Lost in the DeflateGate narrative is the fact that the New England Patriots still are headed to Arizona to take on the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. And it certainly isn’t going to be easy.
Defensive end Chandler Jones spoke Sunday about the challenges the Patriots face, and they start with Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch. New England has the unique task of dealing with an extremely mobile quarterback in an offense that often relies on the run game no matter what the score is.
“It doesn’t start with the quarterback, but I feel like it’s the running back and the quarterback,” Jones told reporters. “They have a very good tandem in their backfield. Starting off with Marshawn Lynch, he’s a guy that if you let him, he could run over your whole defense; that’s if you let him.
“Then you have another guy like Russell Wilson. If you let him, he could juke out your whole defense and make big plays. I feel like as a defense as whole, I feel like you’ve got to contain those two guys.”
The Patriots certainly do have to contain Wilson and Lynch, as both are a threat to score whenever the football is in their hands. Lynch’s 13 rushing touchdowns during the regular season were tied with the Dallas Cowboys’ DeMarco Murray for the most in the NFL, and Wilson’s 849 rushing yards and 6 rushing touchdowns led all quarterbacks.
But as Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount pointed out, the Patriots’ offense also faces a tall task against a Seahawks defense that thrives off turnovers.
“We just know we can’t win without the football in our hands,” Blount told reporters Sunday. “We put a big emphasis on protecting the football when we get it, and that’s how you win games. You’ve got to protect it when you get it, and if you don’t, obviously a lot of guys know what will happen if you fumble it.”
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
