THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Saturday, January 24, 2015

Here we are, just a little over a week away from the Super Bowl and all the focus has been on a bunch of flat footballs.

Not that amazing comeback by the Seattle Seahawks to get back to a second straight Super Bowl, or that romp by the New England Patriots to reach the title game for the first time in four years.

Nope, just the flat footballs.

IT SEEMS that New England has done more to explain just what happened instead of looking ahead to the next game.

If New England is to have been found to have been cheating, don't expect the Patriots to have to forfeit the Super Bowl, especially now.

Not with millions of fans and billions of dollars to lose on the game, with fans coming to Glendale, Ariz., spending money in that community and buying tickets for $2,000 each, just to watch the circus that surrounds the Super Bowl.

Sure, New England quarterback Tom Brady could grip the football a little better than Indianapolis' Andrew Luck on that night, but it didn't make a bit of difference on the scoreboard.

The Patriots led 17-7 at halftime, when it was believed that they were using the deflated footballs, then blew out the Colts 28-0 in the second half to win 45-7.

Losing by 38 points, it probably didn't matter if they were playing with a Nerf football, the Patriots were going to win.

MEANWHILE IN Seattle, it's pretty quiet for them.

All they've done since playing the best five minutes of football that I've seen them play is go about their business.

Russell Wilson still visited local children's hospitals, Doug Baldwin yelled at reporters that doubted them throughout the season and Marshawn Lynch found another way to give back, getting fined $20,000 for an obscene gesture after scoring a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.

And considering media day is Tuesday, and he just doesn't really have much to say to them, it might be safe to say that Lynch might be donating some more money back to the league really soon.

Keep in mind that two of Seattle's top defensive players - Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman - suffered injuries against Green Bay that could limit what they do when the game starts.

Thomas dislocated his left shoulder, but returned shortly after he was out. Same with Sherman after getting ran into by Kam Chancellor and spraining his left elbow.

Both said they'll play next Sunday and they'll take advantage of the offseason to let themselves heal.

They could have just conceded defeat staring a loss in the face with five minutes left last week.

Instead, they've got an entire region fully pumped to see what happens next.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.