Patriots-Seahawks, elite offense vs. elite defense

There will be plenty of story lines building up to Sunday's game between Seattle and New England, but none more obvious, or interesting, than the showdown between the Patriots' offense and the Seahawks' defense. Call it new-school vs. old-school NFL philosophy, call it an unstoppable force vs. an immovable object, or anything else, but watching the battle between New England's Tom Brady led offense and Seattle's stingy defense will be fascinating.

And speaking of New England's offense, here's an interesting Boston Globe article looking at how the Patriots are are using more no-huddle offense ever since Bill Belichick spent some time with Oregon coach Chip Kelly.


Here's a look at the statistical breakdown of the the two teams, one of which has gained more yards than any team in the NFL, the other of which has allowed the fewest.

SEAHAWKS
Total offense--287.2 (27th in the NFL)
Rush offense--140.2 (7)
Pass offense--147.0 (31)
Points per game--17.2 (28)
Totals defense--258.6 (1)
Rush defense--66.6 (3)
Pass defense--192.0 (5)
Points allowed per game--14.0 (2)

PATRIOTS
Total offense--439.4 (1)
Rush offense--165.4 (3)
Pass offense-- 274.0 (9)
Points per game--33.0 (1)
Totals defense--373.8 (22)
Rush defense--82.2 (8)
Pass defense--291.6 (30)
Points allowed per game--22.6 (17)