Culver City Observer -

By Mitch Chortkoff

Sports Editor

Russell Wilson or Tom Brady? The quarterback who plays best in Super Bowl 49 on Feb. 1 will likely lead his team to the NFL championship.

Wilson, a third round draft choice who has proven to be a sensation, will try to lead his team to a second straight Super Bowl triumph.

And, if necessary, he might guide the Seattle Seahawks to another miracle-like comeback as he did in the NFC championship game Jan. 18 over the stunned Green Bay Packers.

Or perhaps it will be Brady, who will be the first quarterback to appear in six Super Bowls.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick likens Wilson to Roger Staubach.

"It's his awareness," said Bilichick "something you can't coach. Like Staubach it looks like he's going to be tackled but he isn't. You think he doesn't see the tacklers but he does.

"Very impressive."

Wilson passed for 3,475 yards and ran for 829 in the regular season, averaging 7.2 yards per carry.

He threw 20 touchdown passes and had only six interceptions.

Brady, at age 37, had a poor start to this season and dropped down the list of elite quarterbacks among several pro football experts.

There was talk that he wasn't nearly as productive as he had been.

But both he and the Patriots came on strong and in the AFC championship game they dismantled the Indianapolis Colts, 45-7.

Three different running backs excelled for the Patriots down the stretch. The consistent part of the offense was Brady's performances.

Brady threw for 4,109 yards in the regular season.

Brady and the Patriots have lost their last two Super Bowl appearances, in 2007 and 2011, both to the New York Giants.

Tom Brady

Seattle will try to win two consecutive Super Bowls. No team has been able to do that in the last 10 years. The last team to do it was the Patriots.

This super Bowl will be played in Glendale, Arizona, a week after the Pro Bowl is played there instead of its regular place in Honolulu.

'Russell was great in our comeback win over the Packers but it wasn't only him. A lot was involved," said Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.

That's for sure. In the closing minutes the Seahawks needed and received contributions from many players as they scored a touchdown, recovered an onsides kick and scored another touchdown.

But the play that will be best remembered is Wilson's game-winning pass to Jermaine Kearse.

Wilson had thrown four interceptions. But so what?