Super Bowl 49<\/strong> is a week away and the analysis of the matchup is ramping up in a typically furious way. Whether you like the Pats of the Hawks, there are obvious key players to each side\u2019s success. <\/p>\n Seattle Seahawks<\/a> vs. New England Patriots<\/a><\/strong> Keeping in mind that New England and Seattle are two of the most balanced teams we have seen in quite some time there are obvious keys to victory for both.<\/p>\n Let’s take a look at six crucial players in this game – starting from the obvious and ending with a few sleeper X-factors.<\/p>\n Brady is the most important player in this game – period! The Patriots are the less talented team in this game in almost every aspect. <\/p>\n It is unlikely that LeGarrettte Blount and the Pats running game will be as effective as they have down the stretch – Seattle could reasonably shut them down. <\/p>\n [dfads params=’groups=63753&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]<\/p>\n That leaves Tom Terrific as the man! Against one of the scariest secondaries in the game, his play WILL determine whether or not New England is able to hang with Seattle.<\/p>\n Wilson is a game-changer. When he decided to crank it up in the second half against Green Bay, this offense looked virtually unstoppable. <\/p>\n He is a threat to run and to throw – Wilson is a matchup nightmare for opposing teams. <\/p>\n It’s not all about his play making ability however – his brain may be the biggest factor. If he is able to take what the Pats will inevitably give him, there will be some holes to exploit.<\/p>\n When the Seahawks are going right, Lynch is a factor and he seems to be peeking at just the right time. <\/p>\n He had 157 rushing yards on just 25 carries against Green Bay – as dominant a performance as he’s had all season long. He had more than 1,000 yards and 10 TDs for the fourth consecutive season and led the NFL in TDs with 17 – as consistently good a back as there was in the NFL this year. <\/p>\n [dfads params=’groups=66501&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]<\/p>\n He eats up chunks of yards, he punishes the opposition and maybe most importantly he will be able to keep Tom Brady off the field \u2013 if all goes well! He will get at least 20 touches in this game \u2013 because of that he has to be one of the most important guys in this game.<\/p>\n After having injury-plagued campaigns in 2012 and 2013, Gronk returned to Pro Bowl form with 82 catches and 12 TDs during the regular season. He has more receiving touchdowns during his first five seasons than any tight end in NFL history (55). <\/p>\n Gronk is the biggest weapon that the Pats have and gets to go up against a Seattle team that has had issues with Tight Ends all season long. <\/p>\n It\u2019s true that the Colts did a good job in minimizing the effectiveness of Gronk last week and the Pats still rolled, but the rest of the Indianapolis defense allowed LeGarrette Blount to run wild.<\/p>\n Seattle\u2019s defense is insane \u2013 there is no chance the Pats running game duplicates what they did in the AFC Final. That leaves Gronkowski to come up huge!<\/p>\n And now for a couple of lesser-known guys\u2026<\/p>\n When the Seahawks were struggling earlier in the year, Maxwell was injured. He solidifies the secondary and ALWAYS sees more balls thrown his way than Seattle\u2019s other cornerback Richard Sherman. <\/p>\n [dfads params=’groups=63752&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]<\/p>\n Something tells me he is tasked with shadowing Rob Gronkowski a bit in this game as the Seahawks try to emulate what the Colts did by playing a cornerback on Gronk. Maxwell will see a ton of action on Super Bowl Sunday and could be the difference between winning or losing for this club. <\/p>\n Remember \u2013 it was Seattle\u2019s linebackers that have had issues with Tight Ends so far this year!<\/p>\n Patriots linebacker will be tasked with playing strong run defense, to spy on Russell Wilson and to make sure that emerging Seattle Tight End Luke Wilson can\u2019t come up with a game-changing play. <\/p>\n He is as versatile a player as the Pats have on defense \u2013 he can get out in coverage and he can get to the quarterback. <\/p>\n Athleticism is the key to slowing down the Seattle offense \u2013 Collins is about as athletic as they come at the linebacker position.<\/p>\n [dfads params=’groups=63706&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Betting on Super Bowl 49 Super Bowl 49 is a week away and the analysis of the matchup is ramping up in a typically furious way. Whether you like the Pats of the Hawks, there are obvious key players to each side\u2019s success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":92914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1802,4898,827,65183,1119,65185,65186,65182,61092,65191],"class_list":["post-92898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl-football-odds","tag-nfl-gambling","tag-seahawks-vs-patriots","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-seattle-seahawks-vs-new-england-patriots","tag-super-bowl-xlix-parlay-picks","tag-super-bowl-xlix-point-spreads","tag-super-bowl-xlix-predictions","tag-superbowl-49-predictions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92898"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92916,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92898\/revisions\/92916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
NFL Super Bowl XLIX<\/h3>\n
\n When: Sunday, February 1, 6:30 PM ET<\/strong>
\n Where: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale<\/strong>
\n Broadcast: FOX<\/strong>
\nPatriots NFL Betting Odds: -1 -110 -118<\/strong>
\nSeahawks NFL Betting Odds: +1 -110 -102<\/strong>
\nNFL Over\/Under Betting Odds: 48<\/strong>
\nMatchup<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Preview<\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n1. Tom Brady<\/h3>\n
2. Russell Wilson<\/h3>\n
3. Marshawn Lynch<\/h3>\n
4. Rob Gronkowski<\/h3>\n
5. Byron Maxwell<\/h3>\n
6. Jamie Collins<\/h3>\n
Check out our Updated Super Bowl XLIX Odds<\/a>.<\/h3>\n