With Super Bowl 60 under one week away, it’s time for another deep dive into Seattle’s opponent: the New England Patriots. Last week, we looked into a solid offense led by dynamic QB Drake Maye, and this week, we’ll look at the Patriots dynamic defense.

The Patriots have a scary defensive front

The Patriots' defense will be based out of a 3-4 alignment, giving them two outside linebacker/edge players and three interior defensive linemen. Their strength comes from the interior, where Milton Williams and Christian Barmore have dominated when healthy. Williams was the prized addition from New England's free agent class, signing a four-year, $104 million deal. He was limited to 12 games in the regular season due to injury, but still amassed 32 pressures and four sacks. His value in the run game can’t be measured by individual stats, but the Patriots as a team have clamped down on opposing rushers when he’s on the field, and have been taken advantage of when he’s missed time. Williams has stepped up even more during the postseason, with 17 pressures in three games, and is going to give Seattle’s interior a major problem all game.

Next to Williams, Barmore has rebounded from some career-threatening blood clot issues and turned in his best season as a pass rusher, with a career high 58 pressures and three sacks. At his best, Barmore can embarrass even the game's best interior linemen.

Seattle straight up isn’t going to be able to drop back at a high rate if both these guys are on the field. Grey Zabel should put up a fight, but Anthony Bradford is going to get destroyed without major help. Khyrhis Tonga will fill in at nose tackle on early downs, and he’s a lot to handle at six-foot-four and 338 pounds, with strength to bench press smaller centers.

The main backup to Williams and Barmore is Cory Durden, a pass rush specialist with 30 pressures this season, including seven against the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild card round.

Moving out to the edge, the Patriots' most effective player is K’lavon Chaisson. Chaisson has exploded this season with career highs in pressures and sacks, with 72 and 12, respectively. Those dwarf his previous career highs of 29 pressures and six sacks, and he’s found a home in Mike Vrabel’s defense. Harold Landry has called Vrabel’s defense home for most of his career after being drafted by the Titans in 2018. He doesn’t get home at the same rate he used to, evidenced by his 8.8% pass rush win rate, but he still put up 50 pressures and nine sacks this season. Landry has yet to practice since aggravating a knee injury against the Texans in the Divisional round, and his status is up in the air. If he can’t go, expect a combination of Anfernee Jennings and Elijah Ponder to fill those snaps. Jennings will likely play on early downs, as he specializes in defending the run.

Ponder is a super athletic rookie who has come along nicely this season, recording 23 pressures and four sacks in just 193 pass-rush snaps.

This defensive line group is on a tear in the playoffs, and their interior, especially, is built to give the Seahawks major issues.

But they have questions at Linebacker

Robert Spillane is the leader of the Patriots' linebacking corps, but his outlook for Super Bowl 60 is murky, as he’s nursing an ankle injury. New England has rotated multiple other linebackers behind Spillane, so the guys filling in will have experience. Spillane’s normal partner in the middle is Jack Gibbens, who has posted above-average grades across the board, with a 65.7 grade in run defense and a 65.5 coverage grade, both per PFF. He’s a middling athlete, but a smart player and an absolute hammer against the run.

Christian Eliss is a smaller player than Gibbens and mostly comes into the game for coverage snaps, where he allowed 34 receptions on 39 targets, and is a potential weak link to target. Last is Jahlani Tavai, a fantastic run defender but such a liability in coverage that his overall snap share has been cut from 916 to 269. He will likely rotate in for a few early down snaps, but his weakness in coverage means it should be a lot of Gibbens and Eliss if Spillane can’t go. This is an average group of NFL linebackers. They won’t win you a game by themselves, but they shouldn’t be bad enough to lose it.

The secondary is going to come ready to fight

Any conversation surrounding the back end of the Patriots' defense has to start with Christian Gonzalez. The third-year corner is a true shutdown player and will likely be tasked with shadowing Jaxon Smith-Njigba throughout the game. He was named an All-Pro after allowing just 45 receptions on 101 targets, a 44.6% reception percentage that ranked second in the NFL behind only Quinyon Mitchell, an All-Pro as well. Opposite Gonzalez is Carlton Davis, who isn’t on the former’s level but is still having a great season, with 13 pass breakups and two interceptions. He did have 13 penalties, however, and will get handsy when he feels threatened.

Marcus Jones mans the slot, and he’s been very boom or bust this season, with four interceptions this season, but eight touchdowns allowed. His 5’8" frame makes it difficult to fight through bigger receivers, but he’s been very disciplined in coverage this year, with only one penalty. Klint Kubiak should be trying his hardest to match JSN up with Jones and limit his battles with Gonzalez, especially because he was beaten deep by Marvin Mims in the AFC championship, and Rasheed Shaheed can do the same if Gonzalez gets overly aggressive.

New England has a couple of Cal Berkeley products starting at safety in Jaylinn Hawkins and Craig Woodson. These guys are really similar as players, both have fantastic grades against the run (Hawkins 86.0,Woodson 86.1), and limit missed tackles (Hawkins eight, Woodson 10). In coverage, Hawkins has been the better player, with four interceptions and three touchdowns allowed, while Woodson has allowed six scores and picked off just one pass.

The Patriots' secondary is well-built. All these guys come up and help in the run game while also being rock solid in coverage. The coverage abilities of Gonzalez allow the safeties to shift their focus to helping the other corners. Overall, it’s going to be a super tough group to take advantage of.

Game prediction

This is going to be an ugly game. The Seahawks' defense is built to shut down the Patriots' ground game and take advantage of a poor offensive line on passing downs. Multiple forced fumbles wouldn’t be surprising. On the flipside, Seattle can’t force a heavy passing script, or the Patriots' interior is going to be in Sam Darnold’s lap consistently. Seattle will need to find a way to run the ball against a defense with 11 guys that relentlessly defend it. Both defenses are going to shine on Sunday, and I’m going to pick the one that’s been better all season

Seahawks:17

Patriots:10