Will Drake Maye lead New England into a new era of championships? Or will the Seahawks get revenge 11 years in the making? Our writers give their verdictsPressure Sam Darnold.Darnold was outstanding in the NFC championship game when forced to throw under duress.But that hasn’t been the case all season.The Seahawks rank sixth in EPA/dropback when there is no pressure, but drop to 22nd when there is pressure.Collapsing the pocket is New England’s best shot at success.

Their interior pass-rushers, Christian Barmore and Milton Williams, will need to overwhelm Darnold.OCKeep Jaxon Smith-Njigba in check.New England’s defense has been exceptional this postseason, and they will have their hands full with Seattle running back Kenneth Walker, who is red hot.But Smith-Njigba is a different animal.He can take over a game with chunk passes, deep passes, all passes.

If the Patriots allow him to get into a rhythm, it could be a blowout.MJGet to Darnold early and often.The Seahawks signal caller has regressed when the walls close in, throwing the bulk of his 14 regular-season picks while under duress.A few well-timed blitz calls from the Patriots could make this new, improved version of Darnold look more like the quarterback we saw when he was with the Jets.ALThe Pats need to unleash the ghosts on Darnold and transform the Seahawks QB into the Sam of Jets past.

How? By using those ghosts to disguise coverages and confuse him, throwing a wrench into the progressions he can still struggle with,The 49ers and Rams couldn’t do it, one reason why Darnold hasn’t been picked off in these playoffs, and a big reason why Seattle are back in the Super Bowl,DLStop Walker,Seattle’s running back has had an impressive season despite sharing carries with Zach Charbonnet but the Patriots have been even better at stopping the run,They have allowed only 214 yards on the ground in three playoff games combined.

New England need to play to their strengths and force the Seahawks to rely on Darnold’s arm,GSLimit explosive plays,The Seahawks give up few chunk plays,They force opponents into short completions and then rally and tackle better than anyone in the league,They will need to sustain that against New England, who led the league in explosive play rate this season.

The Patriots will struggle to sustain drives against such a well-rounded defense.If the Seahawks can limit them to only one or two splash plays, they will walk away with the trophy.OCDarnold needs to replicate his NFC championship game performance.When spotlighting Seattle, you start with their defense and for good reason.But without Darnold’s masterful performance under pressure against the Rams, we’re looking at a different NFC champion.

If Darnold lets the Patriots’ defense turn him into a pumpkin, no one will care about his performance against the Rams.MJStick with the offensive gameplan that brought them to the dance.Darnold’s quick and accurate passing and Walker’s grit on the ground help make the Seahawks one of the league’s most disorienting play-action offenses.If Walker can keep the chains moving, and Darnold can maintain his connections with Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp (who has form on this stage), Sunday could turn into an easy revenge game for the Hawks.ALA lot, because it doesn’t look good for them.

Maybe focus on Drake Maye’s fumbles: there were four of them against Houston, but he only lost two.Seattle will also have to nail down Maye when he’s on the move, something they didn’t have to worry about with grandpa quarterbacking the Rams in the NFC championship.They also should try to take away his backfield security blanket, running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who is more than capable of catching a ball out of the backfield and turning a messy sequence into a healthy gain.DLKeep Maye’s running locked down.The quarterback showed the damage he can do on the ground in Denver, so a defender must be positioned to keep watch over him trying to escape up field.

The boost for the Seahawks is their pass rush is so strong it can run light and afford the defense an extra man in the secondary to spy him,GSMilton Williams, DL,Williams was one of the stars of last season’s Super Bowl for the Eagles,Now in New England, he’s proved he can be a consistent one-on-one force, both as a run defender and pass rusher,The Seahawks’ weak links on offense are along the interior of their offensive line, particularly right guard Anthony Bradford and center Jalen Sundell.

The Patriots will hunt matchups for Williams in the hope he can deliver a drive-killing play or two.OCDrake Maye, QB.In three games this postseason, Maye has thrown for only 533 yards with a measly 55.8% completion rate.He’s been sacked 15 times and thrown two interceptions.

Still, he’s also the first quarterback to win three playoff games against top-five defenses,But will Super Bowl nerves overwhelm him when he faces (arguably) the best defense of them all? MJKayshon Boutte, WR,He nearly equaled his yardage total from last year with a third fewer targets – numbers that speak to his emergence as a downfield threat for the Patriots,These playoffs have quickly become a showcase for Boutte’s incredible body control, sweet feet and sticky hands,ALChristian Gonzalez, CB.

He emerged this season to become a secondary genius, and now he’ll be faced with a stern test: limiting Smith-Njigba.If Gonzalez can somehow cancel the receiver out, the job simplifies for the rest of the Pats defense.Watching this game within the game will make for fascinating viewing.DLMike Onwenu, RG.The capstone of a completely retooled line that jumped from one of the NFL’s worst to a top-five crew.

