Before the championship games had played out, former Patriots great Devin McCourty had labelled New England and Seattle the two most “complete” teams in the playoffs.
And now they’re set to meet in Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Offense, defense, special teams the Patriots and Seahawks are pretty balanced.
“Watching the Seahawks, it felt like at times, ‘Man, this offense, they’re unstoppable.’ Or if the offense struggled, ‘Man, this defense is really cooking,’’’ McCourty told MassLive. ”I think that’s what the Patriots are. I think they’ve turned into one of the more complete teams in the NFL. I think they’re more complete than everybody else, other than Seattle.”
The Patriots 3-time Super Bowl winner, who is now an analyst for NBC’s Football Night in the America, is well aware how much the Patriots “soft” schedule has been brought up.
He thinks that’s a moot point at this stage.
“Everybody kept saying, ‘Their schedule, their schedule.’ I just don’t think you can bring up the schedule in the playoffs,” McCourty said. “You can’t say 14 teams made the playoffs, and say they got lucky because the teams they played in the playoffs weren’t good.
“No, you get to the playoffs, and the way they’ve played in the playoffs defensively has been outstanding. People were expecting their offense to carry them throughout the playoffs.
“Now, you look: We really haven’t gotten the best from Drake Maye and the offense, but you’ve gotten enough putting it all together.”
The Patriots have gotten enough from Maye, who used his legs (65 yards rushing, 1 TD) to help take down the Broncos Sunday in the AFC title game, and the offense in general to be one win away from another championship.
McCourty, who will be in San Francisco with NBC’s broadcast team, said he’s “excited” for the Patriots, who beat the Broncos, 10-7, in a snowstorm in Denver.
The Seahawks, meanwhile, dispatched the LA Rams, 31-17, to advance.
Given how well Seattle has played, McCourty understands why the Patriots opened as underdogs. When it comes to the Super Bowl, however, odds means nothing.
“I believe the Super Bowl is the hardest game to predict because you have two weeks to prepare for one game,” McCourty said. “My first one I thought we were so much better than the Giants, and that didn’t matter.”
That was the 2012 game, which the Patriots lost 21-17, marking back-to-back losses to the Giants in the Super Bowl.
