Can Patriots’ Surging Defense Continue To Feast Vs. Seahawks In Super Bowl?
This year’s Super Bowl features a battle between two of the best defenses in the NFL. The New England Patriots ranked fourth in points allowed and eighth in yards allowed during the regular season, while the Seattle Seahawks ranked first and sixth, respectively.
While the Seahawks’ defense was better in the regular season, the Patriots’ defense has been superior in the playoffs. With Drake Maye and New England’s offense scuffling, the defense has stepped up and carried them to the Super Bowl.
The Patriots’ defense has been on a historic run this postseason, racking up 95 pressures, 12 sacks and eight takeaways while allowing just two touchdowns in three games.
Now, they’ll get a chance to feast on Sam Darnold, who’s been historically dreadful against them. In four career starts against New England, he’s 0-4 with a 52 percent completion rate, one touchdown pass and nine interceptions.
Granted, he’s improved a lot since leaving the New York Jets, but he did throw 14 interceptions during the regular season and has fumbled seven times over his last eight games.
Not only do the Patriots have a week to rest up, but they also get an extra week to study Darnold’s tendencies and weaknesses, which they’ll look to expose in Santa Clara next week.
Darnold’s been great in the playoffs and has gone three games without an interception. He’s taken multiple sacks in seven of his last eight games, however. If New England can keep consistent pressure on him, it should be able to sack him a few times and force him into some bad throws.
The Seahawks lost the second-most expected points on turnovers this season, behind only the Cincinnati Bengals, so winning the turnover battle will be huge for the Patriots. If they can force multiple turnovers for the third straight game, they’ll be in a good position to upset Seattle and win it all.