Patriots Win Super Bowl XLIX 28-24 In An Instant Classic

Monday, February 02, 2015

Matt LaPan, Go Local Sports Reporter

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are Super Bowl champions for the 4th time as a duo

Super Bowl XLIX. the game was an instant classic. The game will go down as, arguably, the single greatest Super Bowl gam in history. When all the dust settled, the New England Patriots walked away from Glendale, Arizona, with Super Bowl redemption as they won their 4th Super Bowl in franchise history 28-24 over Seattle.

The game featured comebacks, unheralded heroes and a near-miracle play for Seattle that was thwarted by an underrated rookie making the play to clinch the Super Bowl.

Slow Starts

The Patriots started the game by splitting Rob Gronkowski wide to the right, lining him up one-on-one with Richard Sherman. They threw to Gronkowski, but it only went for one yard. The Patriots picked up one 1st down, but stalled shortly after that. Ryan Allen was forced to punt the ball away and Kyle Arrington made a great special teams tackle, backing the Seahawks up in their own territory.

The Seahawks took the field and wanted to test the New England run defense — carrying the ball on three consecutive plays. They only went eight yards, however, as Dont’a Hightower or Jamie Collins made tackles on three rushes, forcing the Seahawks to go 3-&-out.

Brady Intercepted By Lane

The Patriots took back to the field and embarked on a long, sustained drive. The Patriots went on a 13-play drive that took 7:41 away, but it ended in disaster as Tom Brady threw an interception at the goal line to Jeremy Lane. Brady was under a great amount of pressure before trying to force a ball in to Julian Edelman. Lane returned the ball to the Seahawks 11 yard line before being tackled by Edelman, but sustained a major arm injury. Lane had to be removed from the game with his arm in a brace — he did not return. The interception was Lane’s 1st career interception.

The Seahawks got their first 1st down as the quarter was winding down, and Russell Wilson did not attempt a pass. Even with that, there was no score at the end of the 1st Quarter. The Patriots had the Seahawks backed-up on a 3rd-&-9 and were able to blanket the Seahawks receivers in man-to-man coverage and force a punt. The Patriots only rushed four and made sure to keep Wilson from escaping, forcing a long, incomplete throw.

Patriots Strike First

The Patriots offense seemed to respond to their defenses effort, going on the first scoring drive of the game. The Patriots went 65-yards on nine plays before Tom Brady found Brandon LaFell for an 11-yard touchdown. The big play on the drive was a 23-yard pass to Julian Edelman on a crossing route. The Patriots went right at Harold Simon on pass plays, who was in for the injured Jeremy Lane. Simon was targeted on both the crossing route and the touchdown play. The score gave the Patriots the 7-0 lead.

The Patriots defense continued to build momentum on the next drive, showing domination in man coverage and not allowing Russell Wilson to get any pass opportunities. On the first play of the drive Wilson was dragged down from behind by Chandler Jones — picking up the Patriots’ second sack of the game. Wilson then attempted to make a deep pass to Jermaine Kearse, but Logan Ryan was in perfect position and knocked the ball away to force another 3-&-out.

The Seahawks defense showed their might as well, forcing the Patriots into their first 3-&-out on the next possession. A tipped pass and a Tom Brady miscue hindered the drive, giving the Seahawks the ball back.

Unlikely Hero

Russell Wilson ignored his poor start and led the Seahawks on their first scoring drive of the game. Wilson found the most unlikely source, Chris Matthews, for his first reception of the season on a 44-yard bomb over Kyle Arrington. Just three plays later, Marshawn Lynch plunged the ball into the end zone to tie the game 7-7.

Two-Minute Domination

The Patriots offense was able to answer on their drive, showing their strength inside two minutes of the half. The Patriots had an NFL-high 66 points in the final two minutes of the half in the regular season, and added seven in the Super Bowl on a pass to Rob Gronkowski. Gronkowski got open when the Seahawks decided to move Richard Sherman inside so play the slot and walk K.J. Wright out in coverage. Brady saw this and did not hesitate to loft a perfect ball to Gronkowski.

Flying High Into The Half

The Patriots left 31 seconds in the half, which was enough for Wilson to lead his team down the field. The Seahawks went on a 5-play, 80-yard drive that took only 29 seconds. The drive started with a 19-yard run by Robert Turbin, followed by a 17-yard run from Wilson. After an incomplete pass Wilson found Ricardo Lockette for a 23-yard reception. On top of that, Kyle Arrington was called for a facemask penalty, moving the ball to the 11 yard line. Wilson continued to find his secondary receivers as he found Chris Matthews for an 11-yard touchdown to tie the game 14-14.

The game went into the half tied and, despite setting a Super Bowl record for completions in a half, Tom Brady found his Patriots tied 14-14.

