As you all know, Super Bowl XLIX was a few weeks ago, featuring the perennially dominant New England Patriots and the defending champions, the Seattle Seahawks. But this wasn't just any ordinary Super Bowl. This might have been one of the best games in Super Bowl history. Let's break down this game.
First off, I'd just like to say that before the playoffs started, I predicted that New England would beat Seattle in the Super Bowl 27-24. Turns out, I was only one point off. Not bad.
Secondly, let's look at the historical significance of this game. It was relatively unique in the fact that it featured the two #1 seeds of the playoffs. Since the seeding format was introduced in 1975, there have only been 10 Super Bowls to feature both top seeds. Interestingly enough, two of these times were the last two Super Bowls. This game was also a matchup of two of the most successful postseason quarterbacks of all time. Tom Brady has more playoff wins (21) than any other QB in NFL history, as well as more playoff touchdowns (53) and yards (7,345) than anyone else. Oh, and he is also now tied with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for most Super Bowl wins of all time. His opponent, Russell Wilson, has only been in the league for 3 years, but has already made a name for himself. He has won 6 of his 8 playoff appearances, dazzling fans and opponents with his ability to extend and make plays, both on the ground and through the air, his never-say-die attitude, and his upbeat playing style. He has firmly entrenched himself as the league's best dual-threat QB. In a way, this game was a contest between the old and the new; the established veteran vs. the up and coming star.
Another intriguing matchup this year was between the head coaches. On one side was Bill Belichick, one of the greatest coaches in history. On the other side was Pete Carroll, one of the NFL's most popular coaches, and one of the smartest football minds out there. Interestingly enough, Carroll was New England's last head coach. Again, this was a case of establishment vs. new comer (this is only Carroll's 4th year in the league, albeit in his second NFL stint).
Last year Seattle's defense, the best in the league, and perhaps the best defense in modern NFL history, took on the Denver Broncos, a historically proficient offense. While many people expected Seattle to prevail, no one could have imagined that they would put on one of the largest Super Bowl beat-downs in history, winning 43-8, over Peyton Manning. This year, however, the Seahawks went up against a much more balanced team. New England put together one of the NFL's best defenses this season, anchored by Darrelle Revis and their secondary. Combining Revis with Brandon Browner, Dont'a Hightower, Devin McCourty, and rising star Jamie Collins, gave the Patriots one of the most formidable back sevens in the league. This took some of the pressure off their somewhat suspect run defense. As we all know, defense wins championships, and this year was no different. Unlike in 2007 and 2010, this year New England was able to get key stops when it mattered. And, as it turned out, it was a defensive play that determined the outcome of this game.
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| The Moment of Truth |
While defense wins championships, offense wins games, as the saying goes. As amazing as Malcolm Butler's last-second, game-saving, miracle interception was, he never would have had the chance to save that game had Thomas Edward Patrick Brady not engineered the largest 4th quarter comeback in Super Bowl history. Prior to this year, no team had ever come back from more than an 8 point 4th Qtr. deficit...until the Patriots came back from down 10. And Brady didn't just come back and beat any old team. He threw two TD passes in the final 8 minutes of the game against one of the most dominant defenses the NFL has seen since perhaps the 2000 Baltimore Ravens (and maybe even the 1985 Chicago Bears). He completed more passes in the 4th quarter than Russell Wilson did in the entire game. In my opinion the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XLIX will go down as the greatest moment in Brady's illustrious career. Before the game I heard several members of the media say that Brady lacked that signature moment that many of the great QBs before him had. Well, he got his signature moment, his coup de grâce, two weeks ago, when he went 8-for-8 on the final drive, culminated with the game winning touchdown to Julian Edelman. Oh, and while he was at it, he thought he might as well just go ahead and set a Super Bowl record for most passes (37) completed.
