Barth’s 5 Things: What it will take for the Patriots to earn their 7th Super Bowl win

It's all led to this. The New England Patriots can put a cap on what's been a special season this Sunday, when they take on the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX.

It shouldn't' be surprising because it's the Super Bowl, but the Seahawks far and away present the toughest test for the Patriots this season. They bring in the top-ranked scoring defense and third-ranked scoring offense. Their roster includes five All-Pro players, the second-most in the NFL behind the Denver Broncos (the last team the Patriots beat).

This Super Bowl also continues a bigger-picture debate that's come with the game the last few years. From a roster-construction standpoint, the Seahawks are the more complete team (like the Eagles and 49ers in previous years). While the Patriots' roster is still strong it's not as complete. What they do have though is the marked advantage at two important spots - coach and quarterback.

How will that play out in the matchup on Sunday? Who are the players to watch? Let's dig into Super Bowl LX in our final '5 Things' of the year...

For the fourth time in four games in these playoffs, the Patriots face one of the best pass rush units in the league. The Seahawks ranked fourth in the NFL with a 38.9% pressure rate. They reached that number despite blitzing just 22% of the time, which ranks 25th.

The Patriots have faced a defense with similar splits to those before. Seattle's defense is designed by head coach Mike Macdonald. He comes from the same Ravens coaching tree as Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter.

This Seattle defense will provide challenges that Los Angeles one didn't, though. For one, there's simply more talent across the board. All-Pro defensive tackle Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II can create havoc on the inside with DeMarcus Lawrence, Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, and Derick Hall rotating on the edge.

It's not just the players though, but how they used them. Seattle uses line games (twists, stunts, etc.) at one of the highest rates in the league - around a quarter of the time. They have some more complex movements as well, creating more direct pick plays or forcing linemen to cover more ground.

"It will be a huge factor in the game. They're pretty good at it. Not pretty good, they are really good at it," Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said when asked about that element of the game this week. "That's a strength of what they do. That's how they are able to apply pressure with a four-man rush, is they can straight rush and guys work off of each other, but then guys work well together to get somebody else free or even be the guy that gets free. They pick, they drive to the quarterback and they make it difficult on you. So, that will be a huge factor in the game, our ability to protect those in passing downs and passing situations."

Meanwhile, picking up line games has been an issue for the Patriots at times this year when protecting Drake Maye - especially for the all-rookie left side of Will Campbell and Jared Wilson. An extra week to prepare should help, but look for the Seahawks to hunt that matchup in this game.

There are also things the Patriots can do big picture to lessen the impact of line games. One is staying on schedule on offense. By nature of the amount of movement that comes with moving around the defensive line, those calls can be liabilities against the run if lanes are being vacated. Staying out of obvious passing situations (ex. 3rd & long) should limit the Seahawks' ability to lean on them.

Maye himself can also play a part in this. Again, by nature of all that movement lanes out of the backfield can be left unguarded. That should open up opportunities for him to scramble. The Seahawks ranked fifth this year in yards per carry allowed to quarterbacks, so they can be gotten in this regard. Maye will obviously have to protect himself (especially his right shoulder), but this is a game where he can and should be more aggressive leaving the pocket and creating on his own.

On the other side of the ball, the biggest thing for the Patriots is to keep the Seahawks on schedule. Early downs will be the key in this one.

Seattle has been one of the first down teams in the league this season. They're picking up an average of 6.0 yards per play on first down, which ranks fourth in the league. That helps them keep their entire playbook open, make use of play action, and create manageable third downs. On 3rd & 6 or less Seattle converted third downs at the highest rate this year at 59.8%.

When they're not able to stay on schedule though, things fall apart. Obviously, third and long is not ideal for any team - but the Seahawks are on the extreme side of that split. On 3rd & 7 or more they've converted just 19.6% of the time, which is the third-lowest rate in the NFL. For reference, the league average is 25.9% (the Patriots actually rank third in the league in this category at 31.8%).

The Seahawks issues in these situations are tied to the offense having to be one dimensional. It puts the onus more on Sam Darnold and Seattle's offensive line, rather than the real strength of the offense in the skill players.

This is where the Patriots could find a significant advantage. If they can force the Seahawks to regularly be in this pass-first situations without having to worry about the run or play-action, they can put pressure on Darnold - where he hasn't been nearly as good this year. The best place to do that is up the middle, which is a strength for the Patriots with Christian Barmore and Milton Williams and a weakness for the Seahawks between rookie left guard Grey Zabel, center Jalen Sundell, and right guard Anthony Bradford who was top 10 in pressures allowed among NFL guards this season. Matt Dolloff further broke that matchup down here.

