Patriots' Butler The Hero In Classic Super Bowl Victory

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way..." Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities


Indeed, the other way.

Poised to rip the hearts out of the New England Patriots and their legion of fans on Sunday night, the Seattle Seahawks were on the threshold of football nirvana, a mere yard away from the Elysian field known as the end zone...

...armed with 26 seconds and one time out, the Seahawks had the fate of both teams in the capable hands of quarterback Russell Wilson - soon, almost every football fan on earth figured, to be in the arms of a feisty, skittle-eating, media-loathing load of a running back Marshawn Lynch, who would surely punch through the exhausted charges tasked by panic and desperation to stop the irresistible force.

Butler (21) falls forward after intercepting Wilson to seal the win

They had everything before them then, suddenly, they had nothing before them.  Instead of going direct to football heaven, the entirety of the Seattle Seahawks went direct the other way, as instead of handing the ball to their star running back, Wilson stepped back and fired a pass toward an unknown journeyman receiver whom had gone undrafted three years earlier and bounced around three different teams' practice squads before finding the field as a Seahawk.

But instead of connecting with reserve receiver Ricardo Lockette, instead of the ball falling harmlessly to the turf setting up a third and goal from the one yard line, Wilson instead found another undrafted rookie free agent - this one adorned in the silver, white and blue of the enemy.

For New England Patriots' reserve cornerback Malcolm Butler, the final play in Sunday night's Super Bowl surely was the best of times, but only after having to endure the worst of times - and in the end, all of the football world looked upon that play with all due incredulity, unwilling to accept the truth of the moment as it was laid out before them in either their spring of hope or their winter of despair.

Two plays earlier, Butler had given up a long reception to Seahawks top wideout Jermaine Kearse to set Seattle up inside the Patriots' five yard line - not because the rookie had a rookie moment, nor because the veteran Kearse high-pointed the ball over the shorter Butler - but because the venom of fate once again was flowing through the veins of the seemingly eternally snake-bitten Patriots...

...just as it did when seldom-used New York Giants' receiver David Tyree trapped an Eli Manning wobbler on his helmet while being given the business by safety Rodney Harrison in Super Bowl XLII after the 2007 season, and also when the youngest Manning threaded a perfect sideline shot to Mario Manningham on his way to the winning score in Super Bowl XLVI after the 2011 season.

Kearse's catch may go down in history as the best of them all - some would say luckiest - as Butler competed for the ball and was able to get a fingertip on it, defelcting it just enough that Kearse couldn't handle it at the high point, but not enough to keep it from landing in the receiver's lap after it bounded off of his knee - a circus catch in any definition.

The worst of times.

"This is going to be my fault" Butler thought to himself as he repaired dejectedly to the sidelines after the play. "I don't want this to be my fault."

Consoled by teammates on the sidelines, Butler still watched in horror as Lynch was stopped just short of the goal line on the ensuing play, then the rookie was sent back in on the next as the Seahawks loaded up the right side with pass catchers in a bunch formation that Butler knew all too well from coach Bill Belichick's relentless instruction.

A rub route, where the the inside receiver - the flanker - pushes upfield into a cornerback playing press at the goal line, escorting the corner backwards into the path of the corner covering the outside receiver, freeing the receiver to make an uncontested catch, this time for the World Championship.

The rookie readied himself, knowing that the rub was coming but also buoyed by the knowledge that fellow corner Brandon Browner, his large and physically imposing compatriot in the secondary had the flanker.  The ball was snapped, but instead of being pushed back into the scrum, Browner jammed the inside receiver, leaving a clear path for Butler to Lockette, who had squared his shoulders in anticipation of the quick strike...

...meeting Lockette just as the ball arrived with enough force to nudge his way into perfect position to grasp the ball out of the air, securing it with two hands and falling forward to the two yard line as his jubilant teammates danced  the dance of a champion.

Most assuredly, the best of times.

After all had settled down, after all of the red, white and blue confetti has stopped falling on the natural grass at University of Phoenix Stadium, and after the Lombardi Trophy was securely in the hands of a stoic and melancholy team owner Robert Kraft, Butler's teammates pondered his dance with destiny.

"Malcolm" asked veteran defensive lineman Rob Ninkovich. "Where were you one year ago today?"

Butler couldn't remember in the middle of the carnage of lights and microphones being thrust in his face, but there is a chance that he was sitting in a literature class at West Alabama University, pondering another night of greasy, mindless labor at his job at Popeye's Chicken, his attention waning between that and Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities...