So, we know the Patriots played a great game, but how did they do it? Coaching. Great, unbelievable coaching, and play-calling. Without a doubt, Bill Belichick is an absolute football genius, who is able to get the absolute most out of his players each and every year. Along with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, he drew up the perfect game plan to take down the Seahawks. Seattle's defense had been almost perfect during the last half of the season. During the last 7 games of the year, the Legion of Boom had allowed a mind-blowingly low 8 points per game. So, how was New England going to score enough points to win? Well, they did it by having Brady blanket the field with what seemed like a billion short, accurate throws. As they did all season, the Patriots used the short passing game (in particular the screen passes to Shane Vereen) as their version of a running game. And boy was it deadly. Brady completed nearly every one of his passes of less than 5 yards. Oftentimes, his receivers turned these short passes into long gains. Julian Edelman was a huge difference maker in this area. Seattle simply couldn't contain his speed and elusiveness going over the middle. McDaniels and Belichick sent their bigger receivers (LaFell and Gronkowski) deep to occupy Sherman and Earl Thomas, which cleared out the middle of the field. Edelman, Vereen, and Amendola made the absolute best of the opportunity, and shredded Seattle's defense for a combined 25 catches, 222 yards, and 2 touchdowns. This was the "dink and dunk" approach that made the Patriots offense so deadly this year. Opposing defenses were forced to send extra pass rushers because they couldn't get to the QB in the two seconds it took him to get rid of the football. Brady's methodical dissection of opposing secondaries all season (and especially in this game) was a thing of beauty.
This post wouldn't be complete without a discussion of the Seahawks' final play call. For the past few weeks, the majority of Americans have been heartily bashing Pete Carroll and Darrell Bevell for calling a pass play instead of handing it to the most physical running back in the league to smash it in from the 1 yard line. While it did seem pretty stupid not to run the ball, there was a good reason not to. If you listened to Carroll's explanation, it actually makes a lot of sense. Seattle had the ball 2nd and goal with one timeout and only 26 seconds left. That being the case, they had three tries to get in the endzone, but only enough time for two running plays. Carroll reasoned that they would basically burn one play to stop the clock on a low risk/high reward pass play (on similar plays this season teams passed for 66 TDs and 0 INTs). He figured, best case scenario, Russell Wilson throws or runs for a TD, like he's been doing for the past three years, or, worst case scenario, he throws an incompletion to stop the clock. Then they would have two shots at the endzone with the NFL's most bruising back (and remember, they didn't want to leave the Patriots any time to score afterwards). Unfortunately for Seattle, that's not what happened. Instead, as Seahawks fans everywhere looked on in open-mouthed horror, an undrafted rookie made an incredible play on the ball and came away with the most important interception in Super Bowl history. On the Patriots' sideline Brady and Co. were going absolutely nuts. Just seconds earlier, Brady was sitting on the bench with a look of disbelief on his face after Jermaine Kearse made one of the most improbable catches you'll ever see (David Tyree anyone?). Then he was jumping up and down and screaming like a little kid. That was this entire game in a nutshell--massive let downs, followed by unreal celebrations. Definitely one of the most back-and-forth Super Bowl games I've ever seen. And man was it great fun to watch.
Lastly, there is the topic of legacies. Namely, Tom Brady's and Bill Belichick's legacies. Get used to it football fans, whether we like it or not, all we're going to hear about for the next few months is people debating the legacies of Brady and Belichick. I guess that's what happens when you win four Super Bowls. The detractors will say that their Championships are tainted, first by spygate, and now by the so called "Deflategate." That argument might never be settled. However, what we do know is that the Belichick/Brady team is the winningest coach/QB combo in NFL history. Their success, both in the regular season and in the postseason, is nearly unparalleled. With his latest Super Bowl win, Belichick has certainly cemented his legacy as one of the greatest head coaches in NFL history (in all but the integrity category, perhaps). His ability to take marginally talented teams and turn them into perennial contenders is mind-boggling. This year Belichick put on a clinic. Teams never knew what to expect from New England. One week they were a power running game, using unheard of players like Jonas Gray to pound the rock, and the next week they would air it out, hardly running the ball at all. A perfect example is their playoff games against the Ravens and the Colts. The Ravens did a good job of stuffing the run, so the Patriots came out during the second half and didn't call a single running play. Not even one. The next week in the AFC Championship game Legarrette Blount shredded the Colts defense for 148 yards and 3 TDs. That was the beauty of the Patriot's offense: it was never the same, and so teams didn't know what to prepare for.
