Patriots-Seahawks: What's Changed For Seattle Since Super Bowl XLIX?
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Football fans can finally start counting the days, hours, and minutes until what will easily be the biggest, juiciest primetime matchup of the 2016 season so far. The Patriots take on the Seattle Seahawks in a rematch of the positively epic Super Bowl XLIX and Seattle's roster won't be significantly different from that unforgettable showdown nearly two years ago.
The continuity on the Seahawks roster has led Bill Belichick to refer back to the Super Bowl XLIX game film in preparation for Sunday's game in Foxboro.
"We'll definitely take a look at it," said Belichick when asked about the Super Bowl XLIX film as it relates to Sunday's game. "There's a lot of carryover, especially on their defense, from many of the players that we played against but there is also carryover on offense. Certainly from some of the key players – the quarterback and the receivers – and the kicking game with the specialists so there's a decent amount of carryover."
Belichick is right about the carryover from that Super Bowl to Week 10 of 2016 - especially on the defensive side of the ball for the Seahawks. Stalwarts like Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner, Earl Thomas, and Cliff Avril remain in the fold. And the Patriots defense still has to deal with quarterback Russell Wilson and a similar stable of receivers, led by Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse.
There are, however, several key differences that make the Seahawks markedly different from the team that lost Super Bowl XLIX to the Patriots, whether through personnel turnover or injuries. Here are those key differences and how they may affect Sunday night's game ...
New-look offensive line. The Seahawks on Sunday night will roll out almost an entirely different set of starters on the offensive line from the Super Bowl. The most notable departures are left tackle Russell Okung and center Max Unger, who was part of the trade that sent tight end Jimmy Graham to Seattle.
The only returning starter from Super Bowl XLIX is Justin Britt, who started at right tackle in the Super Bowl but started at center for the Seahawks on Monday night. He has performed admirably this season, with a 79.5 overall grade, according to Pro Football Focus.
That, however, is where the good times end for the Seahawks offensive line. Their remaining projected starters - tackles Garry Gilliam and George Fant, and guards Mark Glowinski and Germain Ifedi - have averaged an egregious overall grade of about 44.0 from PFF. The line has especially hurt the Seahawks in the running game, as they rank 30th in the league in rushing yards per attempt (3.2) and yards per game (75.4).
Jimmy Graham. The Seahawks shifted their passing game toward the tight end position when they acquired Jimmy Graham from the New Orleans Saints, but it took a while for them to get going in that department. Graham only has three touchdowns on the season, but two of them came on Monday night against the Bills and his targets have been generally consistent over the course of the season.
Graham could be hitting his stride just at the right time for the Seahawks, who will have mostly the same players at wide receiver and will need to show the Patriots defense something different on offense. Graham was held without a catch last time he faced the Patriots in 2013, but that was going up against Aqib Talib. It will be interesting to see how the now Jamie Collins-less Patriots defense covers Graham this time around.
New faces on the defensive line. The absence of Michael Bennett will be a huge one for Seattle, especially compared to Super Bowl XLIX. Bennett generated good pressure on Brady at times during that game, and they will have to hope that Cliff Avril and projected starter Frank Clark can pick up the slack.
On the interior, Tony McDaniel returns from the Super Bowl and has performed decently to this point in the season with a 71.6 overall grade from PFF. But projected starter Ahtya Rubin can't say the same, as he's compiled a horrid 41.0 overall grade while playing the most total snaps (293) of any interior defender on the team.
Cornerback depth after Richard Sherman. The 6-foot-4 Sherman remains a cornerstone of the Seahawks secondary, along with safety Earl Thomas. But the team's depth at cornerback after Sherman has changed, as Super Bowl XLIX starter Byron Maxwell has given way to DeShawn Shead.
A fifth-year player out of Portland St., Shead has actually given the Seahawks good coverage over the course of the season, according to PFF. His 81.5 overall grade ranks him 17th among all NFL cornerbacks. So don't expect Tom Brady & Co. to exactly pick on him.
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Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
