Want to know all of the important facts and statistics for Super Bowl Sunday? Well, here is some information that just might help determine who will be the winner of Super Bowl XLIX between the New England Patriots (14-4) and the Seattle Seahawks (14-4).
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Will be making their 8th Super Bowl appearance (3-4 record) which is tied for the most of any NFL team along with the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers. With a win they would become the 6th team in NFL history with four or more Super Bowl victories. They are the first team in NFL history to win 11 division titles in 12 seasons.
With a win in Super Bowl XLIX, New England head coach Bill Belichick, who already lists three Super Bowl wins on his resume, can tie Hall of Fame head coach Chuck Noll (Pittsburgh Steelers) for the most Super Bowl wins (four) by a head coach in NFL history. Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady will be making their record sixth Super Bowl appearance by a head coach-quarterback duo. Belichick and Brady have the most postseason wins (20) by a head coach-quarterback tandem. This postseason, Belichick (21) surpassed Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame Coach Tom Landry (20) for the most playoff wins in league history.
Brady’s 20 postseason wins are the most of any quarterback in NFL history. He is the all-time passing leader in career playoff yards (7,017), touchdowns (49), completions (646) and attempts (1,035). He needs one touchdown pass to become the first NFL player with 50 in the postseason. Brady is one of five players in NFL history to be named Super Bowl MVP multiple times (SB XXXVI & SB XXXVIII) and looks to join San Francisco 49ers’ Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana as the only player with three Super Bowl MVP awards. Brady has a 20-8 (.714) playoff record which is the third-best postseason record as a starting quarterback in NFL history (minimum of 15 starts). Brady, with his six, will tie Mike Lodish for the most Super Bowl’s played and become the first quarterback to start in six Super Bowls. This surpasses the Denver Broncos’ Hall of Famer John Elway who has started in five world championships and who ranks as the All-time Super Bowl career passing leader in yards (1,277), completions (127) and attempts (197). Brady is tied for second in Super Bowl history with nine touchdown passes. He has 12 division titles which is the most ever by a starting NFL quarterback.
In six career playoff games, Patriots’ running back Shane Vereen has 376 scrimmage yards (116 rush, 260) with 3 total touchdowns (one rushing, two receptions). He averages 8.7 scrimmage yards per reception in the postseason.
New England Running back LeGarrette Blount has seven rushing touchdowns in four career playoff games, including 148 yards and three touchdowns in the AFC Championship game. He ranks second amongst active players in career playoff rushing touchdowns (Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch has eight).
Tight End Rob Gronkowski led the team with 12 touchdown catches in 2014 which tied for the most amongst NFL tight ends. He is one of two tight ends in NFL history with four career 10-touchdown seasons, the other being the San Diego Chargers’ Antonio Gates. In seven career playoff games, Gronkowski has 31 catches for 459 yards and five touchdowns. He needs three touchdown catches to surpass Jay Novacek (six), Keith Jackson (six), Vernon Davis (seven) and Dave Casper (seven) for the most ever by a tight end in NFL playoff history. He needs only 41 yards to become the eighth tight end in NFL playoff history to reach 500 career receptions. He is looking to add to his streak of six straight games (including playoffs) with a touchdown catch.
Wide receiver Julian Edelman led the Patriots with 92 catches in 2014 and joined Troy Brown and Wes Welker as the only Patriots with back-to-back 90-catch seasons.
Linebacker Jamie Collins led the team with a career-high 115 tackles. He was one of three NFL players with four sacks and two interceptions in 2014.
Linebacker Rob Ninkovich led team with eight sacks in 2014, his third consecutive season with that many.
In his only career meeting against Seattle, defensive end Chandler Jones had two sacks and a forced fumble.
