SNF PREVIEW: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS AT SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

BY ADAM GREENE

Sunday Night Football is the NFL’s flagship broadcast and they aren’t screwing around this week as the New England Patriots, with new quarterback Cam Newton, face off against the Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS AT SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (-4, O/U: 44.5)

Location: CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Wash.

Kickoff: Sept. 20, 8:20 p.m.

Broadcast: NBC

THE HISTORY

This is just the 18^th meeting between these two teams, with one coming in a classic Super Bowl marred by one of the worst playcalls in the game’s history. In the two weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLIX, then Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch made it clear he was just there to play the game, not “play the game.” Meaning, he had no interest in dealing with the media or the trappings surrounding the Super Bowl.

Famously, Lynch attended his mandatory press conferences and would only mutter the phrase, “I’m just here so I won’t get fined” to answer any question posed from the attending reporters. And, if head coach Pete Carroll had called the right play on second and goal at the New England one yard-line down by four points, he would have been named the game’s MVP. There would be no “I’m going to Disney World” declaration, then. No celebratory interview as the confetti fell. Lynch was going to be Lynch and Carroll decided then he wouldn’t have it.

So he called a pass play to get his quarterback, Russell Wilson that Most Valuable Player Trophy. But it was a bad one. Wilson tossed a game-ending pick into the hands of the Patriots’ Malcolm Butler and the rest is history. Seattle has yet to return to the Super Bowl.

In all, the series is tied 9-9, with the Seahawks holding a 2-1 edge with Wilson and Carroll at the helm. But that one loss… man.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (1-0)

The Patriots were the only team with a new quarterback to win in Week One. It probably helps if that quarterback is a former NFL MVP and still in the prime of his career and coming off a full season’s rest due to a shoulder injury. New England won their game against the Miami Dolphins when the Fins got off the bus, that was never in question. What we did want to know is how Cam Newton would look running the Pats’ offense. We found out quick. Newton finished 15 of 19 for 155 yards passing and added 15 carries for 75 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (1-0)

There’s a popular bootleg T-shirt floating around Seahawks county with the phrase, “Let Russ cook” emblazoned across the chest. It’s a sentiment stemming from the seaming lack of appreciation of Russell Wilson’s passing prowess by his own offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer. Well, maybe Schotty picked up one of those shirts, because last Sunday he let Russ cook. And Russ went 31 for 35 for 322 yards and four touchdowns in a cruise over the Atlanta Falcons.

THE PICK

While the Seahawks will play fanless at home Sunday, they’re still at home. And while that might not mean as much as it does when the deafening roar of the 12^th man shuts down an opposing team, it still means something to dress out in your own locker room after spending the night in your own bed. These are two good teams, maybe great teams, led by elite franchise quarterbacks that also happens to be a potential Super Bowl preview. I think it’ll be played like one. Seahawks 31, Patriots 27

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