Greeson: Reasons to root for both Super Bowl teams

A freshly painted NFL football logo is shown in the south end zone of CenturyLink Field in Seattle in this Jan. 14, 2015, photo.
A freshly painted NFL football logo is shown in the south end zone of CenturyLink Field in Seattle in this Jan. 14, 2015, photo.
photo New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady holds up the championship trophy after the NFL football AFC Championship game Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015, in Foxborough, Mass. The Patriots defeated the Colts 45-7 to advance to the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Well, that was fun -- at least for the first half of the NFL conference title games.

So we are left with Seattle and New England playing in Super Bowl XLIX, and the question for those outside of greater New England and the Great Northwest seems simple:

Whom do we cheer for?

Sure, you can say you're not interested, but you are going to watch the game. Everyone watches the game. In fact, according to the gambling website pregame.com, half of the adults in this country will have some form of bet on the Super Bowl. The total, Vegas estimates, is more than $10 billion -- yes, billion with a "B" -- will be wagered on the big game, and roughly 1 percent of it will be done legally.

Plus, you have to watch; otherwise you risk the indignity of not knowing which commercial everyone's talking about. Never mind the halftime potential mishaps with Katy Perry and Lenny Kravitz involved. Think if you had missed the Patriots-Panthers in a rather nondescript Super Bowl 11 years ago. You remember it, when the phrase "Wardrobe Malfunction" was born and the world met Janet Jackson's areola.

So you know you're watching, just like I know I'm watching.

Now whom do we cheer for? In times like this, it's best just to break it down, line by line, and weigh the pros and cons.

Head coach: OK, you know one guy has the public approval rating of an IRS agent when Pete Carroll is by far the more approachable and engaging of the two head coaches. Bill Belichick " he of the hoodie and the postgame interview that is part root canal and part walking the Green Mile -- has a checkered past filled with wins and Spygate and now an allegation that the Patriots deflated the Indianapolis Colts' footballs. (Although, since it was 45-7, you can insert your own ball-deflation joke here.)

Carroll left Southern Cal a day or three before the NCAA came to town and torched the dynasty he built, but compared to Belichick, he seems downright cuddly.

Edge: Seattle.

Quarterback: Russell Wilson is a throwback in that he can talk for 20 minutes and say very little. It's a lost art among today's athletes. Tom Brady is old-school in that he is statuesque in the pocket, is married to a supermodel and slings the football like a mythological hero.

photo Seattle Seahawks' Jermaine Kearse celebrates after catching the game-winning touchdown during overtime of the NFL football NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015, in Seattle. The Seahawks won 28-22 to advance to Super Bowl XLIX.

In truth, this may be the biggest dividing stick for a big part of the watching public in our area, considering the overflowing Peyton Manning love around here. If Brady wins this Super Bowl, he all but slams the door on the distinction of greatest quarterback of his generation -- and likely all time.

We prefer to see greatness and current players tiptoe through the halls of forever excellence.

Edge: Patriots.

Offensive star: Seattle has galloped into the upper echelon of NFL teams by riding its brutish running back Marshawn Lynch. He is bullish running the ball and in most other matters, considering he is an NFL-issued fine waiting to happen.

The Patriots have been transferred by the transformations of Rob Gronkowski, hardly an off-the-field saint, into a healthy option and LaGarrette Blount, who has a past as checkered as an Italian restaurant tablecloth, into a reliable running back.

Edge: Patriots, but only slightly.

Defense: The Seahawks defensively are chasing a similar historic place as Brady. Seattle could put its name among the great defenses of the modern era. Think about it: The Seahawks dominated Manning last year, and now they have the shot to down Brady. A double-dip of all-timers could really define a defense that could win back-to-back titles -- something some of the all-time great defenses of the last 30 years such as Baltimore or Chicago or the New York Giants could not post.

For all his hoodie-ness, Belichick is a defensive savant, so there's a real chance to see which is more important, preparation and coaching or talent and star power.

Edge: Even.

Defensive star: Richard Sherman is brash and the face of a trash-talking era that has made him a star. Darrelle Revis is a shutdown cornerback who is headed to the Hall of Fame.

Pick your poison, but we prefer Sherman, if for no other reason than, dude is far more than the show. He's a magna cum laude graduate of Stanford -- in three years, no less -- who is playing a position that demands utter belief in yourself. Plus, Sherman played tougher Sunday than a week-old piece of cheese toast, battling through an elbow injury for most of the second half.

Edge: Seattle.

Intangibles: Pick your favorite storyline, and there are more than a few. Strangely though, there are as many storylines to root against as there are for.

For me, the chase for greatness -- be it Brady or the Seahawks defense -- is the biggest.

Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.

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