...a story that he doesn't have to read now that he is no longer a college student and is, in fact, a hero and destined for Patriots' lore - but he should read it, because he's lived it, and there's nothing like knowing what's coming whether it be in classic literature or on a rub route.

Prelude To A Title - Part 7: Revis Is Patriots' 12th Man

"The real value of having a shutdown corner like Revis on the field is that it allows the defense to run with a single high safety that will shade to the corner opposite Revis in support of the direction that the ball will probably be going, which would allow the Patriots to run with four corners in a nickle without sacrificing run support.

Obviously, none of the Patriots' corners are in the same class as Revis, but they are of quality cloth and all would be starters or the first nickle option on other teams - so the dynamics would change and the single high safety idea would probably fade into oblivion, but the Patriots are more able to maintain integrity in the secondary that any of those other teams." Foxborough Free Press, August 31, 2014

Without question, this New England Patriots' defense is the best to haunt Foxborough since the Championship days, and even the most casual of fans should have been aware of this the moment the Patriots signed cornerback Darrelle Revis to a rich free agent contract in the offseason.

Sure, having a healthy Vince Wilfork to plug the middle of the defense was key as well, as was signing Brandon Browner and trading for linebackers Akeem Ayers and Jonathan Casillas midseason - but nothing made the difference on the New England defense like having a true shutdown corner.

Revis is the best cover corner in the game today

And not just a true shutdown corner, but the best shutdown corner in the business.

Seahawk fans can argue all they want about Richard Sherman being the best, but when it comes to total value and diversity on the playing field, most knowledgeable fans would take Revis every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Why?  Simply because of the aforementioned versatility.  While Sherman shuts down one side of the field, that is pretty much the limit of his effectiveness.  Revis can shut down one side of the field, but he can also take the flanker on the rub, the tight end up the seam and the quick twitch slot man on the crosser, each with equal success.

The trickle down effect of having such a stopper is akin to having an extra man on the field, as his presence means that the Patriots are able to employ a single high safety and either drop the other safety into the box in run support or replace him with a nickle cover corner.

In essence, he is the Patriots' 12th man.

This is one of the main reasons why the New England Patriots are going to be walking out of University of Phoenix Stadium on Sunday night with the Lombardi Trophy firmly in tow.

With all due respect to the other 50 players on the Patriots' roster, only Revis, quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski reside in such rarified air, players that have such an impact on the outcome of a game that they become keys by default, players whose skill at their given craft far exceed anyone else at their position.

Collins could end up garnering some MVP votes...

With Gronkowski, it's sheer physical ability combined with excellent size-speed ratio and gargantuan hands that swallow footballs, while with Brady it's merely playing at such a high level for such a long time that it's second-nature - though having a rocket launcher for an arm and the intensity of a speed freak doesn't hurt.

But it's a bit different with Revis, if only because the defense doesn't have to follow such stringent rules for formations and such like the offense must, and Revis' versatility is the perfect weapon to take advantage.

The main beneficiary of his presence on Super Bowl Sunday is the front seven, the linebackers in particular, and even more so against a team like the Seattle Seahawks, who have very limited depth among their pass catchers and rely mainly on the running game and the play-extending abilities of quarterback Russell Wilson.

What Revis' versatility does for the front seven is it allows the linebackers to concentrate on defending the read option by "spying" Wilson, which also enables them to move laterally down the line of scrimmage - essential for squaring up and tackling the illusive and powerful running back Marshawn Lynch.

Along with defensive backs Brandon Browner, Devin McCourty and Kyle Arrington, the Patriots have enough in the secondary to account for whatever the Seahawks can throw at them - pardon the pun - and all are exceptional in run support - but where the Patriots could get into trouble is if they allow Wilson to extend plays outside of the pocket...

...because while his receivers are not household names and will probably have trouble in separating from the Patriots' defensive backfield initially, no cornerback can hold coverage forever, and the strength of Seahawk receivers Jermaine Kearse and Doug Baldwin are in finding holes in the coverage once the pass rush breaks down and Wilson is in his element outside of the pocket.

To prevent this from happening, look for the Patriots to attack the Seahawks' offensive line right up the middle, while ends Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich float in their gaps to prevent Wilson from getting outside.  The interior rush should be keyed by Vince Wilfork's ability to tie up two blockers, and if New England runs with a five-man line and two linebackers - essentially a cloud defense - there's going to be a gap somewhere for either Jamie Collins or Dont'a Hightower to exploit.

