Super Bowl 49: Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski give Patriots 14-7 lead (Video)
By Robby Sabo
As they normally do before halftime, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots punch one in the endzone again.
There’s a big storyline formulating in the first half of Super Bowl XLIX: Both defenses are daring each quarterback to go over the top.
And for good reason too.
The personnel on both defenses presents this strategy. The Seattle Seahawks always have this mindset. They’re as vanilla as it gets yet as aggressive as anybody in the league.
Tom Brady though, so far as still stuck to his familiar short passing attack with the wide-receiver screen and running-back Shane Vereen out of the backfield representing what’s been most dangerous tonight.
After Marshawn Lynch tied the game at seven, Brady and company decided to put together another final-minute, right-before-half touchdown.
Essentially daring Brady to go over the top, Seattle walked out linebacker KJ Wright on tight end Rob Gronkowski.
The result was not what Pete Carroll and Dan Quinn were looking for as Gronk beat his man down the sideline as it finalized a eight-play, 80-yard touchdown drive.
The trend will continue for both defenses in the second half. Seattle will have to play it close to the line of scrimmage and Bill Belichick’s crew will have to continue to load the box against Lynch and power running game of Seattle.
Look for the quarterback who has more success down the field in one-on-one match-ups to propel their team to a championship.
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