Nate Silver Predicts Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl [VIDEO]

ESPN ^ | January 10, 2013 | ESPN

[Third Person]

Nate Silver discusses his Super Bowl prediction with Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless.

[Third Person]

FWIW... interesting discussion with Silver at link.

[Longbow1969]

Yeah, that was an interesting discussion.

[tractorman]

That means winning in Green Bay.
I hope not.

[entropy12]

Seattle has the most unpredictable offense along with solid defense going on right now. Nate Silver could be right again.

[rollo tomasi]

Clemons and to a lessor degree Hauschka got bit by the injury bug (Seahawks did sign Longwell). Lynch is banged up as well as Bryant and Trufant. Trufant has a hammy problem so Jones and White might run wild in the secondary (White has the strength to match up with Sherman).

The team going from the west cost to east coast with a starting time of 1300 (EST) means all sorts of mental fatigue (Historically speaking). 4skins quickly put up 14 before the Seahawks woke up, and that was a 1630 starting time.

Atlanta had some time to heal, plus memories of that dreadful performance at MetLife stadium last year.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Green Bay is going to the SB.

[rollo tomasi]

Could be, Green Bay has owned the ‘niners going 6-0-1 at Candlestick. Odds are in favor of the niners, but the spread keeps going down (2.5 at the moment).

[montag813]

Sherman is going to have to take double his usual amount of Adderall to make up for Clemons’ absence.

[nuconvert]

Seahawks? Oh Baloney

[WaterWeWaitinFor]

Green Bay is going to the SB. woo hoo. You BET we are.

And yes, it’s good to be the underdog rollo! There will be a silence over the entire state of Wisconsin on Saturday night. Lots of Packer fans will be at the game, as usual and the rest of us here at home will be watching the game. We’ve got our kicker back in action, our team is getting healthy again, so watch out for the Pack.

Green and Gold rocks - I sure hope they play the best ever!

[Newtoidaho]

That would mean NE beating Denver in Denver, don’t see that happening. Broncos vs. Packers in the Super Bowl.

[entropy12]

Clemons is out for sure. Most players are banged up by this time in playoff. Not a single player is garden fresh. The better players will rise to the occasion. I think Lynch will play and perform. Seahawk’s main offensive weapon is Russell Wilson and he is in very good shape.

[rollo tomasi]

"Most players are banged up by this time in playoff."

Yes but one needs to look closely at the type of probability. Hamstrings have a tendency to reoccur often, hence Trufant's problem. Lynch's back problem will be taken care via "deadeners" but pain will progress as the game goes along.

Wilson needs Lynch and visa versa in order to be effective. NFL defenses can neutralize single threats easily. In Wilson's case, forcing him to roll out towards his opposite hand would be one strategy. Play action will be neutralized as well if the Falcons sense Lynch is not all there.

Also this: West Coast teams have complained about the early starts for years, presenting the league with anecdotal and statistical evidence affirming what is obvious to anyone with a frequent-flier account. Time-zone issues make travel tougher from West to East, and the early kickoffs compound matters by forcing players to begin game-day preparations when their bodies are telling them it's still 6 a.m.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/38404/west-coast-teams-uphill-fight-with-nfl

This is a huge factor but when looking at the Falcon's play-off performance in the last several years it might not matter lol. Odds are against the Seahawks though.