The hug blitz will be huge in this game.  For the hug blitz to be effective, the linebacker who has the assignment on Lynch or whatever back is in the game, must maintain his spy station until the back engages a defender in pass protection - which is where the interior rush becomes so important - and provided he's not just chipping and curls out into the pattern, the free linebacker then sprints through the gap right into the quarterback's face.

And if the ends are doing their job and presses to contain the edges, Wilson will have no place to run and will either have to get rid of the ball in a hurry or take a sack.

That said, there is no excuse for the ends to not contain Wilson.  The coverage down the field should be solid and the Patriots have the advantage along the line of scrimmage, particularly rushing from their left because of the injury status and inexperience of the Seahawks' right guard and tackle - so all the ends have to do is maintain their gap integrity and not get pinned inside or escorted around the top of the pocket.

In theory, this is plausible - but when the game starts, theory ends and practical application rules - and whichever team handles reality best will end up winning the Lombardi Trophy.

If that ends up being New England, the MVP of the Super Bowl may very well come from the defensive side of the ball.

The idea is to keep him in the pocket and force him to throw over and around both his own offensive linemen and the rushing defenders, all of who have a significant height and size advantage over the demure (5' 11") third year signal caller.

Prelude To A Title - Part 6: Patriots' Offensive Diversity Too Much, Even For Seahawks

"Within the scope of the Ehrhardt-Perkins scheme that Belichick employs, balance is so crucial that to tip the scales to one focus on the offense - in essence, to put all of your eggs in one basket - makes the offense easier to defend, particularly when facing an elite, attacking defense that can take away what you do best. So the best way to attack an entity like that is to do everything well, and to have as many weapons as possible to rotate onto the field - and in theory, this Patriots' offense will be able to do that in a fashion that is going to be described as 'Dizzying'." Foxborough Free Press, July 31, 2014

The New England Patriots are nothing if not diverse.

Indeed, these Patriots on offense are simply whatever they need to be in order to win.  Because of head ball coach Bill Belichick's philosophy that the 53rd man on the roster is just as important as the top gun, New England sports the type of depth chart that allows him to prepare game plans that can take advantage of his foes weaknesses simply by making minor tweaks from week to week...

...not just in personnel, but by having players on the roster that do multiple things well, identifying how their skill set fills the need to take advantage of his opponent, then building each players' strengths into the game plan.

The onus is on the Seahawks to find an answer for Gronkowski

Take the Patriots' offensive line for example.All three interior starters have professional experience at center, while left tackle Nate Solder is a former collegiate tight end and rookie tackle Cameron Fleming is athletic enough to play tight end and pull to the inside in the running game.  We've seen them all in those capacities at various points of the season

At receiver, both Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola are prototypical slot receivers, but they have the speed and separation ability play both inside and out, and Brandon LaFell does the same, but at five inches taller to assume more of a possession receiver role.

But that's the thing with the Patriots' offense, and there's really no getting around it, no matter how much people wish for the big play: The Patriots are a ball-control, possession heavy, four-minute offense that relies on three yards and a cloud of rubber tire pellets from their passing game as well as their ground game.

The short, timing-based passing game that allows quarterback Tom Brady to get the ball out of his hand quickly also affords the receivers the opportunity to juke defenders and pick up extra yardage after the catch, a staple of the four-minute offense as it can be construed as an extension of the running game in that it forces the defenders to react rather than to be aggressive and dictate the pace...

...so you can be sure that the Seattle Seahawks will push the envelope by trying to jam the Patriots' pass catchers at the line of scrimmage to disrupt Brady's timing with them - but they can't pick everyone, and with the threat of an established running game dancing in their brains, the Seahawks will be forced to read and react.

The Patriots certainly have the potential to bust a big play on any given possession, but the anatomy of the team philosophy dictates that it is best to control the clock with long, clock-eating drives, preferring to lull a defense to sleep with their methodical and predictable play calling, then hit them over the top or up the seam when they least expect it.

This benefits everyone.  It keeps the offense in a groove, their opposition off balance and their own defense rested and ready on the sidelines - so don't expect a game plan that varies from this recipe for success.

But as much as one would like to see the two teams compete on a level playing field, the fact that 3/4 of the vaunted Legion of Boom secondary are hobbled with a variety of injury, so the first thing that has to happen for New England is to assess the limitations - if any - of the injured birds.

