Tom Brady leads New England Patriots on a thrilling ride to Super Bowl XLIX win
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Version 0 of 1. At long last, the California kid has caught up to his idol. Ten years on from his last triumph, Tom Brady has finally won his fourth Super Bowl – joining Joe Montana as two of the only three quarterbacks ever to achieve that landmark. He did it by exorcising the demons of one of the darkest days of his career. The last time that Brady and the Patriots played a Super Bowl in Arizona, their dreams of a perfect season were dashed by a Giants team inspired by an extraordinary catch from little-known wideout named David Tyree. Eight years later, they entered the fourth quarter of this game against Seattle trailing by 10 points to opponents whose leading receiver had never caught an NFL pass before in his career. Brady led the Patriots to touchdowns on consecutive possessions to turn the story on its head, but even after he had done so there was still time for what looked like another Tyree moment. Unlike Matthews, Jermaine Kearse is an established starter for the Seahawks, but the catch that he made inside the final two minutes of this game was every bit as improbable as the one that was made at Super Bowl XLII. Targeted by quarterback Russell Wilson on a long pass down the right sideline, Kearse saw the ball tipped out of his hands by New England’s Malcolm Butler, only for it to then fall on top of the receiver as he tumbled to the ground at the Patriots’ five-yard line. Somehow, it never hit the turf. Brady looked on aghast. Once again it seemed that the fates were conspiring against him. This time, though, he would not be denied. Two plays later, Butler intercepted Wilson in the end zone to seal a 28-24 win. It was a stunning conclusion, and also a baffling one. Why had they chosen to throw the ball at all when running it would seem more logical on second-and-goal from the one-yard line? Marshawn Lynch had already pulverised the Patriots for 102 yards on 24 carries, and the Seahawks still had 26 seconds and a timeout remaining in case he did not get in. Related: How bad was the Seahawks play call at the end of Super Bowl XLIX? Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll took responsibility for the decision afterwards, but also defended it - suggesting that the call had been motivated in part by a desire to skim more time off the clock. “We sent in our personnel, they sent in goalline, it’s not the right matchup for us to run the football, so on second down we throw the ball really to kind of waste that play. If we score, we do, if we don’t then we’ll run it on third and fourth down ... “Unfortunately, with the play that we tried to execute, the guy makes a great play and jumps in front of the route and makes an incredible play that nobody would ever think he could do. And unfortunately that changes the whole outcome.” Butler confessed that he too had been surprised that Seattle chose not to run the ball, but said that he had a hunch about the play as soon as he saw the Seahawks line up. “I got beat on that route on Tuesday or Wednesday in practice,” said the cornerback – who added that it was the Seahawks’ stacking of their receivers which gave him the clue. “Bill told me, ‘they’re going to do that’. And they did that.” Asked why he decided to try and jump the play, Butler added: “We needed it. The ball was on the one-yard line. We needed it. So I had to.” The collective mood swing of the more than 60,000 spectators inside the University of Phoenix stadium was something to behold. Outnumbered by some measure here in Arizona, New England’s fans might still have taken the roof off the venue - if it had not been left open for the night. They had been drowned out for so much of the game by Seattle’s 12th Man. Even the news that the Seahawks had won the coin toss before the game had been met with a deafening roar. After Seattle deferred the opening kickoff, New England took to the field amidst a din that would make it hard enough for Brady to concentrate, let alone communicate with team-mates at the line. For most of the first quarter, the quarterback seemed to take it all in his stride. After the teams had exchanged punts to start the game, the Patriots embarked on a methodical drive down the field, LeGarrette Blount making steady progress between the tackles and Brady patiently picking out underneath receivers for short gains. In 12 plays, New England moved from their own 32 down to the Seattle 10. Related: Super Bowl ads reviewed: Nissan, Nationwide and Kim Kardashian But just when the first points of the game were in sight, Brady make his first mistake. Under pressure from Michael Bennett on third-and-six, he lobbed an ugly pass into the middle of the end zone, where Jeremy Lane picked it off. It was a costly mistake and also an uncharacteristic one. Not since January 2008 had Brady thrown a red zone interception in the playoffs. The turnover was not a turning point. Seattle struggled out from their 14-yard line to the 26 before punting. By the time