Super Bowl XLIX: New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks

As with any NFL matchup, a team’s success in the Super Bowl rides heavily on Quarterback play. More than a few Super Bowls have featured quarterbacks without the pedigree of a Tom Brady or Russell Wilson—Trent Dilfer helped the Ravens win their first Super Bowl in 2000 as a backup, Brad Johnson guided the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to their only Super Bowl win in 2002, while other less-than-formidable names like Chris Chandler, Kerry Collins and Rich Gannon made it to the big game but fell short—but, in general, it takes the caliber of a Joe Montana, John Elway or Troy Aikman to get it done when the stakes are high.

Brady won three Super Bowls early in his career (2001, 2003, 2004) bringing home two MVP awards in the process. Tom Terrific’s last two Super Bowl appearances ended in crushing defeats to the New York Giants in 2007 and 2011. The 2007 loss was the most disappointing as the Pats squandered a perfect season despite being favored by nearly two touchdowns against the Giants. Brady’s quest for a fourth ring has been tainted by the Deflategate nonsense surrounding Super Bowl XLIX but the Patriots enter the game as slender one-point favorites.

Russell Wilson has gone one better than Brady in his third year in the league, making his second straight Super Bowl appearance. Brady also won the Super Bowl in his second year in the league but did not return to win two straight until his third and fourth years. Wilson has a squeaky clean image whereas Brady has the Golden Boy persona with a bit of trash-talk and fire in his repertoire.

Wilson showed that he is far from an emotionless robot after the Seahawks dramatic win over the Packers in the NFC Championship. Most NFL fans had not seen that side of the Seattle signal-caller, but his outpouring was probably endearing to a lot of neutrals.

Brady is pretty much a straight pocket-passer with a strong and accurate arm. The Patriots offense is designed around a wide-open passing attack; Brady tends to get big chunks of yards through his slot receiver Julian Edelman, his primary tight end Rob Gronkowski and also sets up screens for running back Shane Vereen and gets deep-threat Brandon LaFell involved.

The Patriots do not run the ball much unless they’re in the red zone. Brady is no different with just 57 yards on 36 attempts in the 2014 season; Brady only has 14 rushing touchdowns and 823 rushing yards in his entire 15-year career. Wilson, in stark contrast, had 849 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns in 2014 alone. The third-year QB from the University of Wisconsin already has 1,877 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns in his early career.

Brady is the better passer by the numbers across the board—this season the University of Michigan-product threw for 4,109 yards and 33 touchdowns as compared to Wilson’s 3,475 yards passing and 20 TDs.

Both QBs are proven winners and Sunday’s game features the first head-to-head Super-Bowl winning quarterback battle since 2011 when Brady squared off against Eli Manning.

It’s hard to imagine either Wilson or rady having a game to forget, but it’s also unclear which one of these QBs will ultimately rise to the occasion to lead their team to the loftiest of NFL heights in 2015.

Line for the Big Game: Super Bowl XLIX (Plus Props Bets)

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