Super Bowl LX Prediction
Super Bowl 60
New England Patriots (17-3) vs. Seattle Seahawks (16-3)
Sunday, 5:30 P.M. CT/6:30 P.M. ET, kickoff closer to 5:40/6:40
Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA., 75,000
NBC, Streaming on Peacock
Mike, Cris, Melissa, Kaylee, Rules Analyst: Terry McAulay
Lead Laundry: Shawn Smith
Seahawks by 4 1/2, O/U, 45 1/2
Record in NFL Postseason: SU: 6-6, ATS: 5-7, Over/Under, 5-7. Made a pretty good comeback on the straight up after posting a 1-5 mark after Wild Card Weekend. Was 2-4 ATS and 2-4 O/U after the Wild Card Round, so hung fairly tough.
The Seahawks lead the NFL in scoring defense at 17.2 per game, while the Patriots are 4th at 18.8.
But these two quarterbacks, Sam Darnold and Drake Maye, are playmakers, so there will be some points scored. The weather in Santa Clara Sunday afternoon at 3:40 Pacific Time calls for 60+ degrees and 8 MPH winds. It’ll stay relatively steady there throughout the game.
I like Darnold and the terrific Seattle wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba to make few more plays than Maye and the New England offense. It’s about players in the NFL. Mike McDonald and Mike Vrabel are good coaches for Seattle and New England, respectively, but it’s 85% about players and 15% about coaches in determining how successful an NFL team is. General Managers are big pieces in that, too. More like 5% GM’s and 10% coaches. In college, it’s 80/20, players to coaches, unless you bring an NBA player into the fold like Alabama has done in college basketball. Nice, Oats and Byrne, and the circuit judge who gave Bediako a 10 day stay to play. The circuit court judge’s wife is defending alleged murderer Darius Miles from the tragic shooting of a young woman a couple of years back in Tuscaloosa. They’re big Alabama boosters. There will be another hearing tomorrow to see if Bediako can play the rest of the season. We’ll see which subjective or objective judge is on the bench in Tuscaloosa. Nice work, Alabama. Real great example of competitive integrity. In High School, it’s more like 60% players, 40% coaching. Coaches matter more in high school.
So I’ll take the players of the Seahawks over the players of the Patriots in a solid game. Sam Darnold and the Seahawks hoist the Lombardi Trophy later Sunday Night.