The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots are both looking to make some history in Super Bowl 49.
Last year, the Seattle Seahawks were shooting for their first ever Lombardi Trophy, in the team's second ever Super Bowl appearance. They'd fallen short the only other time, when the Pittsburgh Steelers (a wild card team) beat them in 2005. That year, the Seahawks had the best record in the NFC, with two more wins than the Steelers, who seemed to benefit from multiple iffy calls from the referees en route to victory.
Seattle didn't let that opportunity present itself in Super Bowl 48. Up against the Denver Broncos, the team that set most of the significant offensive records in the regular season last year, Seattle absolutely dominated from start to finish. They took a 22-0 lead into half time and put up another 21 points for good measure, ultimately beating Peyton Manning's Broncos, 43-8.
It was the third-largest point differential in Super Bowl history, the first time the winning team scored over 40 points while holding their opponent to under 10 and the fifth loss for the Broncos in the big game.
Now the Seahawks are looking at an opportunity to get the franchise's second Lombardi Trophy, and the chance to repeat as Super Bowl champions. There have been eight instances of teams netting back-to-back Super Bowl wins, with the last team to do it being the New England Patriots, Seattle's opponents on Feb. 1.
That occurred in 2003 and 2004, when the Patriots won Super Bowls 38 and 39. Obviously, repeating is a rarity in the NFL, but the Seahawks have already snapped a significant trend this postseason: they're the first defending champion to even win a playoff game since the Patriots did it during the aforementioned 2003 and 2004 seasons.
But there's more for the history books than what the Seahawks are shooting for. The Patriots are looking for their fourth Lombardi Trophy, which would put them into a tie for fourth in the league, as both the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys have five, while the Pittsburgh Steelers lead with six. They would be tied with the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants.
Despite having won just three of them, the Patriots are tied for most Super Bowl appearances with eight. This year's game marks their third Super Bowl appearance since the last time they won, which was in 2004. Both losses were particularly bad, and both were at the hands of the Giants.
Quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick should go down in history as one of the best coach and player combinations in NFL history, but a third Super Bowl loss will give naysayers plenty of fuel. That would be pretty unfair, given that three Super Bowl wins between the two and six appearances overall is incredible.
Belichick will be coaching in his ninth Super Bowl, the most ever in NFL history. It will be his sixth as a head coach, tying Don Shula. He broke the record for postseason wins for a head coach with Sunday's domination of the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship, but a fourth Lombardi Trophy is much more tantalizing.
Then there's Brady, who will be the first quarterback to ever start in six Super Bowls, one more than John Elway's five with the Broncos. A victory in the game would give him his fourth ring and would tie him with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for most in league history. Brady is already one of the quarterback greats, but company with Montana, who is frequently argued for when "best quarterback of all time" discussions come up, would be icing on the cake.
New England's dynasty has been unreal, with all the dominance they've had over the past 14 years. There are 20 teams that haven't even made the playoffs in that amount of time. Seattle may have an incredible strong team on both sides of the ball, and they did open as favorites for Super Bowl 49, but they're up against a dynasty, one of the best the league has ever seen.
And they certainly feel like they're up to the task.
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