The driving distance between Seattle, Washington, and Carbon County, Pennsylvania is 2,718 miles, but that means little to Seahawks fans.

There’s Tyler Azzaro Jr., a 16-year-old student at Northern Lehigh High School, and Danny Matika, a lifelong resident of Summit Hill.

Tyler’s affinity for the Seattle Seahawks football team that plays against the New England Patriots in Sunday’s Super Bowl began when he was just 5 years old.

“I watched Super Bowl XLVIII when the Seahawks beat the Broncos (43-8) and I picked them to be my favorite team,” he said.

He was not influenced by his father, who is a Cowboys’ fan, or his mother, who roots for the Eagles. And he’d rather forget Super Bowl XLIX when he was 11. Seattle was on the New England one yard line, down by four points with time ticking away. Quarterback Russell Williams threw an interception, virtually handing the victory to Tom Brady’s Patriots.

This will be Seattle’s fourth Super Bowl appearance, with the last being in 2015. They’ve won one of the previous three at a time when Tyler was likely watching the game in his pajamas.

A current soccer and track athlete for the Bulldogs, he feels confident that after the final whistle ends the NFL classic, his team will be hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

“New England has a really good defense and so does Seattle, so I think it will be a low-scoring game,” he said.

This season, the Seahawks’ defense is ranked sixth all time and some metrics have them ranked as one of the greatest units in NFL history. The Patriots, though ranked 25th during the second half of the season, have allowed only 3.1 rushing yards per carry in their playoff run.

Danny Matika coached Panther Valley boys basketball for four years. He’s now the president of the board of education and a former owner of the Batter’s Box restaurant in Summit Hill. He became a Seattle fan in 1976, the Seahawks’ inaugural season, making this year the 50th anniversary of the franchise.

“I just wanted to be a fan of something different,” he said. “I liked their team colors and they had two great players — quarterback Jim Zorn and wide receiver Steve Largent.”

The problem Matika had was their games were seldom prime time TV broadcasts, so he was left with updates and reading about them in the Times News. Like Tyler, their loss in Super Bowl XLIX haunts him until this day.

“They have a first and goal at the one with 46 seconds left to win the game and they throw an interception instead of running the ball,” he said.

When asked what his reaction was to the play, he said they were words that cannot be printed in this story.

Why the Seahawks will win

Tyler feels the difference between the two teams is on the offensive side of the ball. The Seahawks are ranked 14th in total offensive yards, but they are first in passing, and that grades out to a seventh overall ranking.

Matika feels that Seattle’s defense, nicknamed, “The Dark Side” will be too much for New England to handle.

“We beat the 49ers and the Rams in the playoffs,” he said, “and I think both of those teams are better than the Patriots.”

Tyler points to the easier schedule played by New England. Although Buffalo was 12-5 in the AFC East, the combined records of the Jets and Dolphins was 10-24. The Pats went 5-1 against their division opponents. He added that the Patriots beat Denver, who played a quarterback with just four career starts, by a score of 10-7 in the AFC Championship Game as another reason why Seattle will prevail.

Favorites and predictions

Tyler’s two favorite players are one from each side of the ball. “I like Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He plays wide receiver. He’s ranked first in yards gained (1,793 total with 10 touchdown catches) and on defense, my favorite player is their rookie safety, Nick Emmanwori. I think he’s got a shot to be Defensive Player of the Year.”

Matika’s favorite Seahawk is Devon Witherspoon. “He’s a cornerback. I like how he flies around and makes plays and he’s good on blitzing the quarterback, too.”

Both fans feel that Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, who holds the best passing grade in the league but had a bad playoff game last year as QB of the Minnesota Viking when he was sacked nine times, will play well. This playoff run, he’s passed for 470 yards and four touchdowns.

“He has a better offensive line than he had with the Vikings,” said Matika. “They will protect him better and give him time to throw.”

Tyler picked his MVP of the game, “I think either Smith-Njigba or running back Ken Walker. I predict the final score to be 27-14, with Seattle on top, of course.”

“I say Seattle, 27-13,” said Matika, who even holds attraction to the New England area by being a Boston Red Sox baseball fan.

The big day

On Sunday morning, Matika will be at the Summit Hill Fire House serving 3,500 preordered wings for football fans before he gets home by 6 p.m.

“I was thinking of going to the game, but the guys at the firehouse said they would never talk to me again if I did,” he said with a laugh. He’ll watch the game with his family that “have to be Seahawks’ fans, like it or not.”

Dressed in his Seattle Seahawks jersey, Tyler will try to remain calm when he watches his favorite team try to win the Super Bowl.

“I won’t be standing during the game,” he said, “but I’ll be pushing my toes forward ready to jump up whenever they make a big play.”

Although 2,718 miles separate Tyler Azzaro Jr. and Danny Matika from their beloved Seattle Seahawks, they will be just a few feet away from their living room TVs to cheer their team to victory.