Onwenu’s experience and consistency has been the bedrock of the team’s explosive passing attack.He missed only 13 of 1,286 snaps all season while playing every single one at right guard for only the second time in his six-year career.GSKenneth Walker, RB.The Seahawks’ run game came alive in the second half of the season.They do most of their damage out of heavier personnel groupings, planting big bodies on the field to clear paths for running backs.

That’s also where the Pats run defense is at its best, matching big-on-big in the trenches.But Walker can turn any glimpse of daylight into a huge run.He’s a homerun hitter with serious juice.New England will be content to let the Seahawks churn out yards on the ground, but it’s Walker who could turn those small openings into massive gains.OCByron Murphy II, DT.

The second-year player has been a disruptive beast all season,Murphy’s seven sacks were second among defensive tackles in the regular season, and he’s the anchor of a run-defense that hasn’t allowed an opposing back to top 55 yards in Seattle’s two postseason games,MJRashid Shaheed, WR/return specialist,GM John Schneider loves himself a Percy Harvin type – and he has that and more in Shaheed, as much a threat to flip the field in the return game as he is in the Seahawks’ deep-ball packages,The Patriots already have their hands full trying to stop Smith-Njigba and Kupp; that offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak also has Shaheed to throw out there feels unfair to Pats rookie slot corner Kobee Minor, who better be ready to make like Hawks great Marcus Trufant and jam.

ALJaxon Smith-Njigba, WR,Seattle are already down half of their running back attack after Charbonnet’s season-ending injury broke up his tag team with Walker,Smith-Njigba had 153 yards receiving against the Rams so Seattle’s underwhelming run game didn’t matter much in that track meet,Things will tighten up considerably against New England, so Smith-Njigba’s output will be consequential,DLJaxon Smith-Njigba, WR.

Seattle’s confidence in their star wideout was clear before the season began.They traded DK Metcalf away and brought in a quarterback the receiver’s talent would boost rather than the other way around.If New England have an off-day in the backfield they will lose heavily chasing the heels of Smith-Njigba.GSThe Patriots – just.The Seahawks are a more talented team – and their coaching acumen jumps off the screen.

But the Patriots are only here because of the quality of their coaching.Between the two offensive coordinators, the edge goes to Josh McDaniels.McDaniels has won six Super Bowl titles as a coach.He won’t be intimidated by the stage, and always has a couple of special plays stored up for big occasions.OCThe Patriots, especially McDaniels, thanks to his extensive experience.

Sunday will mark the 10th Super Bowl McDaniels had coached in.He’s seen every defensive formation, every attempt at trickery, and, most importantly, understands the vastly different cadence and routine of a Super Bowl.MJThe team with the three-time Super Bowl champion linebacker and a six-time Super Bowl champion offensive coordinator whose organization will do whatever it takes to nab that seventh ring.ALLook at what Mike Vrabel did in just one season.When you take your team from 4-13 to 14-3, from the 30th-ranked offense to the second, from the 22nd-ranked defense to the fourth, I don’t care how weak your schedule is.

Yes folks, this is scary, and another New England run seems upon us,Which means you and I having to put up with mouthy Massholes for a really long time,DLThe Patriots’ only clear edge lies in their more experienced coaches,McDaniels has six Super Bowl wins from 10 (10!) trips with the Patriots while Vrabel has rings from the first three of those victories as a player,Hopefully those ties to Foxboro mean they still have Bill Belichick’s number.

They have a mine of knowledge from the Brady era with a specialism in winning ugly, which they will definitely have to do to beat Seattle.GSVrabel will create a rules controversy.Game management and understanding of the rulebook are the two advantages the Patriots’ head coach brings on gameday.He sits on the NFL’s rules committee and has a deep knowledge of every nook and cranny.Maybe it’s a wonky formation, a quirky substitution or something those on the outside haven’t imagined.

But if there’s a rule to, umm, circumvent while staying legal, Vrabel will find it,OCA kicker will win MVP,There’s a first for everything, right? In a defensive, low-scoring battle, Jason Myers’s six made field goals (three for more than 55 yards) will be the reason Seattle walk away with the Lombardi,Myers has been perfect this postseason on field goals and extra-point attempts,MJThe infamous Levi’s Stadium turf monster strikes Darnold, interrupting an otherwise flawless performance from the quarterback, and the Patriots scoop and score because they have all the luck.

ALI’m going with a player who is on the sideline tripping an opponent, confusing officials and leading to a lengthy delay as the refs figure out how to deal with it.It leads to lots of awkward shots of the commissioner in his box and extra commercial time, thrilling the non-football fans at your Super Bowl party.DLShaheed is so good the Rams preferred to put the Seahawks on the 35-yard line with a touchback in the NFC championship, rather than risk gifting a light-speed touchdown as they did when the receiver kickstarted Seattle’s epic fourth-quarter comeback in Week 16.Shaheed will cement his status as the trade of the season with another epic homerun.GSThe Patriots.

The core of the Seahawks roster is more talented than the Patriots, and they have youth on their side.But they also play in the toughest division in the league.That isn’t getting any easier next season.And the quarterback edge goes to New England, too.That raises their year-to-year floor