During his Media Day session, Patriots RB LeGarrette Blount didn’t sound worried about facing the Seahawks’ defense in Super Bowl XLIX.
“I don’t care about them being the top defense, that doesn’t bother me,” Blount said Tuesday. “They were good enough to get here, just like we were good enough to get here. They’re not immortal. They can be beaten.”
For an organization notorious for having players keep their opinions to themselves, Blount’s comments were as close as New England came to giving the Seahawks bulletin-board material for Sunday’s matchup.
Seattle’s defense ranked No. 1 in the NFL the past three seasons in points allowed, joining the famed “Purple People Eaters” Minnesota Vikings (1969-71) and the Cleveland Browns, who led the league from 1953-57. They also became the fourth team in NFL history to lead the league in points and yards allowed in back-to-back seasons and the first to do it since the Chicago Bears in 1985-86.
“They were good enough to get here, they were good enough to get here last year,” Blount said of the Seahawks defense. “So we are going to put a plan together to hopefully make sure we come out victorious.”
Blount, who spent two turbulent seasons at the University of Oregon, did admit Tuesday the Seahawks have “a pretty good defense,” and described Marshawn Lynch as “probably one of the best running backs in the league.”
It’s hard to blame the six-foot, 250-pound bruiser for feeling confident. In New England’s 45-7 AFC Championship win over the Colts, Blount rushed 30 times for 148 yards and three touchdowns.
“Just the fact that they trusted me enough to carry the ball that many times and put the game in my hands, it means a lot,” he said.
Blount was with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the first 11 games of the 2014 regular season until being released in November after he left the field early in a win over the Titans. He was reportedly upset about losing carries to second-year RB Le’Veon Bell. Suddenly without a team, Blount then signed a contract with the Patriots, whom he played for in 2013.
“They knew that I could run the football,” Blount said. “They know that I can effective with it. They know that I have big-play potential. They like my style of running and I fit in perfectly with this offense. It was a perfect match.”
1 Comment
Having watched Blount during his time at Oregon he’s a player to be respected however rushing against the Colts vs. the Seahawks are entirely different matters. The Hawks were the 3rd best rushing defense in the league with teams averaging 81 ypg whereas the Colts were 18th giving up 113 ypg. The Hawks gave up 254 points rushing and the Colts 369. I’m also not sure just how familiar Blount is with the current Patriots offense since he rejoined them at mid-season after being let go by the Steelers. Not sure if the Patriots running back by committee approach helps or hurts them against the Hawks.