Super Bowl 49 Picks Against the Spread: Seahawks vs. Patriots
By Jason McIntyre
The Super Bowl is Sunday. Here are our picks against the spread, and the Patriots are currently favored by 1.
MIKE CARDILLO
There is a game this Sunday? Who knew? As a noted football “insider” I’ll share my Shoe-In of the Week: Patriots 27, Seahawks 17. Write it in pen and thank me later. Go sports!
STEPHEN DOUGLAS
[Stephen Douglas is jetsetting, but he likes the] Seahawks.
TY DUFFY
My normal play is to fade consensus media wisdom hard. This year, that’s impossible. Despite the sheer absence of news, I have not heard any media discuss the actual football game. Can’t to take the Legion of Boom seriously after this photo. One must stick with preseason predictions that make one look prophetic. 21-17 Patriots. #GoBlue I’ll also take Katy Perry keeping the girls covered at +350.
JASON LISK
These teams are, on balance, even. Both had stretches earlier this year where they were not playing particularly well, but have been the two best teams in the league over the entire body of work (which doesn’t necessarily always happen). The line reflects that. I think it comes down to a couple of things. For the Patriots on offense, will Gronkowski be a huge factor? Seattle has been vulnerable to tight ends on deeper routes, but this is partly a feature of their defensive philosophy. They are very good at taking away the outside short areas, they are great at tackling. They also have plenty of athletes, and Gronk will be a focus (unlike some other games where tight ends took advantage of other opportunities). Meanwhile, the greatest unknown is the Seahawks offense, which can look like a juggernaut at times but has also had other games where it stagnated. I don’t think the performance a few weeks ago is a trend, so in a close call, Seahawks.
JASON MCINTYRE
Liked the Patriots before they destroyed the Colts in the AFC title game. I thought Seattle struggled to put away Carolina at home, and then the Seahawks were outclassed for 55 minutes at home by the Packers. I think Seattle’s defense disrupts the Patriots short-pass offense, and it feels like a low-scoring game, I’ll go with 19-16 Patriots. I’ll go with a longshot MVP candidate: Jamie Collins (+15000), the Patriots linebacker, who has an INT, fumble recovery, sack and two tackles for loss.
MICHAEL SHAMBURGER
I picked the Patriots to beat the Packers in our initial prediction post so I guess I’ll take the Pats 27-24.
KYLE KOSTER
True story: I didn’t watch last year’s Super Bowl and haven’t seen a single highlight of the Seahawks’ complete domination. Perhaps if I had I wouldn’t be so confident in my belief a Hall of Fame quarterback will rise to the occasion against a historic defense. I’ve seen the confluence of events needed to take down Tom Brady in the Super Bowl and think Seattle’s good fortune was spent the moment Jermaine Kearse cradled the NFC-winning catch to his chest. In a game where there are more chips on the shoulders of players and coaches than there is dip to submerge them in, give me the side that wanted to run from the distractions instead of create them. Patriots 27, Seattle 17.