15 sacks taken over three playoff games, five have resulted in fumbles, while he lost another fumble on a running play. Maybe the weather was a factor against the Houston Texans, but he coughed it up a couple of times in better weather against the Chargers.<\/p>\n By no means is Maye a turnover machine, but with the struggles up front I believe Maye may get a blindside pressure on the side of rookie tackle\/guard duo Will Campbell and Jared Wilson that results in a fumble he is unable to recover. Don\u2019t be surprised if it\u2019s not an edge, but instead a blitzer who takes advantage of a miscommunication up front.<\/p>\n First Patriots touchdown: Hunter Henry reception<\/p>\n Henry is New England\u2019s second-leading receiver behind Stefon Diggs but leads the team in touchdowns. He began the Patriots\u2019 postseason with a dagger touchdown grab against the Los Angeles Chargers to put the game out of reach.<\/p>\n Seattle has had season-long problems stopping tight ends at a high level, ranking a modest 16th by DVOA. Drake Maye is another prolific play-action quarterback and Henry is good at exploiting voids in the middle of the field and running out routes.<\/p>\n I\u2019m mostly confident the Seahawks secondary can hold up against New England\u2019s receivers, although Josh Jobe needs to be at his best against Stefon Diggs, Kayshon Boutte, etc. at the line of scrimmage given his struggles when he doesn\u2019t disrupt the route off the line. I remain a little hesitant about what the Seahawks can do to contain Henry, who\u2019s a steady player and has been for a long time.<\/p>\n Longest pass play: Rashid Shaheed 30+ yards<\/p>\n I\u2019m hopeful that the Seahawks have finally unlocked Shaheed down the field just off of that opening drive NFC Championship Game. The Patriots disguise their coverages a lot, which could be a worry for Sam Darnold and company given their struggles at times against disguise-heavy defenses, but generally speaking they like to play a single-high safety. That should provide some favorable looks for the Seahawks, and I\u2019m curious to see how often Shaheed lines up in the slot against fellow return specialist Marcus Jones<\/a>, who\u2019s given up eight touchdowns on the year.<\/p>\n Number of Sam Darnold turnovers: 1<\/p>\n This is obviously a story that will never go away. Darnold led the NFL in turnovers with 20 in the regular season. It was a legitimate problem at times this year. He\u2019s also been insanely productive even with the turnovers, plus he\u2019s been clean the last three games. What more do you want?<\/p>\n So just to spice things up, he\u2019s going to give the ball up and possibly in an advantageous spot for the Patriots. I\u2019m thinking a tipped interception is coming on a ball forced into tight coverage. New England was surprisingly light on taking the ball away in the regular season, but they got five off of the Houston Texans and Jarrett Stidham gave it up twice in the AFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n Seattle is a high-turnover team playing clean football at the right time, whereas Mike Vrabel\u2019s group is a low-takeaway team that is getting more at the time. Something\u2019s gotta give.<\/p>\n Incidentally, while not a fully fledged prediction, I think Drake throws one interception to Coby Bryant but it\u2019s either going to be zero or one, not multiple.<\/p>\n Kenneth Walker\u2019s total scrimmage yards: Over 100 again<\/p>\n It\u2019s been three straight weeks of K9 dominating defenses on the ground and\/or the air. He\u2019s in tough on the ground against a stingy Patriots defense, which can clog the interior as well as any team in the NFL. Where the Patriots can be exploited is on the outside, particularly if Seattle can use the heavy personnel packages effectively and seal the edges against the likes of Anfernee Jennings, Harold Landry, and K\u2019Lavon Chaisson.<\/p>\n If Walker is stymied on the ground, I believe he\u2019ll make up for it as a receiving back. Klint Kubiak has clearly made it a point of emphasis to get Walker in space more and running actual routes instead of being just a checkdown option. New England was middle of the pack in yards allowed to running backs, but I trust Walker against just about anyone in the league when he as room to operate in the open field.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s go with about 70 yards rushing for K9 and another 40 through the air.<\/p>\n Number of Patriots explosive runs allowed: 1<\/p>\n