Both teams battled to a scoreless tie through the opening quarter, the first time there has been a scoreless first quarter since the Patriots met the Eagles in 2004. This also marks the 6th straight Super Bowl in which the Pats have failed to score any points in the opening quarter. The game remained scoreless until New England's first drive of the second quarter, which began with Brady's 17-yard completed pass to Danny Amendola. Brady later completed a 23-yard pass to Julian Edelman on 3rd and 9, and eventually finished the drive with a 11-yard touchdown pass to receiver Brandon LaFell.
Seattle then comes back on a nice drive, capped off with a 7-yard score from Marshawn Lynch. New England came right back to retake the lead on a Rob Gronkowski 22 yard touchdown catch with a little time left in the half. Seattle closed out the half on a quick drive, resulting in a tie game, thanks to Chris Matthews 11 touchdown reception. The last touchdown came with just 2 seconds showing on the clock.
Seattle came out firing in the 3rd quarter. They had New England on their heels, once they stormed out to a 24-14 lead in the third quarter. This coming on the strength of Steven Hauschka's 27-yard field goal and Doug Baldwin's 3-yard TD reception. Everything looked like it was going to go Seattle's way heading into the 4th quarter. Then all of a sudden, it seemed like somebody flipped a switch for the Patriots. They woke up once the 4th quarter started, took the game over and the rest is history. With 12:10 left in the game, New England mounted a 68-yard drive to cut their deficit to 24–21 on Brady's 4-yard touchdown toss to Amendola.
Following a three-and-out for Seattle, New England got the ball back on their own 32 at the 6:52 mark. Brady started off the possession with two completions to running back Shane Vereen for 13 total yards, and followed it up with a 9-yard pass to Edelman. Following a penalty against New England, Gronkowski caught a pair of passes that moved the team up 33 yards to the Seattle 19. Then Vereen rushed for 7 yards, Brady passed to Lafell for 7 more, and Blount ran the ball 2 yards to the 3-yard line. Finally with 2:02 left in the game, Brady gave his team a 28–24 lead with a 3-yard touchdown toss to Edelman.
Now New England has the lead and all the momentum, forcing Seattle to try to make history and play comeback. With time winding down, Russel Wilson threw the ball down the right sideline, looking for Jermain Kearse. Kearse then pulled in one of the greatest catches of all time:
It was one of the greatest grabs ever. It set up the Seahawks in perfect field position with a little over a minute left in regulation. The catch by Kearse drew many comparisons to this outstanding grab made on Monday Night Football by Antonio Freeman:
The catches are so similar its kinda scary. Anyway. Seattle is now down to the five yard line with about 45 seconds left. They had the ball off to Lynch, who picks up four yards to get it down to the 1. So its 2nd and goal. Seattle then ran the clock down to 26 seconds before taking the snap for what turned out to be the most critical play of the game. The Seahawks had called a pass play in which Kearse ran a pick on the right side of the field to draw defensive backs away from Lockette as Lockette ran a slant to the middle. Lockette appeared to be uncovered at the one-yard line when Wilson threw him the ball, but before the ball arrived, Butler correctly read the play and rushed into position to make a clutch interception. The turnover gave New England the ball on their own one-yard line with 20 seconds remaining in regulation. Butler's performance on the single play alone garnered him consideration by the voters for Super Bowl MVP.
New England hangs on, despite some final fisracuffs near the end of the game to claim their 4th title.
There are two major things that really stick out from this football game. The most obvious one is how could Seattle call for the pass play on 2nd and goal from the 1 when Lynch just gained you four yards on the previous play. Run it again and he scores, giving you the lead very late in the game. The other thing was Seattle's defense. They had put a bit of pressure on New England in the start of the game, but then as the 2nd half wore on, they weren't able to get the same amount of pressure. The fact that four of their better players, like Jeremy Lane, going out with an injury. Richard Sherman, it was revealed after the game, has to have Tommy John Surgery to repair his injured elbow. Kam Chancellor was also playing through a knee injury as well. Had Seattle had a fully healthy secondary and defense, I got this gut feeling that they would have help on and taken the game.
Seattle wasn't able to, New England captures their 4th ever Superbowl title!
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