What to Watch For: Seahawks vs. Patriots
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
What to Watch For: Seahawks vs. Patriots
See What to Watch For in the Slideshow Below
The Patriots beat the Seahawks 28-24 in Super Bowl 49 two seasons ago.
"You can definitely take some of that game and carry it over and learn, see what they do. They still do a lot of stuff the same from the Super Bowl game to this game, but it's all about a new week, it's all about preparing, focusing this week and coming out on Sunday night," said Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski in his press conference earlier this week.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFor those who are counting, the Patriots have 25 players still on the roster from that Super Bowl, the Seahawks have 19 players.
Pete Carroll Returns
As unbelievable as it may sound, this game will also mark Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll's first time back in New England as a coach since he was fired from the Patriots following the 1999 season.
"That was a long time ago. There's been a lot of games. It'll be fun to go back, it'll be fun to see the place and see the area and all that, but as far as being emotionally connected to it, that's not going to be part of the experience," Carroll told the media earlier this week.
Carroll took over a Patriots team that had just gone to the Super Bowl in 1996 and was poised to get back there. He coached the Patriots for three seasons, but was fired after going 8-8 in 1999 and missing the playoffs.
Now he is back as the coach of a perennial Super Bowl favorite, coaching against his former team, also a Super Bowl favorite.
Carroll added, "I like coming back. I had a good time there. It's kind of fun, you guys have so much good stuff. It's kind of an honor to have a chance to play."
See What to Watch For in the Slideshow Below
What to Watch For: Seahawks vs. Patriots
Dion Lewis Activated
Running back Dion Lewis has been taken off of PUP and activated for Sunday night's game against Seattle. How much he will play is unknown.
Lewis has been on the PUP list since before the start of training camp, but has been practicing with the team since the week leading up to the Patriots game against Buffalo in Week 8.
In order to make room for Lewis, the Patriots released running back Tyler Gaffney.
The Jamie Collins Trade
The Patriots will play their first game since the trade of linebacker Jamie Collins.
New England's depth at linebacker now consists of the following players:
Rob Ninkovich, Dont'a Hightower, Barkevious Mingo and Elandon Roberts.
The Patriots have really been high on Elandon Roberts over the last couple of games so expect to see more from him, maybe a bigger role for Mingo.
Jimmy Graham
Sunday night's game features two of the best tight ends in the game, Rob Gronkowski for the Patriots, and Jimmy Graham for the Seahawks.
Like Gronkowski is going to be a problem for the Seattle defense, Graham is going to be an issue for the Patriots defense.
"Jimmy Graham is still one of the better tight ends in the NFL, one of the top tight ends, so we've got to go out there and play well against him, try to make everything tough. He's going to probably make some plays out there because he's a good player, but we've got to just make it tough for him for 60 minutes," said Patriots safety Devin McCourty in his press conference this week.
Expect the Patriots to try and take Graham out of the game by doubling him and being physical at the line of scrimmage.
Graham has 38 catches for 545 yards and three touchdowns on the year, two of those scores came last week against Buffalo on incredible one handed catches.
Seattle's other offensive weapons, Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse, are also dangerous and present mismatches for the Patriots secondary.
D-Line vs Russell Wilson
The Patriots offensive line and their edges will be under a good amount of pressure to keep Russell Wilson in the pocket.
Wilson has been playing with an ankle injury for the majority of the season, but in Seattle's Monday Night game against Buffalo he showed some signs of mobility.
"I mean he's not a guy that runs to run. He runs and makes plays so if you don't contain him, if you don't control him, if you let him extend the play then you're basically looking for trouble. If you do then you've got to defend all of the other things," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
Wilson has thrown seven touchdown passes so far this season and has been sacked 16 times. When it comes to him running, he has called his own number 20 times and ran for 54 yards and one touchdown.
Brady vs Seattle's D
Seattle's defense is considered one of the best in the league, often the adjective "vaunted" is put in front of it.
However, in the last two meetings with the Seahawks, Tom Brady has lit them up.
In the 2012 meeting, a 24-23 Seattle win in Seattle, Brady threw 58 times for 395 yards. The Patriots lost the game because they went 1 for 6 in the redzone.
In the Super Bowl two years ago, Brady threw the ball 50 times for 320 yards.
"I wouldn't say they're going to run every defense in the book. I think it's a relatively aggressive plan that they have. I think they all know what they're responsible for and they all do a great job defending. It's a very sound defense," said Brady in his press conference earlier this week.
Over the last five games, the Seahawks have given up an average of 284 yards passing, and have allowed team (Cardinals, Saints, Bills) to go 31 of 53 on third down over the last three games.
They are aggressive, 19 sacks in the last five games, however they are giving up plays and have not forced turnovers.
