Super Bowl XLIX Recap

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: February 3, 2015

(Photo: Rob Carr, Getty Images)

Glendale, Arizona was the site for Super Bowl XLIX, where in addition to the NFL championship, there was a great deal on the line for the two quarterbacks involved. For Russell Wilson, it was a chance to win back-to-back Super Bowls, joining Bart Starr, Bob Griese, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, John Elway, and the man looking to keep him from joining this prestigious club, Tom Brady. For Tom Brady, it was a chance to join an even more exclusive club: quarterbacks with four championships.

The Seahawks’ offense, as they did in the NFC Championship game, got off to a slow start. The Patriots, on the other hand, started quite well, moving the ball methodically down the field, before a Brady red zone interception put an end to the drive. After a quick first fifteen, we were as we began.

The Patriots put up the first points of the night when Brady found Brandon LaFell for an 11-yard touchdown pass, just over five minutes into the second quarter. Seven-and-a-half minutes later, the Seahawks tied the game when Marshawn Lynch took it into the end zone from three yards out. On the ensuing Patriots possession, Brady swiftly led the Pats 80 yards to the end zone in 1:15, capping off the drive with his second touchdown pass of the night, this one a 22-yarder to Rob Gronkowski that FedEx could not have delivered better. The Patriots left Seattle with 31 seconds, and Seattle made the most of it, with Russell Wilson leading the Seahawks on an 80-yard drive of their own, ending with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Chris Matthews, to send the game into halftime tied at 14.

Seattle got off to a much better start in the second half than they did in the first, moving the ball 72 yards down the field, before the Patriots were able to bring up fourth down. While Seattle had to settle for a Steven Hauschka 27-yarder, the field goal gave the Seahawks their first lead of the night. While the Patriots struggled, the Seahawks appeared to be finding their rhythm and a little over six minutes after taking the lead, they were able to expand it when Russell Wilson threw his second touchdown pass of the night, this one a 3-yard strike to Doug Baldwin, giving the Seahawks a 24-14 lead, which they would take into the fourth quarter.

Just over seven minutes into the fourth, Tom Brady capped off a 68-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola, Brady’s third TD pass in the contest, to cut the Seahawks’ lead to 3. After a big stop by the Patriots defense, Brady and the offense would get the ball back with just under seven minutes to play. Brady and the Patriots took their time moving down the field, taking nearly five minutes off the clock before reclaiming the lead on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Julian Edelman. The Seahawks had 2:02 and all three of their timeouts to try to win the game, though.

After a touchback on the kickoff, the Seahawks started from their own 20, and were able to move the ball into Patriots territory on the lone play before the 2-minute warning. After another first down, the Seahawks got the ball down to the Patriots’ 5 yard line on a pass intended for Jermaine Kearse that was tipped by Malcolm Butler and landed in Kearse’s lap. After Marshawn Lynch ran the ball down to the 1, the Seahawks made a decision that has many people still scratching their heads. After the Lynch run, Bill Belichick chose to hold on to his two remaining timeouts, so the clock was down to 26 seconds when the Seahawks ran their next play. The Seahawks eschewed the run in favor of a pick play pass that ended up being intercepted by Malcolm Butler. The game was still not over, though, as the Patriots had the ball at their own 1, thus preventing them from simply taking a knee to run out the clock. However, the Patriots ended up not having to worry about what to do to get the ball away from their goal line and the clock moving, as Michael Bennett was called for encroachment. After the snap and kneel down on first down following the encroachment flag, a fight broke out, resulting in Bruce Irvin being ejected. After order was restored, Brady took a second knee and joined Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as the only quarterbacks to win four Super Bowls.

Now, let’s talk about that play from the 1 that the Seahawks ran. You have a human battering ram at running back, 26 seconds and a timeout and that’s the play you run? Really, Pete Carroll? Really, Darrell Bevell? And Russell Wilson’s at fault here, too. He has to see Butler jump the route, and then after seeing him do so, not throw the ball. Again, there were 26 seconds left when the Seahawks ran that play. There was plenty of time to run a couple more plays. As Brian Cook on MGoBlog pointed out, anybody who’s ever played Madden could have figured that one out. Now, while as much as I love Madden and as great as it is (especially this year’s version), it still has a long way to go to be able to truly realistically simulate NFL football, so obviously it should not be used as a reference when discussing the game of football itself. (Although, Madden did pretty much nail it with its Super Bowl simulation.) But there is at least some carryover in the area of clock management.

Anyway, congratulations to Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots.

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com

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