The Patriots are in the playoffs, per usual, and they look geared to make another deep playoff run. To accompany all the excitement that New England fans are feeling, there have been many hype videos made. Perhaps none are more notable than this hype video set to music and sounds from "Game of Thrones."
Embracing the rivalry
One of the tremendous aspects of this video is how it highlights the current budding rivalry the Patriots have with the Steelers.
The video almost overtly shows this as the narration claims, "The enemy is real...It has always been real," as clips from the epic Steelers-Patriots game this season play during the music.
The most vivid display of this hated rivalry comes as the video shows the end of the Steelers-Patriots game with the unexpected interception by Duron Harmon with almost no time left in the game. The video then switches to Tom Brady leaving the stadium as Steelers fan wave the "terrible towels" at him. Brady subtly waves in a gesture that likely meant, "Bring it on."
The video also heavily features Rob Gronkowski, who was pivotal in the epic regular season matchup.
Ultimately it was Gronkowski who caught three massive passes in the final drive of that game before catching an amazing two-point conversion play.
The sounds of success
The video does a great job incorporating a lot of the more dramatic television broadcast play calls. Hearing the utter shock, awe, and enthusiasm of the TV broadcasters only adds to the dramatic music that plays in the background. Most notably, Brandin Cooks' toe-touch catch in the end zone against the Houston Texans earlier in the year, provides a really demonstrative play call that really gives the video a vibrant tone early on.
The hype video does a good job choosing when to go loud and when to go dead silent; the juxtaposition between the two gives the audience a feeling of excitement.
The end of the clip actually begins to show scenes from "Game of Thrones," incorporating the show in a way that is more than just music. The viewer can almost imagine the warrior seen at the end of the video as Tom Brady taking on the rest of the playoff contenders.
The video works really well in that it is very succinct (as it is barely over two minutes) while still highlighting some of the key narratives heading into the playoffs. What seems like an imminent AFC Championship Game matchup between The Patriots and the Steelers is really drawn out well within this hype video.