Super Bowl 49 from A to Z
By Will Osgood
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Xs (and Os)
Perhaps you’re not a numbers person but enjoy the diagramming of football plays. That is sort of what we’re going to do here, though mostly through links. Mostly, we will ever so briefly discuss a few key matchups in the game.
- Patriots center Ryan Wendell vs. Seahawks defensive tackle Kevin Williams & Tony McDaniel
This game figures to come down to who wins in the trenches, as football games always have. Rookie starting center Bryan Stork figures to be Out for the Super Bowl meaning the Pats will have to go with Ryan Wendell who took over for Stork a few short weeks ago.
The veterans Williams and McDaniel are space eaters, who rarely push the pocket, but can make life quite tough for the inexperienced (at least at center) Wendell. Seattle essentially two-gaps their interior defensive linemen, which means they play essentially two spots on each snap. particularly against the run. They are simply trying to take up space.
Wendell will need help to jettison their efforts. If he does not, the Pats will have to try to run outside when they do, or become one-dimensional, which is a recipe for disaster against the Seahawks.
- Patriots right tackle Sebastian Vollmer vs. Seahawks Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril and Bruce Irvin
Though it has been an off year for the Seahawks pass rush, Bennett, Avril and Bruce Irvin are all capable of making life tough for opposing tackles and thus the opposing quarterback. Irvin and Avril, especially do it with speed. Vollmer is a solid athlete with decent feet, but he can beat in said manner.
Tom Brady was never the fleetest of foot, and this matchup is not great for the Patriots offense line. They can help themselves, though.
- Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski vs. Whoever covers him
It may be Kam Chancellor or Earl Thomas or a nickel corner. Or the Seahawks may think their best option is to line up one of their better linebackers, either K.J. Wright or Bobby Wagner, against the beastly tight end. Whatever they choose, they’ll have a plan. But Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels will have a plan to counter it.
Though they will likely struggle to run the football against Seattle, effective use of their play action counter pass, as explained in great detail here, will mitigate some of the swarm of bodies that figure to occupy Gronkowski’s space.
Of course if all else fails, they can go back to four lineman formation, explained here. It will help some Pats receiver get open.
The stick concept is another option, either by putting Gronkowski at the ‘Y’, or simply getting their smaller, quicker receivers like Edelman or Amendola into space.
- Seahawks right tackle vs. Patriots Rob Ninkovich and Jamie Collins
The Seahawks have an equally challenging task in front of them. They have to figure out a way to block defensive ends while possibly doing it with a backup right tackle. The great thing about the zone blocking scheme is that it can excel with lesser players at the tackle spots. The bootleg off of it, too, is a major weapon because it is generally not reliant on quality blocking from the backside end.
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