Big strong safety Kam Chancellor is reported to have injured his left knee in Friday's practice, landing him on the injury report with fellow safety Earl Thomas (separated shoulder) and cornerback Richard Sherman (torn elbow ligaments) - but it would be foolish for the Patriots to go into this game assuming their level of limitation, as New England has been done in by sandbagging entities before (see Super Bowl losses to Giants).

So if Seattle is trying to lure the Patriots into a false sense of security, it would be prudent for the offense to conduct their own examination and come up with their own diagnosis - and do it early enough in the game to be able to adjust as needed.

One school of thought from the experts is that Chancellor will be matched up against New England's Rob Gronkowski, who is widely considered to be the best tight end in the business, given Chancellor's size and aggressive nature, not to mention his coverage ability.

If Chancellor is indeed in Gronkowski's face, the best idea would be to send Gronk off the line as the Flanker or set up out wide to the right in the formation where an inside move by Gronkowski will test the strong safety's injured left knee as he will have to plant and stick on an aggressive inside move to hang with Gronkowski.

Same idea if Sherman ends up on Gronkowski.  Sherman is a great perimeter defender in that he is an expert at gaining inside position on receivers and squeezing them out using the sideline as an immovable object.  The way to beat Sherman is to take him either inside or to properly execute back shoulder throws along the sidelines.

Sherman has proven to be an adept defender on the back shoulder throws because of his penchant for pinning the receivers to the sidelines and cutting off their angle, but Gronk's size and hands, Brady's accuracy and velocity on the ball, and Sherman's injured elbow all factor in to this being an advantage for New England.

I doesn't even have to be Gronkowski running the pattern, as LaFell and Tim Wright are big targets for the back shoulder throws.  It's a tight window for sure, but keeping everything to the outside on Sherman where he is forced to use his injured left arm to extend to the ball might have the Seattle defensive coaching staff rethinking and adjusting on the fly.

Add into the mix the probability that the Patriots will be able to wear down the small front seven with both the running game and Brady's quick release, there is no reason to think that New England won't score 30 points against the Seahawks' defense.

Prelude To A Title - Part 5: Blount Where He Belongs, Ready For Shot At The Title

"Pittsburgh had a golden opportunity to feature the heftiest, most powerful running attack in the NFL with both Bell and Blount, but once the season started and Bell became the "Bell Cow", it was just a matter of time before the lack of playing time for Blount became a problem - and it came to a head on Monday night when Blount received no carries, on top of getting just two the week before." Foxborough Free Press, November 20, 2014

If the Pittsburgh Steelers had not knee-jerked their way to releasing backup running back LeGarrette Blount in late November, there would have been a very good chance that it would have been them - not the Baltimore Ravens - that the New England Patriots would have hosted in the Divisional round of the AFC playoffs.

Not for any reason, though, other than when their lead back Le'Veon Bell went down with a knee injury shortly after Blount's release, they had no other big back to carry the load - and it likely cost them a win over the Ravens in the wildcard round of the playoffs with a trip to New England at stake.  It was a calculated risk by the Steelers and a decision that perhaps they would have liked to have back...

Blount (29) and Gray (35) are big backs key to a Super Bowl victory

...because it was them.  They are the ones that went back on their word to Blount, the word that enticed him to sign with Pittsburgh in the offseason with the vision of he and Bell running roughshod over their opponents, a promise that disintegrated slowly after the first few weeks of the season gave the league a glimpse of what it could be with a two-headed monster in their backfield.

After rushing for 118 yards on just 10 carries against the Carolina Panthers in week 3 - part of a 246 yard rushing day for the Steelers in which Bell rushed for 147 yards on 21 carries - Blount's touches and production dipped dramatically, barely eclipsing that yardage total in the next seven games combined.

The low point, of course, was the Steelers' 27-24 win over the Tennessee Titans on November 17th, when Blount unceremoniously departed for the locker room ahead of his teammates while the game was still going on, then departing the stadium without showering nor talking to the media - and the next day, he was released from his contract with Pittsburgh - and at least one of his teammates on the Steelers bid him good-riddance.

"We're fine." center Maurkice Pouncey said to reporters a few days after the incident, when questioned how the move would affect the team. "We have our starting running back. It's probably a good thing it happened.  If it was a cancer (in the locker room), he ended up leaving on his own. That's a blessing for us, we don't need him."