The 2nd half began much like the 1st half ended, with Seattle moving the ball with secondary receivers. It was another pass to Chris Matthews over Kyle Arrington that moved the Seahawks down the field — this time for 45 yards. With the Seahawks threatening inside the 10 yard line, however, Rob Ninkovich made a huge stop of Marshawn Lynch on 3rd-&-1 to force a field goal. The field goal gave the Seahawks their first lead if the game, 17-14.

Brady Intercepted Again

The Patriots looked to answer, but another Tom Brady mistake doomed their drive. Brady tried to fit a pass into a tight window to Rob Gronkowski, but Bobby Wagner stepped in front of the pass for an interception. The Seahawks scored six plays later when Doug Baldwin shed Darrelle Revis for his first touchdown of the game. The score gave the Seahawks the 24-14 lead, handing Tom Brady his largest deficit in any of his six Super Bowl appearances.

The Patriots offense continued to struggle thanks to the Seattle defense, namely Michael Bennett. Bennett forced a holding call on Bryan Stork, pushing the Patriots back. Despite a good catch and run by Julian Edelman, the Patriots could not convert a 1st down and were forced to punt.

The Patriots defense came back on the field looking to slow down the hot Seattle offense. They did their job on the drive thanks to a drop from Seattle. The big play was a deep pass attempt from Wilson to Jermaine Kearse who was hit in the hands by the pass but could not hold on. Rookie Malcolm Butler got a hand on Kearse’s arm late to disrupt the play.

Slot Receiver Takeover

After trading failed drives, the Patriots brought the game closer on a gutsy drive. The Patriots faced a 2nd-&-18 on the second play of the drive, and a 3rd-&-14 but converted with a great play to Julian Edelman for 21 yards. Edelman held on despite a crushing hit from Kam Chancellor. The Patriots got another 21-yard reception from Edelman before Brady found Danny Amendola for a 3-yard touchdown to make the score 24-21, Seahawks.

The touchdown pass was the 3rd of the night for Brady and gave him 12 career Super Bowl touchdown passes. That make moved him past Joe Montana for the most touchdown passes in Super Bowl history.

The Patriots defense then came out and showed its strength, forcing a quick 3-&-out and getting Tom Brady and the offense the ball back.

Edelman Gives Patriots The Lead

The offense took advantage of that, going on a 10-play, 68-yard drive that ended in a Julian Edelman touchdown. The drive featured Rob Gronkowski and Shane Vereen as the main receivers — taking advantage of man coverage from the Seahawks. The touchdown came on a great move to the outside by Edelman, a play Brady missed him on earlier. The touchdown gave the Patriots the lead with 2:02 left in the game, 28-24.

The Seahawks were not done, however. Russell Wilson led his team down to the 3 yard line following a play that resembled the famed “Helmet Catch” in 2007. The play was a 33 yard catch by Jermaine Kearse that was tipped by Malcolm Butler. The ball never hit the ground, but rather ended up in the hands of Kearse off of his own leg.

Unlikely Super Bowl Hero

The Seahawks chose to throw the ball on the goal line rather than run with Marshawn Lynch, and the call killed the chance of a repeat. Malcolm Butler stepped in front of a slant and intercepted the pass to clinch the Super Bowl for the Patriots, 28-24.

The win gives the Patriots their 4th Super Bowl in the Bill Belichick era and their first Super Bowl win in 10 years. Tom Brady completed 37 passes on the game, a Super Bowl record, which was good enough to give Brady his 3rd Super Bowl MVP trophy.

Related Slideshow: The New England Patriots - Greatest Team Ever

The New England Patriots have won their fourth Super Bowl in the Brady/Belichick Era by defeating the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in Super Bowl XLIX in Arizona. With that win, the Patriots have now put themselves in the conversation as being the greatest team ever in NFL history.

Here are ten reasons why they are in fact the greatest team!

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10.

Free Agency/Salary Cap Era Dominance

Since the beginning of the free agency and salary cap era in 1993, no coach and team has been more well-known for shrewd moves to stay under the salary cap and bringing in free agents to supplement the talent on his team, and win at the same time, as the New England Patriots.

In 2001, coach Belichick brought in free agents David Patten, Larry Izzo, Mike Vrabel, Antowain Smith, Bryan Cox and Roman Phifer. The Patriots won their first Super Bowl.

Belichick continued to bring in major free agents for the Patriots’ other Super Bowl runs. Whether it was Roosevelt Colvin and Rodney Harrison in 2003 or trading for Corey Dillon in 2004.

Belichick has also not been afraid to let star players walk. This includes allowing Ty Law to leave in 2005, Willie McGinest and Adam Vinatieri to leave and trading Deion Branch in 2006 or letting Asante Samuel leave in 2008.

Belichick has also not been afraid to pull the trigger on major trades just prior to the season starting. Trading players like Lawyer Milloy, Richard Seymour and Logan Mankins less than a month before the start of those respective seasons.

Despite all of these moves, the Patriots have continued to win year in and year out.

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9.

