Super Bowl XLIX will feature a clash of dynasties as the AFC Champions the New England Patriots face off against the defending Super Bowl Champions, and this year’s NFC Champions, the Seattle Seahawks. With the players ready and the stakes set high, this Super Bowl promises to be an intense battle.
“I am always excited to watch the Super Bowl,” said Nate Rhoades, a sophomore business major from Modesto, Calif., “but this year being the Patriots against the Seahawks, it should be an even better game.”The Patriots comfortably defeated the Indianapolis Colts 45-7, while the Seahawks had to come from behind to beat the Packers in overtime 28-22.
The two teams will face off at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona, Feb. 1 at 1:30 p.m. Hawaii time. The New England Patriots have been the NFL’s most recent dynasty winning three Super Bowls in a four-year span from 2001-2004, including back-to-back Super Bowls.
The Seattle Seahawks have been an up-and-coming franchise that is looking to create a dynasty of their own. The Seahawks hope to win back-to-back Super Bowls after winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl last year. The Seahawks resurgence has been a surprise for many, due to their considerable struggles in the past, but the franchise looks poised to begin a new dynasty in professional football.
“A steady climb in power combined with the ‘legion of boom’ and the intangible force of the ‘12th man’ has created not just a talented team but a culture of winning where the entire state of Washington is behind them like no other team in the NFL. The final 2 minutes of the NFC Championship game was a testament to the power of the 12th man,” said Casey Akana, a junior business major from Seattle, Wash.
The game features a matchup of two of the NFL’s best quarterbacks; New England’s Tom Brady, and Seattle’s Russell Wilson. Brady has been Mr. Clutch for the Patriots in the playoffs and is considered one of the greatest playoff quarterbacks in NFL history with an impressive 20-8 record. At the age of 37, Brady knows his career is coming to a close and wants to take this chance to get his fourth super Bowl ring.
“I am really excited about this matchup, and I think Brady is going to tear it up,” said Caleb Ermshaw, a junior business major from New Hampshire. Facing Brady will be one of the young quarterbacks in the NFL, Russell Wilson. Wilson, 26, has been at the head of the Seahawks rise in recent years. With his team down 19-7 with four minutes left in the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers, he rallied his team and forced the game into overtime. Wilson then threw a 35-yard pass in the opening drive to give the Seahawks the win and send them to the Super Bowl.