Super Bowl

(Player introductions have just begun, time to get out the Super Bowl pick)

As a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan, it is awkward for me to acknowledge that I've always really admired the Brady-Belichik Patriots.  I appreciate how hard they work to figure out how to win, in a world where the Philadelphia 76ers have built a long term strategy on sucking, how can you not like the Patriot attention to winning?  Belichik's legacy is as a master of roster construction as much a coach on the field; Sun Tzu would admire that he wins in the trenches because he has already won before getting to the trenches.  And while Brady doesn't eclipse any of my favorite QBs in terms of creativity, he does have massive numbers, tons of wins, and he's Belichik's QB of choice.  Obviously he is one of the great QBs of his generation (only Peyton Manning even has an argument of being better).

The Pats started this season slow.  Frankly, their OL play was so bad I thought maybe the curtain was beginning to fall.  But they righted the ship (and the Dolphins, Bengals and Texans all failed to gain ground), and since getting a beatdown in Kansas City early on, they've pretty much been untouchable.  The offense is back to being its usual machine-like self: predictable, efficient, effective.  The Pats D is the Achilles' Heel in the weak years but this season the secondary really turned out one of the best pass defenses in the league and they're solid at LB and stopping the run.

The Seahawks are the defending champs, I suspect they're the better team, they've played a harder schedule and braved a tougher playoff path than the Pats.  The D is one of the best in the league (though I'd say not as dominant as last year's version) and the offense features an efficient running game and an exciting passing game.  They've endured hardships this year (bad slump culminating in the exile of Percy Harvin) and just won perhaps the luckiest game of football I've ever seen (seriously, man, compared to the Seahawks comeback on the Packers, that Stanford lateral game looks like high school tomfoolery).  Everything is going the Seahawk way right now--they're even familiar with the stadium!  Yet somehow they roll in as the dog.

Pats (-1) at Seahawks (47.5).  These two are evenly matched but I supposed many thought that of last year's game that was over faster than a Tyson fight.

I think the Seahawks score first and get up 14-10 at the half.  Then the Pats offense starts piling up points and keep the lead through the 4th quarter.  I like the Pats to win 27-20.  Pats and the under.