12 Straight Seasons of atLeast 10 Wins or More

The New England Patriots have had at least 10 wins in a season for 12 straight seasons. The last time the Patriots didn't have at least 10 wins in a season was in 2002 when they went 9-7 the year after winning a Super Bowl.

In this stretch, New England has won 16 games once, 12 games four times, 14 games three times, 13 and 11 games once and ten games two times.

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8.

As the game changes, Patriots still win.

When the Patriots started this incredible run in 2001, the game was much different then it is today.

The running game was still emphasized and defense's were allowed to be much more physical then they are in the game today.

Today's game features rules that are structured to help the offense score more points and teams, including the Patriots, have had to change the way they play defense and the way they hit, due to the emphasis on concussion prevention.

Through all the rule changes that the league has undergone, the Patriots have still won, year in and year out.

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5.

14 Consecutive Winning Seasons

In Bill Belichick's first season in New England, 2000, the Patriots went 5-11 and missed the playoffs for the second straight season. Since then, the Patriots have not had a losing season, not even a .500 season, 14 straight winning seasons.

Looking at all the seasons, one of the most impressive seasons still remains the 2008 season. Tom Brady got hurt in the first game and was out for the season and Matt Cassell stepped in to replace him.

The Patriots went 11-5 that year but missed the playoffs due to a tie breaker that they lost.

That particular season has to be one of Bill Belichicks greatest jobs in his time here. Nobody saw the Patriots going 11-5 that season after Brady went down.

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7.

9 Conference Championship Appearances

In the Brady/ Belichick era, the Patriots have been to nine AFC Championship games and have won six of them.

New England is currently in a stretch in which they have gone to four straight championship games, three of which were held at Gillette Stadium.

To put this in perspective, Peyton Manning has lost in the first round nine times in his career and the New York Jets have only ever been to four Conference Championship games in franchise history since the AFL - NFL merger.

To be a final four team in nine of 14 seasons is pretty impressive for the New England Patriots, or for that matter, any other team.

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6.

12 Division Titles- 6 Straight

The New England Patriots have now won 12 AFC East titles in 14 years and are currently in the middle of a stretch in which they have won six straight.

With the rest of the AFC East still a disaster, one has to believe that the Pats will be adding a few more titles before the Belichick-Brady era is over.

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4.

6 Conference Championships

The Patriots have been the best team in the AFC six times in the 14 year run of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.

Of the six games the Patriots won, they were favored in four of them and four of the six games were played at Gillette Stadium.

The six conference Championship wins are as follows:

2001- At Pittsburgh - Pats win 24-17
2003- vs Colts - Pats Win 24-14
2004- At Pittsburgh - Pats Win 41-27
2007- vs San Diego - Pats Win 21-12
2011- vs Baltimore - Pats Win 23-20
2015- vs Colts - Pats Win 45-7

Photo courtesy of Au Kirk, Flickr

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3.

4 Rings- 6 Appearances

In the Patriots six appearences in the Super Bowl, they have come out of it with four championships, including a stretch of three in four years.

The Patriots Super Bowl Wins are as follows:

2001 vs St. Louis Rams - Pats Win 20-17
2003 vs Carolina - Pats Win 32-29
2004 vs Philidelphia - Pats Win 24-21
2015 vs Seattle - Pats Win 28-24

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2.

Tom Brady- Greatest QB Ever?

Tom Brady now has four Super Bowl rings in his career tying his boyhood idol Joe Montana and is 4-2 in the Super Bowl with three Super Bowl MVP's.

Brady is the all-time leader in playoff passing yards with over 7,000 yards through the air and is the all -time leader in playoff wins with 21. Brady is 21-8 in the playoffs all-time.

Brady also has the most touchdown passes in Super Bowl history with 13 (Montana had 11) and has the most touchdown passes in playoff history with 53.

Brady is in the top five in career passing yards with over 53,000 and has a good chance to be in the top three by the time his career is over.

Tom Brady has 45 career game winning drives, which is tied for fourth all-time, and Brady is also fourth with 35 come from behind wins, 9 of which came in the playoffs.

The New England Patriots are the greatest team of all-time because they have the greatest quarterback of all time, Tom Brady.

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1.

Bill Belichick- Greatest Coach Ever

The number one reason why the New England Patriots (2001-14) are the greatest team of all time is because they have the greatest coach of all time, Bill Belichick.

Belichick now has four Super Bowl Rings which ties him for the most all-time with Chuck Noll, who did it with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1969-91. However, Belichick gets the edge because he has done it in the salary cap/free agency era, where his teams have undergone significant changes on a year to year basis.

Despite the various roster changes from year to year, Belichick has still won and is by far the most dominant coach of this era.

Bill Belichick has 22 playoff wins which is already more than any other coach in the history of the league and is 103 games over the .500 mark (212-109) in his coaching career.

Bill Belichick, the greatest coach of the greatest team of all time.