When Seattle's offense is rolling, everything funnels through Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He's as high-volume of a target as there is in the league. He was targeted 163 times, with 119 catches. The next-closest player in terms of targets on the Seahawks roster is free agent signing Cooper Kupp, with 70.

Smith-Njigba doesn't just get a high volume of targets, he does a lot with them. Despite that high volume he still ranked fourth in the NFL among receivers with at least 50 catches with 15.1 yards per catch.

So how will the Patriots cover him? It would make sense to have their best cornerback in Christian Gonzalez shadow JSN. However, Seattle offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak has done a great job this year of moving Smith-Njigba in the formation to hunt their own matchups. While he doesn't move into the slot as often as he has in the past, it's still an option. Last week they even started lining him up in the backfield, and he caught a touchdown from that alignment.

If Gonzalez has success against Smith-Njigba early on, look for Seattle to try to hunt matchups elsewhere. Then it will be on the Patriots to adjust either by calling different coverages or moving Gonzalez with him. That will be a key decision for defensive play caller Zak Kuhr to make.

Kupp is also a player the Patriots need to watch for. He's not the player he once was but is still a savvy veteran who can make plays. If all the attention is on Smith-Njigba, the matchup between Kupp and potentially Carlton Davis on an island proves crucial. If Kupp is covered Darnold does have a habit of forcing the ball to JSN - five of his 14 interceptions this year were in Smith-Njigba's direction.

For all the star power that was on the field for the Super Bowl last time these teams played, two then-unknown players proved to make headlines in Seahawks wide receiver Chris Matthews and of course Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler.

Who are some players in this game who could send fans rushing to Google? Here's a few names to know?

Patriots DT Cory Durden: A lot has been made about the Patriots' top defensive tackles against the weaker Seahawks' interior offensive line, but it won't just be Barmore and Williams rushing there. Other players will have a chance too. Durden has come on strong this year and is a high-motor, violent player. Could he get into the backfield regularly?

Patriots FB Jack Westover: The Patriots have really spread the ball out this year, but that leaves them with not a lot of options for new wrinkles for the Super Bowl in terms of personnel. Westover has almost exclusively been used as a lead blocker with one touch all season. Drawing up a play for him would certainly be a curveball.

Seahawks WR Jake Bobo: The North Andover native, Bobo has become more involved in these playoffs after a very limited regular season. At 6-foot-4, 207 pounds he's a potential size mismatch, especially if the Patriots use Marcus Jones as their third cornerback.

For our 105th of 105 'things' this year, we're going to close it out with special teams. In a game that could be decided on the margins, a big special teams play should represent a major swing in favor of whatever team can pull it off.

This is a Seahawks team that is excellent in just about every special teams unit. Adding Shaheed at the deadline proved to be a major boost. During the regular season Seattle ranked third in the NFL in both yards per kick return (28.0) and yards per punt return (15.4). Shaheed returned one of each for touchdowns in his nine games with Seattle. He's continued to thrive in that role in the playoffs, with his game-opening kickoff return touchdown in the Divisional Round providing a spark for what ended up being a blowout.

The Patriots struggled a bit on kickoff coverage late in the regular season. They've been better since, but that's come with being willing to kick the ball out of the end zone for a touchback against dangerous returners and allowing opposing offenses to start at the 35-yard line. It wouldn't be surprising to see them do something similar with Shaheed at times. In the punt game, Bryce Baringer will need to bounce back after last week, but higher, shorter kicks could be a part of the game plan to limit Shaheed's ability to set up a big return.

Seattle has been just as good in kickoff coverage. They're allowing just 24.0 yards per return, which is tied for fourth-best in the NFL.

If there's one weakness to group, it's the punt coverage. Seattle allowed 15.5 yards per punt return in the regular season, which ranks second-most in the NFL. They've been better in the playoffs, but this could be a spot where Marcus Jones as an All-Pro returner could create some stress for the opponent.

As for the kickers - with Seattle being a below-averaged red zone offense this year Jason Myers was busy. His 48 field goal attempts were tied for the most in the league, and he hit just 41 with three of those misses coming from 50+ yards out (9-of-12 from that range). For Patriots kicker Andy Borregales this game is about rebounding from two misses last week, although he should have much more favorable conditions to kick on Sunday.