Pouncey is far from being innocent of transgression, and he was certainly mistaken when he announced that the Steelers didn't need Blount.  As it turned out, they did need him in a big way - and now Pouncey and the rest of his teammates are going to be watching Blount play in the Super Bowl against the defending world champions Seattle Seahawks.

This has been a point of contention for a variety of folks, particularly in the wake of the stupid and wrong "Deflate-gate" mess, and something that was brought up by a rouge reporter on Media Day, who ambushed Blount on how it all went down and insinuating that it seemed pretty convenient that Blount essentially got himself fired from a team that wasn't using him and ended up on a team that was in the midst of a very proper run toward the Super Bowl...

...the very team that he left in free agency during the offseason after racking up nearly a thousand yards for New England last season in tandem with Stevan Ridley - and perhaps motivated by need after Ridley's season ending knee injury early this season, the Patriots took advantage of how things shook out for Blount, and were thrilled to be able to bring back a guy that had been so productive for them in the past, but also a guy that was well-liked by his New England teammates.

Perhaps most importantly, however, was that Blount already knew the system and the language, and was able to step right in like he hadn't left at all.

So in response to the media's ambush, Blount could do nothing but smile, knowing that the subject of acquisitions and contracts were taboo in Patriots' Nation - but his silence fueled the conspiracy driven media into a firestorm of indictment in the name of collusion.

As if the media hadn't pig-piled the Patriots enough in the past dozen days, now they are up in arms about how it all came to be with Blount and the Patriots, asking him whether he knew that he had a job waiting for him in Foxborough were he to get himself "fired" from the Steelers - and perhaps he did know that he would end up back with the Patriots, but there was still a matter of how.

Upon his release, Blount appeared on the league-wide waiver wire wherein any team in the league could have put in a claim on him - but no one did.

Calculated risk by head ball coach Bill Belichick?  Well, it couldn't have been much of a risk, given Blount's checkered (albeit misunderstood) past, rife with confrontation from the college level on up - and when combined with the thought that Blount "abandoned" his teammates when he headed for the locker room that fateful night, it was a pretty good gamble on Belichick's part that most teams would steer clear of him...

...and when they all did - even the running back needy Broncos who knew first-hand what he brought to the field -  Blount suddenly appeared in the Gillette Stadium locker room where he was greeted with hugs and smiles from his former-now-present teammates.

"We were like, 'LeGarrette's back'!" said Patriots' safety Devin McCourty of the morning that Blount surprised everyone in the Patriots' locker room. "He honestly picked up right where he left off.  What happened in Pittsburgh doesn't matter.  What you did on a previous team, that doesn't matter.  It's all about who you are on the Patriots."

Who Blount is on the Patriots is perhaps the queen piece in a chess match between the league's best and most diverse offense against the leagues' best defense - a defense defined by violent intent, speed, intelligence and toughness - but also a defense that lost every game that their opposition ran the ball more than 27 times.

The 6' 1", 250 pound Blount is certainly capable of carrying that kind of work load, and his syrup-on-waffles running style will wear down any defense, if given that type of opportunity - but Blount really doesn't have to do the running all by himself, though that would appear to be the plan.

There is also overnight sensation turned flash-in-the-pan Jonas Gray, whose lone claim to fame was steamrolling the same Indianapolis Colts' defense in November that Blount did not even two weeks ago - which means that with Blount and Gray working in tandem, the Patriots can always have fresh legs in the backfield - and not just fresh legs, but twin battering rams that could relentlessly pound the Seahawks into oblivion, should New England gain a lead.

But no matter how it shakes down, if both men are on their game, they represent a huge challenge for the speedy-but-small Seattle front seven - particularly now that the Patriots have their starting offensive line intact with the return of center Bryan Stork - meaning that the Patriots now have everything that the Steelers could have had, but failed to capitalize on.

About that, LeGarrette Blount still just smiles, happy to be back where he belongs.

Prelude To A Title - Part 4: Patriots Should Test Sherman And Thomas Early

Under normal circumstances, Richard Sherman is best left alone.

But these are less than normal circumstances, as the Seattle Seahawks are going into the Super Bowl with their best cover corner on the mend with torn ligaments in his left elbow - so the New England Patriots would be crazy to not go after him early, perhaps bogging him down with the likes of Brandon LaFell or even get him isolated on Rob Gronkowski.

Especially with back shoulder throws along the sideline, bringing his injured wing into play when he has to spin to locate the ball and try to make a play on it - and a crosser or two from either side of the formation should be in the mix as well, perhaps a screen or three to force him to come up and tackle.  A healthy Sherman would take all of that in stride and probably be gone the other way with at least one of them...

