Super Bowl XLIX Prediction

Conference Championship Week Record: 2-0
Overall Playoff Record: 8-2

Seattle Seahawks over New England Patriots: After weeks of smack talk, cheating accusations and general anger from a lot of fans across the country about the Super Bowl matchup being between the two most hated teams in NFL, the game itself is finally here. It's been inexplicably lost amongst all of the Deflategate and "Why doesn't Marshawn Lynch talk to the media?" coverage, but this is a contest between two very evenly-matched squads. The game has the potential to be a serious battle and could very well be decided by a handful of plays. Though I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if either team won, I think the Seattle Seahawks are going to come out on top. The Seahawks may not have as much big game experience as Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, but in their few years of greatness, they've proven they excel in pressure situations, especially when they're being doubted. This knack for stepping in the clutch was evidenced by their highly improbably comeback against the Packers in the NFC Championship. Russell Wilson was able to overcome a truly horrible game in which he threw 4 INT's and stepped up when it mattered most to lead his team to victory. Coming of a ghastly performance like that, Wilson is going to be even hungrier than usual to prove himself on the biggest stage against elite competition. Aside from their big-game proficiency, they have favorable matchups against the Patriots on both side of the ball. The Patriots don't have anyone outside of Rob Gronkowski that can hold up against the physicality of their defense, their lack of a pass rush should allow Wilson to make full us of his rushing and passing-on-the run ability and running back Marshawn Lynch is a problem for pretty much any defense in the league, especially in the playoffs. As long as the Seahawks can keep Brady and Rob Gronowski in check and the Legion of Boom can successfully overcome the injuries to Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor,  I firmly believe they'll be walking out of Arizona with their second consecutive Super Bowl title.

Keys to victory for Seattle:
-Contain Rob Gronkowski
-Get pressure on and limit Tom Brady's options in the passing game
-Establish a balanced attack
-Expose the holes in the Patriots secondary
-Give Russell Wilson time to work his magic
-Don't allow the Patriots to creep back into the game if you get an early lead

Keys to victory for New England
-Establish the run
-Continue to test the health of the injured players in Seattle's secondary
-Stop Marshawn Lynch
-Keep Russell Wilson in the pocket
-Don't fall behind early