that New England’s offense returned to the field, Lane had departed for the locker room on a cart – having suffered a gruesome-looking injury to his left arm at the end of his interception return. Brady went after his replacement, Tharold Simon, relentlessly as he guided the Patriots’ offense back down the field. First Julian Edelman escaped the defender on a pass over the middle of the field, turning Brady’s five-yard throw into a 23-yard gain on a third-and-nine from the Seattle 35. Two play later, the quarterback delivered an 11-yard dart to Brandon LaFell – also covered by Simon – in the end zone from for the game’s opening score. Each team went three-and-out on its next possession. By the time Seattle took over on offense again, they had been outgained by 147 yards to 22. With just over five-and-a-half minutes left in the second quarter, Wilson was yet to complete a pass. The 12th Man exploded in a bellow of relief when he finally amended that statistic by firing the ball into the hands of Kearse to keep this next drive alive on third-and-six. His second completion was even better, a 44-yard missile to Matthews. Just like that, Seattle found themselves at the New England 11. Lynch did the rest, forcing his way across the line on the last of three consecutive carries. Related: Katy Perry Super Bowl half time show review – epic, lung-busting kitsch It was the first act of a wild conclusion to the first-half. New England restored their advantage immediately, Brady concluding a scintillating drive by hitting Rob Gronkowski in stride for a 22-yard touchdown. There were barely 31 seconds left on the clock when Seattle took over again on offense, but they needed just 25 of those to reach the New England 11-yard line – aided by a facemask penalty against Kyle Arrington. A coach other than Pete Carroll might have sent on the field goal unit, ensuring that his team did not run out of time to put points on the board. Instead, after a time-out, the Seahawks’ offense returned to the field. Out of the shotgun, Wilson took the snap, dropped one step and fired the ball high at Matthews in the left corner of the end zone. He turned back at the perfect moment to make the grab. Now the benefits of winning the coin toss came into effect. Seattle would get the ball to start the second-half and seized on that opportunity to take their first lead of the night. Steven Hauschka had missed three field goals when Seattle last visited this stadium to take on the Cardinals in December. But he made no mistake this time from 27 yards after another long reception from Matthews down the left sideline. The Seahawks intercepted Brady for a second time on New England’s ensuing possession, Bobby Wagner stepping in front of a pass intended for Gronkowski. The quarterback was guilty of staring down his tight end before the throw, although his mistake might also have had to do with Seattle’s increasingly effective pass rush. He had been clobbered by Bennett after releasing the ball on a completion two plays earlier. This time Seattle were ruthless in punishing the error. Matthews got things started again with a nine-yard reception, but it was the more familiar figure of Doug Baldwin who would eventually snare the Seahawks’ third touchdown, after Wilson spotted him running free in the back of the end zone at the end of a six-play drive. The Patriots failed to pick up a first down on either of their next two possessions, but Seattle, too, had lost momentum. Punts were exchanged as the game tipped over into the fourth quarter. Finally, New England broke out of their slumber, putting together a 68-yard drive that ended with Brady firing to Danny Amendola for a short touchdown. Now it was Seattle’s turn to look shaken. In need of a long drive to calm nerves and keep the ball out of Brady’s hands, they instead went three-and-out with a pair of Wilson incompletions. The 12th Man had fallen silent. Instead it was Brady’s name that we heard chanted as New England’s offense returned to the field. He responded with a drive befitting of his status as one of the all-time greats. Brady completed every one of his nine passes (officially only eight, as one was wiped out by an offensive pass interference penalty) as the Patriots went 64 yards on 10 plays. He finished by finding Edelman for a three-yard score to give New England back the lead. All that was left was for Butler to make his interception. The defender had won the day, but Brady was a clear choice as the game’s MVP. As well as matching Montana’s haul of Super Bowl wins, this was also a day on which he shattered the former 49er’s record for most touchdown passes in NFL title games. Brady now has 13. “I never put myself in those discussions,” said Brady when comparisons with Montana were put to him after the game. “That’s not how I think. There are so many great players that have been on so many great teams and we’ve had some great teams that haven’t won it. I think you’ve got to just enjoy the moment.” Not even the ghosts of Super Bowls past could prevent him from doing that on Sunday evening. |