SEAHAWKS: Advanced to their third Super Bowl in franchise history (2005, 2013) and second in row. They can become the ninth team in NFL history to win consecutive Super Bowls and the first since the 2004 Patriots won Super Bowl XXXIX. Seattle was the Number One seed for the second consecutive season and the third time (2005, 2013) since the current 12-team format started in 1990. On an eight-game winning streak, the Seahawks have outscored opponents 193-78 during that span. During the streak, they have outscored opponents 130-26 in the second half and in overtime. They are outscoring opponents 83-13 in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Last year, Seahawks’ head coach Pete Carroll became the third oldest head coach to win a Super Bowl. With a win Sundya, he can become the oldest head coach in NFL history to win back-to-back Super Bowls. He was New England’s head coach from 1997-99 and took Patriots to playoffs twice. Carroll is 8-4 (.667) in the playoffs, including 7-2 (.778) with Seattle.
The Seahawks have won five playoff games in row.
Quarterback Russell Wilson (26 years, 64 days old) will be the youngest quarterback in NFL history to start in two Super Bowls and will be the first to start in two Super Bowls during their first three seasons to begin a career. As a starter, Wilson is 42-13 (.764), including 6-1 (.857) in the postseason. His 42 overall wins, 36 regular-season wins and six playoff wins, are all the most by a quarterback in their first 3 NFL seasons. In last year’s Super Bowl, he completed 18 of 25 (72 pct.) for 206 yards with two touchdowns and more importantly, no interceptions. His quarterback rating was 123.1. He won his only start vs. New England (10/14/12), completing 16 of 27 (59.3 pct.) for 293 yards with three TD’s and no interceptions for a 133.7 rating.
The Seahawks led the NFL in rush offense (172.6) in 2014. Running back Marshawn Lynch rushed for 1,306 yards and 13 touchdowns. This is his fourth consecutive season with 1,200+ yards and 10+ touchdowns. He is the only NFL player to rush for 1,000+ yards and 10+ touchdowns in each of the past four seasons. He led the NFL with 17 total touchdowns and tied for first place with 13 rush touchdowns. Since 2011 — including playoffs — he leads the NFL with 6,039 rushing yards and 55 rushing touchdowns. Lynch rushed for 157 yards and a touchdown in the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers. He has seven rushing touchdowns in the teams’ past seven postseason games. He is the franchise postseason leader with 815 rush yards and he ties for first place in the NFL with eight rushing touchdowns.
Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin led the team with a career-high 66 catches and 825 yards. He looks for his fifth consecutive playoff game with 100+ yards or a touchdown. Wide out Jermaine Kearse aims for his fifth postseason game in row with a touchdown catch. He had the game-winning 35-yard touchdown catch in overtime of the NFC Championship game. Upstart tight end Luke Willson has three touchdown catches in his past four games.
In 2014, Seattle led the NFL in points allowed (15.9), total defense (267.1) and in pass defense (185.6). They ranked third in rushing defense (81.5). They have led NFL in points allowed in three consecutive seasons.
Cornerback Richard Sherman has interceptions in both of the team’s playoff games this season. Arguably the best cover man in the NFL, he leads the league with 26 picks since his arrival in 2011. He had an interception off of Brady pass the last time Seattle played New England.
Safety Kam Chancellor has interceptions in three of his past four playoff games, including a 90-yard interception for a touchdown in the divisional playoff game against the Carolina Panthers. The interception was the longest postseason touchdown in Seattle history and tied for fifth longest interception-for-a-touchdown in NFL postseason history. Chancellor needs just one interception to tie the franchise postseason record for a career (four).
Safety Earl Thomas is the only player in NFL with 400+ tackles (420), 16 interceptions and eight forced fumbles since 2010, his first season. He had a interception in the team’s last game versus the Patriots. Linebacker Bobby Wagner had 104 tackles in 11 games, the second most on the team. Has 100+ tackles in all of his three seasons. He was named the NFC Defensive Player of Month for December.
Linebacker K.J. Wright led team with 106 tackles. Last year linebacker Malcolm Smith was named Super Bowl XLVIII MVP. Defensive end Michael Bennett has one-and-a-half sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble returns in five playoff games.