Sherman played the balance of the NFC Title game one handed...

...but a wounded Sherman is a different story.

A wounded Richard Sherman is not going to have the reach that he otherwise might enjoy, and in fact may be further inhibited if wearing a brace of some sort - and, of course, he might take an injection or two in the process of preparation on game day that will allow him to play more pain-free - but even then, there is no miracle cure that would allow him to stretch that arm out enough to exhibit his normal Condor-like range.

The Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) is the structure that keeps a normal attachment of the humerus bone (upper arm) and ulna (one of the forearm bones) and is usually seen on athletes that hit the turf hard with their arm stretched out in front of them, but in Sherman's case, his arm was stretched out to try to make a tackle along the sidelines, where it was impacted and pinned against the ball carrier by teammate, safety Kam Chancellor.

Traditional symptoms of a UCL tear include the inability to straighten the elbow joint, numbness and tingling of the ring and pinkie finger and throughout the hand, and weakness of hand grip.  If Sherman were a receiver, he would be useless in this game, but since he on the opposite side of that spectrum, he's going to give it a go.

This could be a real problem for the Seahawks' secondary, because if the Patriots are able to find success on him early in the game, it will force Seattle to either give him safety help over the top or replace him altogether if the injury turns out to be as limiting as it should be.

Thomas injured his shoulder when he couldn't wrap up this tackle

Sherman is on record as saying that it feels better every day - but, really, what is he supposed to say?

Indeed, Sherman and the Seahawks are taking a big chance with one of the best cornerbacks in the league, as any trauma to the area could result in injury to the Ulnar nerve, which could cause protracted numbness, tingling and weakness of the hand, and in severe cases these symptoms could become permanent.

Perhaps the bigger issue, however, is the degree of separation in the shoulder of safety Earl Thomas, whose injury forced him from the NFC Championship game against Green Bay, and then returned once the shoulder was stabilized by the Seahawks' medical staff - and just like Sherman, Thomas vows to play in the Super Bowl.

Upon arriving in Glendale for the Super Bowl, Thomas declared his shoulder 100%, a farce by any stretch of the imagination, but it apparently got the attention of the NFL league offices, who selected Thomas for a "random" test for Human Growth Hormones, an occurrence that Thomas called a "league office distraction."

Human Growth Hormones, or HGH, can significantly accelerate the healing process in virtually any injury, and while the league insists that the testing done on the Pro Bowl free safety was of random selection, it seems plausible that the testing was in response to Thomas' assertion that his shoulder was healed.

A shoulder separation occurs when when the ligaments that act to stabilize the shoulder joint stretch or partially tear, causing intense pain, arm weakness and limited range of motion in mild cases.  An athlete who suffers a mild separation can recover and be back in action in two to three weeks, but just like with Sherman's elbow issue, the injury can become significantly worse - something that Thomas apparently isn't thinking about.

"When I come alive, nothing is limited." Thomas said on Tuesday in Arizona in response to questions about having to tackle the likes of the Patriots' tight end Rob Gronkowski and running back LeGarrette Blount. "I can still play fearless and throw my body around, and whatever happens, happens."

"It's a lot to deal with, my first major injury." Thomas continued, "I got the big picture."

So do the Patriots, who would be wise to test Thomas' shoulder stability early in the game as well - perhaps not in the manner that cornerback Brandon Browner suggested, that being to break his arm, but in spreading the Seahawks out and throwing the aforementioned crossers, wheel routes and screens, forcing the 5' 10", 200 pound Thomas to either square up to the receiver looking for extra yardage or be reduced to grasping for him, which would give a clear definition of the impact of his injury.

This will be even more effective if the Patriots can implement the running game early, which will draw strong safety Kam Chancellor up into the box and leave Seattle even more vulnerable in the secondary.

Browner's comments notwithstanding, New England should test the entire Seahawks' secondary, but not do it just to do it.  Balance is the key, and to arrive at a diagnosis on the two defensive backs should be quick work, but they must be careful not to sacrifice what got them to the Super Bowl just to ascertain if either player is handicapped beyond effectiveness.

Certainly, the Seahawks will try to protect them with an aggressive pass rush and by playing perhaps more zone coverages than they normally would - and whether this turns out to be the case or not, the Patriots needn't alter their game plan either way, but if Sherman and Thomas are indeed hurting, it opens up their play book just that much more.