Cameron Goz
Staff Writer
In
a Super Bowl where the line was even for the first time in recent history, the
game certainly matched the hype. A game, in which the Seattle Seahawks and New
England Patriots delivered blow after blow upon each other, saw the Patriots
emerging victorious in a 28-24 thriller. While the game was neck and neck all
night long, the game will be remembered for its controversial ending. With 25
seconds left on the clock and inside the one yard line, Russell Wilson received
the snap and threw a bullet to wide receiver Ricardo Lockette, but was picked
off by cornerback Malcolm Butler. People across the nation stared in disbelief
at the play call, merely 50 seconds after Seahawks wide receiver Jermaine
Kearse made a miraculous juggling catch falling to the ground in double
coverage. The thought of not running the ball when you have arguably the best
running back in the NFL, Marshawn Lynch, has baffled many. But in the end Pats
fans rejoiced, Seattle fans wept, and New England was crowned Super Bowl XLIX
champions.
Tom
Brady matched Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana with his fourth super bowl title. Brady,
like Montana, also was named the MVP for the third time, but surpassed
Montana’s eleven career super bowl touchdowns with thirteen of his own. He
finished the day 37 of 50 for 328 yards facing the league’s most feared
defense. "Every team has a journey and a lot of people lost faith in us,
but we held strong, we held together, and it's a great feeling," Brady
said. "It wasn't the way we drew it up. It was a lot of mental toughness.
Our team has had it all year. We never doubted each other, so that's what it
took." After the game, Julian Edelman said, "He's Tom Brady; he's the
greatest quarterback on the planet.” Edelman, Patriot wide receiver, finished
the day with nine receptions for 109 yards and the go-ahead touchdown with 2:02
left in the game. Butler was elated after win, saying, "I just had a
vision that I was going to make a big play and it came true, I'm just blessed.
I can't explain it right now. It's crazy.”
Despite
the outcome, the Seahawks didn’t make life easy for the Patriots. Cornerback
Jeremy Lane made the first big play in the game with a leaping interception of
Brady at the goal line to negate an eight minute drive. While a high point in
the game for Seattle, the play would eventually lead to their demise as Lane
left the game after that play due to a wrist injury. His backup, Tharold Simon,
did little well when vaulted into a starting role the rest of the game. The
first score of the game was an 11-yard TD pass from Brady to Brandon Lafell,
who was being covered by Simon. Seattle turned to all pro Marshawn Lynch to
knot the score at 7 with a 3-yard run in the second quarter. Brady hit tight
end Rob Gronkowski in the end zone to take a seemingly 14-7 lead into the half,
but Seattle wasn’t done just yet. The Seahawks offense awoke to go 80-yards in
just 29 seconds, with some help from a Kyle Arrington facemask penalty. Sitting
at the 10-yard line with just six seconds on the clock, Pete Carroll went for
it and Seahawks breakout star Chris Matthews handled a Russell Wilson pass in
the left corner of the end zone. Matthews finished the day with four receptions
for 109 yards and a TD. Seattle then jumped to a 24-14 lead in the third
quarter on a Steven Hauschka 27-yard field goal and a Doug Baldwin three-yard
TD grab. The Patriots seemed spent until Brady stepped up for them in a big
spot yet again. He led back to back TD drives of 64 and 68 yards going 13 for
15 in the process and throwing both TD’s.
