Story published: February 2, 2015
Headline: At his best, Brady delivers title | Patriots 28, Seahawks 24
GLENDALE, Ariz. - The Patriots returned to the University of Phoenix Stadium to erase the ghosts of Super Bowls past. And if there was a time and place for Tom Brady to be Tom Brady, this was it.
The Patriots entered the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIX down by 10 points, 24-14. It looked again like [...]
Story published: February 2, 2015
Headline: At his best, Brady delivers title | Patriots 28, Seahawks 24
GLENDALE, Ariz. - The Patriots returned to the University of Phoenix Stadium to erase the ghosts of Super Bowls past. And if there was a time and place for Tom Brady to be Tom Brady, this was it.
The Patriots entered the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIX down by 10 points, 24-14. It looked again like they'd leave the desert, this place that once erased their dream of a perfect season, with more disappointment and more haunting memories.
But on this night, the Patriots exorcised their demons.
On this night, Brady's legend grew, and the Patriots left Arizona with the fourth Super Bowl championship in franchise history.
Early in the fourth quarter, Brady connected with Danny Amendola for a touchdown to make it 24-21. After the Patriots defense held, Brady took the field with 6:52 to go and the Pats fans in attendance chanting "Brady! Brady! Brady!"
He took the team down the field like he did in the Super Bowl 13 years ago against the St. Louis Rams. He hit Julian Edelman for a 3-yard touchdown with 2:02 left for a 28-24 lead, the first time the Pats had been ahead in the second half.
The Patriots were 122 seconds away from their fourth championship, but you knew the Seahawks wouldn't go away easily. Starting at their 20-yard line, Russell Wilson hit Marshawn Lynch for a 31-yard gain to the New England 49.
The Patriots secondary then fell victim to a David Tyree-type reception, as Wilson's pass to Jermaine Kearse looked like it had fallen incomplete. But the ball had actually bounced off the fallen Kearse's legs and right into his hands for a 33-yard reception to the 5-yard line.
On the next play, Lynch bulled ahead to the 1-yard line. It looked like a third heartbreaking Super Bowl loss for the Patriots.
But on this night, an unlikely hero would emerge.
Instead of running Lynch, the Seahawks put Wilson in the shotgun, and he threw a quick pass intended for Ricardo Lockette. But Malcolm Butler jumped in front of Lockette and intercepted the pass with 20 seconds left in the game.
The game was over, except for an ugly scrum between frustrated Seahawks players and members of the Patriots offense in the closing moments.
"It wasn't the way we drew it up," said Brady, who won his third Super Bowl MVP award. "It was a lot of mental toughness. Our team has had it all year. We never doubted each other, so that's what it took."
The fourth Super Bowl victory places Brady and Belichick in the record book as two of the best ever in their respective positions. Brady tied Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for the most Super Bowl victories all-time by a quarterback, and Belichick tied Chuck Noll for the most by a coach.
"We got behind bad and found a way to slug it out," Brady said.
"We're bringing this thing back to Foxboro. It feels unbelievable," Edelman said about the Lombardi Trophy. "We have a mentally tough team that works their tails off and is the epitome of what Boston is all about."
The Patriots had the Seahawks on the ropes in the first half, but couldn't come anywhere close to delivering the knockout blow.
The team's most promising drive of the first quarter ended in a turnover when Brady's pass from the 10-yard line was intercepted by Seattle cornerback Jeremy Lane in the end zone. On the interception return, Lane suffered an injury to his left arm and left the game.
The Patriots defense stepped up, however, forcing Seattle to punt for the second time in the game, and the offense responded. This time, Brady found Brandon LaFell for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with 9:51 left in the second quarter.
The lead didn't last long. After the teams exchanged three-and-outs, the Seahawks tied the game, 7-7, with help from an unlikely source.
First, Wilson completed his first pass of the game - to Kearse. On the next play, the quarterback hit Chris Matthews for a 44-yard pass play to the 11-yard line. The catch was impressive for Matthews not just because he had Kyle Arrington draped all over him, but also because has never caught a pass in an NFL game before.
Three plays later, Lynch plowed into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown with 2:16 left in the half.
The back-and-forth play continued. The Patriots were quick to respond, putting together a solid drive to take a 14-7 lead, capped by a 22-yard touchdown catch by Rob Gronkowski with 36 seconds left in the half.
But the Patriots wouldn't go into halftime with the lead or the momentum. The Seahawks responded with a game-changing drive, traveling 80 yards in 29 seconds to tie the game, 14-14, as Wilson hit Matthews once again, this time for an 11-yard score.
When the second half started, the Patriots still didn't have an answer for Matthews.
After a 15-yard run by Lynch, Wilson hit Matthews for a 45-yard gain to the New England 17. The defense held, but Seattle took its first lead of the game on a Steven Hauschka 27-yard field goal.
Any small victory that the Patriots earned from preventing a touchdown dissipated on the next drive as Brady was intercepted for the second time of the game, this time by linebacker Bobby Wagner, with 8:15 left in the third. Seattle started at the 50 and marched down the field with ease en route to a 3-yard touchdown reception by Doug Baldwin.
The score capped a 17-0 run by Seattle, and the Patriots found themselves down, 24-14, with a little less than 20 minutes left.
That's when Brady showed why he's one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the game.
The Patriots were able to staunch the bleeding on Amendola's touchdown with eight minutes left in the game. In the drive, two pass plays of 21 yards to Edelman got the Patriots moving and an unnecessary roughness penalty on Seattle also helped as the Pats moved to within three and found themselves down 24-21.
"We said we needed one good drive to get back in the game," Brady said.
After a three-and-out by the defense, Brady got the ball back with 6:52 left in the game.
And that's when he lived up to his reputation, delivering the Patriots their fourth Super Bowl championship.
"I couldn't be prouder of this team," said head coach Bill Belichick. "These guys have been counted out many times throughout the course of the year by a lot of people, but they always believed him themselves and just kept fighting. They did a couple weeks ago against Baltimore and we did it today."