Patriots win 28-24
Another Seahawks comeback came up just a yard short, and on a play call that will be questioned for a long time, the Seahawks lost Super Bowl XLIX when Russell Wilson was intercepted from the 1-yard line. Seattle had the time and the timeouts to run the ball, but instead Wilson tried to thread a pass in to Ricardo Lockette, and Malcolm Butler intercepted it. Had Seattle won, we’d all be talking about Jermaine Kearse’s absurd juggling catch, instead, it was a miraculous drive that came up just short.
More when we hear from players and coaches.
Patriots lead 28-24 with 2:02 left
Does Russell Wilson have one more magical drive left in him? If he doesn’t, the Seahawks aren’t going to repeat, because Tom Brady just led the Patriots on a 64-yard touchdown drive to give them a four-point lead.
Patriots answer with touchdown drive to make it a three-point game
Big response from Tom Brady and the Patriots, who after an interception and two three-and-outs, drove 68 yards for a touchdown that made it 24-21.
Seattle’s defense has been great this half before that drive, but they’re going to have to get another top or two for the Seahawks to hold on, and do so without Cliff Avril, who has been ruled out with a concussion.
That touchdown pass was Brady’s 12th in the Super Bowl, moving him ahead of Joe Montana for the most all time.
Seahawks have now scored 17 unanswered points, lead 24-14
So, about this Chris Matthews guy, he opened the second half with a 45 yard catch, giving him 3 catches for 100 yards in this game, as well as his career. That set up a field goal, then the Seahawks got the ball back on a Bobby Wagner interception.
Two thing about that defensive series: Michael Bennett hit Brady twice on the drive, and has really been a handful, especially as an interior rusher. Also, right before the snap on the interception, Chancellor ran up and said something to Wagner. Will be interesting to hear what they saw/what was said, because clearly Wagner had that plays sniffed out.
Also, Cliff Avril went down on the interception and is being evaluated for a concussion. His return is questionable.
After the interception, and yes, another Matthews catch, the Seahawks got deep into New England territory on a 14-yard run Marshawn Lynch run. Two plays later, Russell Wilson hit Doug Baldwin on a crossing route. On that play, Darrelle Revis appeared to get “picked” because Baldwin, intentionally or not, ran him right into an official. You might have seen Richard Sherman flashing “two-four” on camera, which very much appeared to be a shot at his fellow cornerback.
Crazy finish to the half results in 14-14 tie
When the Seahawks scored with 2:16 left, it sort of had that “they gave Tom Brady too much time” feeling, and sure enough, the Patriots drove 80 yards on 80 pays to take the lead, scoring on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Rob Gronkowski, who was split out wide and matched up on linebacker K.J. Wright. That’s a matchup the Patriots will take all day long.
Nobody, however, was probably thinking the 31 seconds left on the clock following that score was too much time for Seattle, but the Seahawks somehow managed to drive 80 yards on five plays in just 29 seconds.
One key, and easy-to-overlook play of that drive was the very first one, when Robert Turbin rushed for 19 yards. Had he been stopped for little or no gain, the Seahawks likely run out the clock and go to halftime down a score, but with a long gain, they were in business. A Russell Wilson run and Ricardo Lockette catch—and the penalty tacked onto that play—put Seattle at the 11-yard line with six seconds left. The conservative play would have been to just take three points then, but Pete Carroll isn’t always one to go for the conservative call, and Wilson hit Chris Matthews for a 6-yard touchdown to tie it.
So to recap, Chris Matthews has now caught two passes in his NFL career, a 44-yarder to set up a touchdown in the Super Bowl, then a few minutes later, a touchdown in the Super Bowl. Not bad for a guy who wasn’t signed to Seattle’s active roster until Dec. 6.
A few quick halftime stats:
New England out-gained Seattle 22-167, had 18:02 time of possession to Seattle’s 11:58, and had five more first downs. Thanks to Jeremy Lane’s interception, however, it’s a tie tame.
LeGarrette Blount led New England with 30 yards on 10 carries, while Tom Brady passed for 177 yards, going 20 for 27 with an interception. Brady spread the ball out well, with Shane Vereen, Danny Amendola and Julian Edleman all going over 40 yards.
Marshawn Lynch had 12 carries for 45 yards, including a three-yard score, while Wilson was 4 for 7 for 84 yards and a touchdown, good for a passer rating of 139.3. Matthews was Seattle’s leading receiver with 55 yards on two catches.
Big Matthews catch sets up Lynch touchdown
Before today, Chris Matthews had never caught an NFL pass. Now he has a huge 44-yard grab to help the Seahawks tie the Super Bowl, leaping to haul in a long pass from Russell Wilson on what was the first remotely successful drive Seattle has had today. Earlier in the possession, Wilson completed a six-yard pass to Jermaine Kearse on third and six to keep the drive going. It was Wilson’s first completion of the game.
Marshawn Lynch scored from three-yards out, giving him nine career touchdowns in the postseason.
Brady to LaFell makes it 7-0
For the second time in as many games, the Seahawks are playing from behind thanks to a 9-play, 65 yard drive that took 4:10 off the clock. Tom Brady hit Brandon LaFell for an 11-yard touchdown to cap the drive. The touchdown pass was Brady’s 50th in postseason play, the most in NFL history.
It’s pretty clear the Patriots are going after Tharold Simon with him coming into the game because of Jeremy Lane’s injury. Simon came up with a pass breakup on the first pass his direction, but was beat later on a couple of completions, including the touchdown to LaFell.
Lane intercepts Brady, but hurt on the play
After a long New England drive got inside the Seattle 10-yard line, Tom Brady made a very poor decision with Michael Bennett applying pressure, and floated pass into the end zone that was intercepted by Jeremy Lane, the first interception of his career. Unfortunately for Lane, he went down hard on the return and based on the replay (if you haven’t seen it, don’t), it appears he broke his arm. He’s officially listed as doubtful to return.
The Seahawks again couldn’t do much with the ensuing possession, however, and Russell Wilson has only attempted one pass early in the second quarter.
As expected, with Lane out, Tharold Simon is coming in in nickel situations, pushing Byron Maxwell inside.
Seahawks go three and out
Seattle went run, run, run on its opening drive, handing off three times to Marshawn Lynch, who was stuffed for no gain on third-and-two.
Two takeaways from that series. One, Vince Wilfork is a handful, and two, Darrelle Revis, New England’s top corner, is shadowing Doug Baldwin in the early going.
Patriots punt on opening drive
We’re underway in Super Bowl XLIX, and while the Seahawks didn’t get a safety on the first play this time around, they did get the Patriots off the field pretty quickly, allowing one first down before forcing a punt. It might have been a three-and-out had Richard Sherman not missed a tackle on Danny Amendola, allowing the receiver to turn what would have been a very minimal gain into a six-yard gain.
The Seahawks haven’t hit Tom Brady yet, but got good pressure on third-and-six to force an incomplete pass. Based on the early going at least, it looks like the Patriots want to dink and dunk their way down the field rather than test Seattle’s secondary deep, hardly a surprising strategy.
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