PHOENIX -- Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has a Richard Sherman-sized puzzle to solve in Super BowlXLIX.
"We've got to do a great job at the line of scrimmage," McDaniels told reporters at Tuesday's Media Day. "This guy is long, fast and very disruptive at the line. ... He's a very intelligent player who understands schemes and route concepts ... very much like (Patriots cornerback Darrelle) Revis. Darrelle will do some of that, too, in practice against us, where you'll go 'How the heck did he know that was part of (the play)?' He sees more than just his guy."
McDaniels acknowledged that his offense has been helped this season by matching up weekly against Revis, a notoriously obsessive practice player. That attention to detail might be where Sherman and Revis most readily intersect. Every Seahawks player we speak with during Super Bowl week raves about Sherman's mental capacity to drink in game film and dissect the enemy.
Teams have countered by completely ignoring Sherman's side of the field, but McDaniels said the Patriots won't take that approach on Sunday.
"It's not an easy thing to avoid him the whole game. We're going to try not to do that with anybody," McDaniels said. "We got to go wherever the ball needs to go in the passing game. But I think you need to be sensitive to him and where he's at. He's a great player."
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