Gresh: Key To Super Bowl Is Jamie Collins
BOSTON (CBS) - That pesky media just won't let this DeflateGate story die, but we know the Patriots are "On to Seattle," and on Thursday afternoon 98.5 The Sports Hub's Andy Gresh and Scott Zolak started to turn the page as well.
Gresh and Zolak have watched some game tape of the Seahawks (finally some x's and o's talk!), and on Thursday they provided their keys to the game.
"Tom Brady has a way to control this game, and it's with his voice," Gresh said to lead the discussion. "If you go back and watch that NFC Championship game, there was a missed offsides on the [Richard] Sherman interception and three other ones. Brady has the opportunity, as a game manager, to control those [Seahawks] with voice inflection and snap count."
As we saw on the opening play of last year's Super Bowl, snap counts can be critical. Noise also played a factor on that botched snap between Peyton Manning and Manny Ramirez, which resulted in an early 2-0 advantage for Seattle.
Given the proximity from Arizona to Seattle, Zolak expects there to be more Seahawks fans than Patriots fans in attendance. But this is the second year in a row for Seahawks fans -- or "12's" as they're known -- so maybe there won't be as many.
It doesn't get talked about much, but noise is something Zolak is going to be paying attention to.
Jamie Collins, 25, was New England's first pick taken in the 2013 draft (52nd overall) out of Southern Mississippi. And in just his second year in the NFL, Andy Gresh thinks Collins could be the determining factor in the Super Bowl.
"I'm starting to think that the key to this game is Jamie Collins. Whether it's putting pressure on Russell Wilson, whether it's covering running backs out of the backfield, or spying Russell Wilson a little bit," said Gresh. "I think the versatility of Jamie Collins in this game becomes paramount to the Patriots defensive success."
Listen below to the full discussion:
Tune in to Super Bowl XLIX on 98.5 The Sports Hub -- the flagship station of the New England Patriots. It's the only place to hear Bob Socci & Scott Zolak's local call of the game!
