Patriots 28, Seahawks 24
With all of the momentum, the Seahawks seemed to be guaranteed a victory. Lynch ran tough all evening, gaining more than four yards per carry. He would’ve absolutely pummeled the ball into the end zone. Instead, Seattle inexplicably decided to pass. A safe Russell Wilson pass would’ve been fine, but the third-year quarterback fired the pass into coverage. Rookie Malcolm Butler picked off the ball, icing the inexplicable victory for the Patriots.
The decision was mind-boggling, and Darrell Bevell should be fired. There was no reason for Wilson to force a pass into tight coverage; let alone throw the ball. Lynch had already scored a touchdown, and New England was baiting the Seahawks to throw. In fact, both Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth were talking about the Patriots letting the Seahawks score so they could have some time left for their possession. I still can’t believe what happened, and I have a feeling NFL people will be dissecting Seattle’s decision for years to come. The Rams-Titans Super Bowl also went down to the wire like this, but it didn’t involve an awful coaching decision, nor did one team throw away a sure victory.
The Patriots did win though, meaning Tom Brady is now one of three quarterbacks to win four Super Bowls, joining Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana. That, however, is overshadowed by the fact that the team still has to deal with Deflate-Gate. If the Patriots are ultimately found guilty of deflating the footballs in previous contests, it’s going to look incredibly bad for the NFL. Many of those I was watching the Super Bowl with opined that Tom Brady or Bill Belichick shouldn’t have been a part of this game, and there were some who thought the Colts should’ve taken New England’s spot in Arizona.
The Patriots got to the Super Bowl by cheating, and they won it by cheating a bit. They got away with so many offensive pass interference penalties. They ran an incredible amount of Peyton Manning-type pick plays, yet they were whistled for just one infraction. Julian Edelman also got away with pushing off on what was ultimately the game-winning touchdown. The Patriots had to rely on lots of these sorts of gadget-type plays, as Brady didn’t show any sort of ability to push the ball downfield. I wrote in my Live Super Bowl blog that Alex Smith could’ve piloted New England’s offense. Brady was named the MVP, but all he did was dink and dunk.
Brady should get credit for erasing a 10-point deficit in the second half, but it must be noted that he was going against a defense missing two key players. Jeremy Lane was injured on Brady’s first interception, which occurred in the end zone as the quarterback was getting hit. Lane’s absence was huge because he was charged with covering Edelman, and his replacement, Tharold Simon, didn’t have a chance. Cliff Avril later suffered a concussion on Brady’s second pick, which was forced into coverage. Avril missing was also big because he provides a strong pass rush, and Brady suddenly had tons of time in the pocket once the former Detroit Lion was gone.
Wilson finished 12-of-21 for 247 yards, two touchdowns and the back-breaking interception at the very end. He scrambled just three times for 39 rushing yards, as the Patriots used a spy on him. Wilson made his usual deep completions and outplayed Brady until Seattle’s final offensive play of the game. Unfortunately for Wilson, he’ll always be remembered for that brutal pick.
For more thoughts, check out my updated NFL Power Rankings, which will be posted Tuesday morning.
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