Pats Steal Super Bowl from Seahawks with Late Interception

Two evenly matched combatants duking it out on the NFL’s biggest stage. That’s the kind of exciting stuff of which the average football fan’s Super Bowl dreams are made. It’s a dream that the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots combined to make a pulsating reality as they battled all the way to the wire in Super Bowl XLIX. Here’s a quick recap of how the Vince Lombardi Trophy was won.  

A Scoreless First Quarter

By the end of the first quarter in last year’s Super Bowl, the Seahawks were already well on their way to victory. This time around, however, they found themselves consistently on the back foot during the opening stanza against a typically well-drilled New England Patriots outfit. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson again struggled during the early exchanges – like he had during the NFC Championship Game against the Packers. Meanwhile, ace running back Marshawn Lynch was largely kept in check by a disciplined New England defensive unit. The defending champs were actually lucky to close the quarter without conceding. They were only saved from falling behind when an errant pass from New England’s star QB Tom Brady found its way into the hands of Seattle nickelback Jeremy Lane – instead of into the waiting ones of wide receiver Julian Edelman. However, Lane’s subsequent injury on the return left a gaping hole in Seattle’s secondary which loomed large for the duration.      

Jeremy Lane lands awkwardly on his arm after intercepting a Tom Brady pass.
(Courtesy of oregonlive.com)

A 28-point Outburst in the Second Quarter

New England duly surged into a well-deserved lead relatively early in the second period when Brady capped a methodical 65-yard drive with an 11-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Brandon LaFell. However, Seattle’s riposte to falling behind was typically emphatic. None of the usual suspects was the catalyst though. The man who supplied the spark to their sputtering offense on this occasion was (formerly) unheraldedwideout Chris Matthews, who pulled down a 44-yard reception from Wilson to set his team up at the New England 11-yard line. Workhorse Lynch then did the rest, punching home from three yards out to get Seattle on the board.  

New England’s response to being punched in the mouth was no less swift than Seattle’s had been. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel continued to mix the run with heavy doses of the underneath passing game. This helped to neutralize the feared Seahawks pass rush. Then, just as Seattle started dozing on the threat of the deep ball, Brady went up top to star tight end Rob Gronkowski for a 22-yard score. It was a potentially punishing blow that the reigning champs shook off with surprising ease. A couple of long completions from Wilson saw them smoothly move the ball to the New England 11-yard line with just six seconds remaining. With a short field goal theirs for the taking, the NFC kingpins gambled on a touchdown. The gamble paid off when Wilson again found the towering Matthews for a TD. A subsequent Steven Hauschka extra point sent both teams to the half tied at 14-14.        

 

Rob Gronkowski looks a TD pass into his hands as a helpless K.J. Wright looks on.
(Courtesy of wsoctv.com)

Seattle Took Control in the Third Quarter

The Seahawks came out firing on all cylinders to start the second half. Another big completion – a 45-yarder this time – from Wilson to Matthews saw them race deep into New England territory on only the third play of the third. Though they weren’t able to punch it home from there, they did manage to come away with a 27-yard field goal from Hauschka which staked them to a 17-14 advantage. They quickly followed this go-ahead score with another interception of Brady, whose attempted pass to Gronkowski was picked off by an undercutting Bobby Wagner. Wilson quickly turned the excellent field position gifted to him into another touchdown. His 3-yard scoring connection with wide receiver Doug Baldwin was made 1-2-3 easy when New England’s Pro Bowl cornerback Darrelle Revis was picked off by the ref. Yet another Hauschka extra point put Seattle up 24-14 heading into the final 15 minutes of the contest.

   

New England Rallied for the Win in the Fourth Quarter

The Patriots’ long climb out of the abyss in which they found themselves was kick-started by a 9-play, 68-yard touchdown drive, which culminated with Brady’s NFL record-breaking 12^th career Super Bowl TD pass to Danny Amendola. A fruitless Seattle possession later, the three-time Super Bowl champions were back at it again. This time, Brady engineered a 10-play, 64-yard scoring drive that was capped by a 3-yard touchdown pass to Edelman, who ended the game with 109 yards receiving. 

Malcolm Butler undercuts and intercepts a slant intended for wideout Ricardo Lockette.
(Courtesy of kansascity.com)

That Call

With just over two minutes remaining on the clock, however, comeback kid Wilson had more than enough time in hand to bring his team back from the brink again. The cool-headed QB appeared set to do just that when he powered Seattle to the New England 5-yard line courtesy of a fortuitous 33-yard completion to Jermaine Kearse. Another bruising run from Lynch put the ball at the 1-yard line with ample time and a timeout remaining. Inexplicably, Seattle went away from Lynch at crunch time. Instead, they opted for a slant to Ricardo Lockette. Predictably, the ill-advised decision ended in disaster. Rookie strong safety Malcolm Butler jumped the route and picked the pass, sending his teammates and Pats fans into a Super Bowl-winning state of delirium. Seattle head coach Pete Carroll, on the other hand, was left ruing what could have been after making an unjustifiable call.