Super Bowl champ says Patriots are being disrespected going into Sunday

Former Super Bowl champion Ryan Clark believes that the New England Patriots are being disrespected going into their Super Bowl matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.

“We’ve got to stop talking about the New England Patriots like they’re Rocky Balboa and the Seattle Seahawks are Ivan Drago,” Clark said. “This is the Super Bowl. The New England Patriots are an extremely productive and good football team.

“And I know what’s it’s looked like the last three weeks, but there are matchups in this game and ways that can play out, whether Milton Williams and Christian Barmore can create pressure in the middle of the pocket, whether some of these disguises that we see from Zak Kuhr and this defense can confuse Sam Darnold.

“We’ve watched Marcus Jones. We’ve seen Carlton Davis, Christian Gonzalez, [Craig] Woodson, [Jaylinn] Hawkins all make plays in this playoffs and the way that this defense has stood up in the red zone, which is huge when you’re playing a team like Seattle that has so many options to move the football 20 to 20.

“This game is going to come down to, can the New England Patriots create turnovers defensively, and can Drake Maye make a few wild plays to get this team chunks?

“And so to look at this game and say that the New England Patriots don’t stand a chance or you expect them to get blown out before they can win is disrespect not only to the New England Patriots, but to Mike Vrabel, Drake Maye and especially this Zak Kuhr-led defense.”

New England has allowed just 26 points in three games so far in the playoffs, holding the Denver Broncos and backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham to just seven points in the AFC Championship Game.

So, it makes sense that Clark feels that they’re being disrespected in this matchup. Seattle, meanwhile, eliminated the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams to make the Super Bowl, blowing out San Francisco before beating the Rams by four.

The Patriots’ chance to win this game may come on the defensive side of the ball, like Clark alluded to. Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold threw 14 interceptions during the regular season, and a turnover or two could swing this game in New England’s favor.

In the AFC title game, a crucial Jarrett Stidham fumble helped set up the Patriots to score their only touchdown of the game in a 10-7 win.

While Maye was an MVP candidate during the regular season, he has struggled a bit in the playoffs, completing less than 60 percent of his passes. So, it may be asking a lot of the second-year quarterback to carry the team to a win in a high-scoring game.

Either way, Clark seems to think that everyone should give New England more credit for being in the Super Bowl. After all, the Patriots beat the Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans and Broncos, all teams with elite defenses.

Only time will tell if Clark is right about the disrespect the Patriots are receiving, but he seems to think that they can really compete on Sunday.