Super Bowl Odds 2015: Bold Predictions for Patriots vs. Seahawks

It's the Super Bowl. Let's be bold.

Championship Game Weekend was certainly bold. The New England Patriots roughed up the Indianapolis Colts, and LeGarrette Blount re-emerged as a punishing runner. Few predicted that outcome.

Even fewer predicted a Seattle Seahawks victory after a 16-0 deficit at halftime. It took a monumental collapse—thanks to conservative play-calling, among other things—by the Green Bay Packers to allow the Seahawks to come all the way back.

What type of game will we see on Feb. 1? One would assume a bout of No. 1 seeds would lead to a nail-biting finish. If the following bold predictions come true, then it won't be.

Bold Predictions

Russell Wilson Doesn't Turn It over...Tom Brady Does

Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

Russell Wilson was plagued by interceptions on Sunday. Jermaine Kearse was bad luck for Wilson—at least until overtime—as each of his four picks were on pass attempts to his No. 2 wide receiver.

Those four picks weren't as costly as they should have been, as the Packers settled for field goals five times. Wilson knows he got lucky, and apparently he knew all along that his team would overcome:

There are two reasons for this prediction. For one, a quarterback of Wilson's caliber probably won't post back-to-back abysmal games. Prior to Sunday's game, Wilson had thrown nine touchdowns compared to just one interception in six career playoff games.

Reason No. 2 is that Wilson torched the Patriots for 293 yards and three scores in his lone contest against the team back in 2012. It's a small sample size, but beating the Patriots even once is a huge confidence booster for any quarterback—no matter the experience level.

Brady, on the other hand, has faced the Seahawks twice. The first time came in 2005, so we'll disregard that one. This Seattle team is obviously far different. But in Wilson and Brady's head-to-head, Brady attempted 58 passes (completing 36 of them) for 395 yards, two touchdowns and two picks.

And who got those picks? Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas.

It's never smart to predict a bad game out of Brady, so that's not what's happening here. Brady won't be flawless, however. He'll toss one interception on a ball he tries to fit into tight coverage against Rob Gronkowski—kind of like the one that D'Qwell Jackson intercepted this weekend.

LeGarrette Blount Out-Rushes Marshawn Lynch

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

Running the ball isn't New England's specialty, but the success of Blount on Sunday (148 yards, three touchdowns) should be a precursor to the Super Bowl.

Blount carried the ball 30 times against a subpar run defense. The Seahawks defense certainly can't be categorized as subpar, yet the Pats' strategy shouldn't change.

Eddie Lacy fared well against such a suffocating run defense, gaining 73 yards on 21 carries. Those numbers aren't great, but that's a better performance than most running backs can say they had against Seattle.

As similar runners, Blount and Lacy will probably attack this defense the same way. The linebackers are the heart to Seattle's run-stopping. Bobby Wagner is one of the top linebackers in the NFL, and guys like Bruce Irvin, K.J. Wright and Malcolm Smith all contribute frequently.

Running to the outside against this defense will prove difficult due to the speed of the linebackers and the presence of both Thomas and Kam Chancellor. But running the ball up the middle against the defensive line—the weakest group of the unit—should result in positive gains.

Blount won't get 100 yards, but he's in line for close to 80 yards and a touchdown or two. New England likes to feed him on the goal line, making him a candidate to score multiple times.

As for Marshawn Lynch, yards will be hard to come by. The Patriots ranked ninth in the NFL in rush yards allowed per game, as a strong D-line and supporting cast of linebackers limited teams to 104.3 yards per game.

Lynch did explode for 157 yards against Green Bay, which is certainly impressive, but the Packers ranked 23rd in football against the run.

Against Carolina, the No. 16 team, Lynch amassed only 59 yards on 14 carries. That doesn't bode well for his stats against New England.

Patriots Win by Double-Digits

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

What seems like the boldest of predictions actually isn't so out there.

"The average margin of victory in the eight Super Bowls between top seeds? 22.5 points," writes USA Today's Chris Strauss.

Few are predicting a three-touchdown margin for this Super Bowl, yet it shouldn't shock people when the Patriots pull away early and maintain a lead of at least 10 points. A pick by Brady won't be enough to hold them back. Blount has shown that he can run this team to victories.

Of course, Blount must be unleashed like he was this weekend. All too frequently do the Patriots turn to Brady to throw 40-plus times per game. They won't win if that happens.

Assuming Blount gets at least 20 carries (including a few near the goal line), New England will win this game handily.

The inability for Lynch to gain significant yardage will put the pressure squarely on Wilson's shoulders. He'll be asked to win this game through the air, even though Seattle ranked 27th through the air during the regular season.

Last year's Super Bowl proved that anything can happen. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Seattle win by 10. But they probably won't. Not with Brady and Blount running the show.

Prediction: Patriots win, 31-21

Follow Kenny DeJohn on Twitter: @kennydejohn