We're On to the Duck Boats... Patriots Survive Super Thriller 28-24
In the end, this one was truly super…
Another Patriots Super Bowl, another thrilling finish, but this time it was the Patriots who came out on top. Malcolm Butler the undrafted cornerback from West Alabama who made the team as a surprise out of training camp, jumped a route at the one yard line and intercepted a Russell Wilson pass to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The Patriots held on for a 28-24 win and their fourth Super Bowl win in the Bill Belichick, Tom Brady era.
The Patriots showed their resilience, once again coming back from a double-digit deficit in the playoffs and were able to stop Seattle in the fourth quarter and allow Brady to work some magic, down 24-14 in the fourth quarter. Brady and Julian Edelman worked the field magnificently on two scoring drives and it was just enough to upset the Seahawks who were looking to repeat as Super Bowl champs.
Some other observations from Sunday’s game include:
Brady’s Signature Moment Keys Victory: Down by 10 with twelve minutes to play, with the running game stagnated; the Pats needed a big effort from #12, and that is just what they got. Brady went 5-7 for 59 yards with a touchdown pass to Danny Amendola to narrow the lead to just three, 24-21.
The Patriots defense forced a three-and-out and Brady got the ball back with 6:52 left on the clock and 64 yards away from a chance at victory. He told his teammates in the huddle, "We need a championship drive." And he delivered, going a perfect 8-8 on the game winning drive for 65 yards and the 3-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman.
The big play on the drive was the 2nd and 11 pass after Danny Amendola was flagged for offensive pass interference when Brady hit Rob Gronkowski for a 20-yard pass down the right sideline to move the sticks.
Against the NFL’s #1 pass defense, Brady was brilliant in the 4th quarter going 13-15 for 124 yards and two touchdowns with the game on the line. And doing it against the best defense in the league makes it even more impressive. This was sweet redemption for a guy whose very job was called into question after a devastating MNF loss back in September.
Brady’s day was far from perfect, he threw a terrible pick in the first half that killed a seven-minute drive and another on the Patriots first drive of the second half on a great read by Bobby Wagner, but overall he was very, very good especially at crunch time. Brady’s numbers for Sunday 37-50 for 328 yards, 6.6 yards per attempt with four touchdowns to four different receivers and two interceptions for a QB rating of 101.1 against the Seahawks.
His numbers in the three playoff wins, 93-135, for 921 yards, 6.8 yards per attempt, 10 TDs and 4 INTs for 100.2 Quarterback rating and a Super Bowl MVP, his third.
Brady’s legacy now involves four Super Bowl wins, tying him with Terry Bradshaw and his boyhood idol Joe Montana with four. And his window of excellence carries him to 13 years between his first championship and his latest. This is an unheard of accomplishment in the era of the salary cap.
With the at times ridiculous questioning of not his ability but his integrity in recent weeks, this one has to feel pretty sweet for the future Hall of Famer.
Edelman’s Toughness pays off: Much of the talk leading up to this matchup was (and rightfully so), was the toughness and physicality of the Seattle secondary. The “Legion of Boom” moniker is well deserved and most experts didn’t give the Patriots receivers much of a shot at breaking the jam and holding up against a tough Seahawks back seven.
But Julian Edelman has proved that toughness isn’t always measured in the size of the frame but in one of the heart. Edelman was essential in the final two scoring drives, taking big hits, (one huge one by Kam Chancellor), but was able to keep going and made a tremendous move on the game-winning catch to get open for the score.
Edelman caught nine passes for 109 yards and the big touchdown with 2:02 left in the game, but his toughness was the biggest takeaway from the win. The former quarterback turned wide receiver is Brady’s favorite receiver for a reason and when the chips were down, he came thru in spades.
Butler Shines in the spotlight: New England fans were probably feeling a bit of Deja vu after watching Jermaine Kearse haul in an improbable and fantastic catch at the four-yard line as he fell to the ground. It was Butler who had blanket coverage on Kearse and knocked the deep pass from Wilson away, but the ball never hit the ground and Kearse made a tremendous effort to haul it in. It was a David Tyree-type moment and the Patriots hopes faded until Butler intercepted Wilson two plays later.
Marshawn Lynch carried the ball to the one on first down and the Patriots put in their heavy goal-line package. The Seahawks responded with a three receiver package and a two receiver stack. Butler was one of three corners on the field and read the call perfectly.
"Goal line, preparation, the formation they were in with the two-receiver stack, I knew they were throwing a pick route," he said. "It was on the line, we needed it, and I just beat him to the route and made the play."
While Butler didn’t get a ton of playing time this season considering the Patriots deep cornerback position, he has been turning heads since June mini-camps and during training camp he seemed to make a big play every day, earning him a roster spot. This is a great story for a guy who was working at a fast food place not too long ago.
Wilson Simply Brilliant: It’s perhaps unfair, that the only play people will remember from this Super Bowl will be the Russell Wilson interception at the goal line at the end of the game. For most of the 60 minutes on Sunday, Wilson was once again playing excellent in the game’s biggest stage.
After a slow start, Wilson started looking to little-used Chris Matthews who had never caught a pass in his career and the both of them jumped started the offense. The 6’5 Matthews had a huge size mismatch over 5’10 Kyle Arrington and Wilson worked that to perfection.
Coming into the game, the Patriots were worried about Wilson making plays with his feet and those fears were well founded. He scrambled 39 yards on three rushes but constantly extended plays with his feet and has incredible touch on his deep ball.
While the call at the end of the game will be debated and rightfully so for years to come, Wilson was once again brilliant on the games’ biggest stage.
Healthy Gronkowski makes a Big Difference: During the Patriots last Super Bowl appearance, Rob Gronkowski was hobbled with an ankle injury that would require off-season surgery. The Giants quickly learned he was nothing more than a decoy and the Patriots ultimately fell short in the 21-17 loss.
The past two seasons, the Patriots have had to deal with his absence due to a myriad of injuries. This season, Gronkowski remained healthy and with the addition of Brandon LaFell, along with Edelman and Amendola, the Patriots offense has taken off.
The big tight end drew a lot of attention from the Seahawks defense but still was able to haul in six catches for 68 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown came with just 36 seconds left in the first half with the score knotted at seven. Seeing him in single coverage on LB K.J. Wright and recognizing a mismatch, Brady looked right to Gronk, who easily beat Wright and hauled in a beautifully arced pass for the score.
Gronk’s other big moment(s) came on the Patriots final scoring drive. Facing a 2nd and 11 after a penalty, Brady hit Gronkowski for a huge 20-yard gain when he was locked into single coverage with Chancellor. Later in the drive, Brady hit him for another big 13-yard gain setting the stage for the Edelman and Brady fireworks.
The healthy availability of Gronkowski has been a major plus for the Patriots in 2014 and the big man is the gold standard when it comes to tight ends. He simply makes everyone else around him better and the offense in the playoffs this season averaged 36 points per game. That is an incredible amount considering that in two of the games, the Patriots faced the stout defenses of Seattle and Baltimore.
So cue those Duck Boats Boston! There is another parade to plan because the Patriots are Super Bowl Champions again….what a ride it has been this season.
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