Target Rob Gronkowski
early and often.
As important as Tom Brady is to New England, you can mount a
pretty solid argument that Gronkowski, the lumbering tight end (and unwitting star
of some questionable adult fiction, just recently), is just as important. Without
doubt, he’s a superstar of the team and the NFL itself. Indeed, three years
ago, a below-par Gronkowski had a minimal impact on the game, which led to –
another – Patriots loss to New York, in a game that the Pats were probably
favourites.
Fast forward three years, and Gronkowski is, as far as we
know, healthy and ready to go, and you can imagine that Brady will look to
bring him into the game early, and target him plenty throughout. Why? Because,
of all the New England offensive threats, Gronk is the hardest one for Seattle’s
talented defense to curtail.
Gronkowski could have a massive influence on this game. If
he’s kept largely out of the contest by the Seattle defense, that’s bad news
for New England. I believe Gronkowski needs to have a huge game for the Pats to
triumph. I’m talking somewhere around the century mark in receiving yards, including
a few big plays.
Don’t turn the
football over.
A rather obvious key to winning any sort of football game,
but particularly important at Super Bowl time. Why? Well, I read a crazy stat
during the week that a team who scores a Pick-6 touchdown has never lost a
Super Bowl. We’ve seen some memorable ones over the years, including a Peyton
Manning’s against New Orleans, which sealed a Super Bowl title for the Saints.
Giving up a defensive touchdown is clearly a massive
morale-killer, and this is particularly the case, given the way Seattle’s
talented defense goes about things. Points or not, if they can get a few
turnovers, the game could swing drastically in their favour. Earl Thomas, Kam
Chancellor, Richard Sherman…these guys live for taking the ball away, and,
provided they are all healthy – and there have been some questions in this
regard since the NFC Championship Game – Brady and his receivers are going to
need to be incredibly disciplined in the aerial attack.
It’s fair to say they haven’t seen a defensive corps quite
this good all season, and the Seahawks would love nothing more than to force
New England’s offense from the field. To that end, the Pats will need to be
perhaps more disciplined than they’ve ever been before. No silly throws when
the pocket collapses, protect the football if Brady’s taking a sack, and
sure-handed catches by his receivers.
Limit Russell Wilson’s
influence running the football.
There’s been suggestion during the last two weeks of media
build-up to the game that if star running back Marshawn Lynch can’t get going right
away– remember, he started slowly against Green Bay – that the Seattle offense
might call more running plays for quarterback Russell Wilson.
If you’ve watched any of Seattle this year, you’ll realise
that this isn’t some sort of gimmick from deep in their play book, but
something that Wilson does with some regularity, and with some success, too. He’s
deceptively quick, and has some nice moves, too. If he gets a nice block, he
can make yards in the blink of an eye.
We might even see some version of the read option offense
employed with Lynch in the backfield to further confuse a New England defense
that’s going to have it’s work cut out for it. Certainly, Wilson is more
prolific as a passer, but, on occasion, he’d made life difficult for opposition
tacklers by tucking the ball and taking off.
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