AUTHOR’S NOTE: It’s interesting that the two teams involved in the last game of the previous season (Super Bowl LX) will now play one of the first games of the current season. Maybe it’s intentional so the Patriots can be humiliated twice? I’m not much of a professional sports fan but I usually pay attention when a Boston team is involved since it’s my regional sports hub.

This reading applies the updated NFL game prediction template I posted yesterday. The most intriguing challenge I faced was the fact that three of the four cards in the Seahawks’ “Power” series are reversed trumps (and the fourth card is also reversed), putting my assumptions about its significance to the test.

The idea is that reversal can widen the gap between the two teams both in quarterly dominance and point spread if one has reversed cards (suggesting lowered expectations) and the other team’s cards are upright, particularly if the reversed cards are unfavorable and the upright ones are favorable. In this case I decided to ignore that distinction in the scoring model and just use positive numbers because reversal created unreasonably wide gaps. Difference in rank can have a similar effect. Sorting this out is the last sticking-point in my development of this approach. Note that I rounded off all of the quarterly point spreads to align with NFL scoring conventions rather than using the raw numbers shown by the cards.

Offensive Strengths: Both teams have reversed cards here and the Devil overshadows the 9 of Disks, giving the Seahawks the nod in this category, both overall and particularly in the First Quarter. The emphasis of the Earth element in both instances suggests that the ground game will be prominent for both offensive squads. Advantage: Seahawks by seven points at the end of the First Quarter.

Weaknesses: Although it is a trump card confronting a court card, the reversed Hanged Man for the Seahawks seems more irresolute than the fiery Knight of Wands for the Patriots. Perhaps Boston’s passing game will catch the Seahawks flatfooted in the Second Quarter. (See the commentary on the “Decision” card for additional thoughts on this comparison.) Advantage: Patriots by three points at the end of the Second Quarter.

“Edge:” This position is intended to show which team exhibits nominal superiority in the game. Once again, a trump card for the Seahawks facing down the Patriots’ court card would normally be conclusive but, as we saw with the Hanged Man, the Priestess is both reversed and inert. The Prince of Disks implies that the Patriots’ ground game will come to the fore once again. Advantage: Patriots by ten points at the end of the Third Quarter.

Defensive Strengths: In this category, the Patriots own the trump card to the Seahawks’ “pip” card. The implication with the Hermit corresponding to the element of Earth is that Boston’s defense will prevail over the Seahawks’ running game. Advantage: Patriots by seven points at the end of the game.

Chance to Win: With two Air cards in this column, neither team shows a strong propensity to run away with the game, justifying the small quarterly point spreads, but the Patriots’ upright Adjustment (aka Justice) suggests seeking revenge for their devastating loss in Super Bowl LX. However, it is elementally unfriendly with the three Earth cards in the “Power” series so, except for the potent Fire card in the Second Quarter, their passing game may be stalled and they will have to dominate on the ground. For the Seahawks, the reversed Lovers is elementally neutral to the three reversed Water cards and hostile to the Devil, so their chances seem slimmer even though most of their cards are trumps. This one is a toss-up but I like the Patriots’ position a little better.

Decision: Here is the ambiguous Priestess again, this time upright. Elementally, as a Water card it favors both Water and Earth cards in the two “Power” series, but it is more attuned to the three Water cards and one Earth card in the Seahawks’ array. For the Patriots, it is strongly supportive of the Earth cards in three of the four quarters but antagonistic to the Knight of Wands in the Second Quarter. (The same is true when aligning the Chariot as a “Water” trump with the eight “Power” cards.) My thinking is that there may be some kind of officiating controversy or complication (which has not been unheard of in the NFL in recent years) that could set the Patriots back in the Second Quarter. Mainly, it serves to keep the scoring relatively constrained.

Summary Conclusion: The scoring model gives the Patriots a slight edge to win the game, but all of the reversed trump cards in the top row indicate that the Seahawks have considerable depth of “power in reserve” if they can only break it free. Should they succeed in doing so, they may be unstoppable; otherwise I would go with the Patriots assuming they can achieve “containment” in the Third and Fourth Quarters after gaining momentum in the Second Quarter. If they fail, it could be “all Seattle” after that point.