Brady is done. Brady isn't clutch anymore. Brady has lost two straight Super Bowls....to Eli Manning! He can't win the big ones anymore. This is an example of many peoples' opinions on Tom Brady lately. There was a feeling that Brady got his rings thanks to his dominant defense and that he was merely a "game manager" during those years. His detractors pointed to his failures in his two Super Bowls against New York as proof of this. What they ignored was that those losses came down to the second luckiest catch in Super Bowl history (thanks Jermaine Kearse) and a Wes Welker-dropped pass. Brady could just as easily have been sitting pretty with 5 rings going into this year's game. For the past several years I have been saying that Brady is one ring away from challenging Joe Montana as the game's best quarterback. While it is difficult, maybe even impossible, to compare players from different eras, I think a darn good case can be made for Brady as the G.O.A.T. Yes, he does play in a much more QB-friendly league than Montana did, but Montana also benefitted from throwing one of the greatest athletes the NFL has ever seen (Jerry Rice) as well as the very underrated John Taylor. Who has Brady been throwing to his entire career? Try Deion Branch, David Givens, Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, and Troy Brown. Take away the couple years with Randy Moss and the last few with Gronkowski and Brady has basically been throwing passes to a bunch of nobodies. Peyton Manning gets a lot of attention due to his incredible knowledge and his gaudy stats, but remember that Manning has almost always been surrounded by an abundance of all-star receivers. Brady has been a personification of the term "more with less." And look what he did statistically when he did have a legitimate deep threat: 2007 stats - 4,806 yds, 50 tds, 8 ints. Not to forget, Brady was the 199th pick of the 2000 draft. I don't think anyone can make a good argument as to why Joe Montana is not the greatest ever, but there is now plenty of good reasons to consider Brady as the G.O.A.T. Like I said, this is one debate that will probably never be decided. Unless Brady goes and wins another Super Bowl....
This post wouldn't be complete without a discussion of the Seahawks' final play call. For the past few weeks, the majority of Americans have been heartily bashing Pete Carroll and Darrell Bevell for calling a pass play instead of handing it to the most physical running back in the league to smash it in from the 1 yard line. While it did seem pretty stupid not to run the ball, there was a good reason not to. If you listened to Carroll's explanation, it actually makes a lot of sense. Seattle had the ball 2nd and goal with one timeout and only 26 seconds left. That being the case, they had three tries to get in the endzone, but only enough time for two running plays. Carroll reasoned that they would basically burn one play to stop the clock on a low risk/high reward pass play (on similar plays this season teams passed for 66 TDs and 0 INTs). He figured, best case scenario, Russell Wilson throws or runs for a TD, like he's been doing for the past three years, or, worst case scenario, he throws an incompletion to stop the clock. Then they would have two shots at the endzone with the NFL's most bruising back (and remember, they didn't want to leave the Patriots any time to score afterwards). Unfortunately for Seattle, that's not what happened. Instead, as Seahawks fans everywhere looked on in open-mouthed horror, an undrafted rookie made an incredible play on the ball and came away with the most important interception in Super Bowl history. On the Patriots' sideline Brady and Co. were going absolutely nuts. Just seconds earlier, Brady was sitting on the bench with a look of disbelief on his face after Jermaine Kearse made one of the most improbable catches you'll ever see (David Tyree anyone?). Then he was jumping up and down and screaming like a little kid. That was this entire game in a nutshell--massive let downs, followed by unreal celebrations. Definitely one of the most back-and-forth Super Bowl games I've ever seen. And man was it great fun to watch.
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| A true football bromance |
Brady is done. Brady isn't clutch anymore. Brady has lost two straight Super Bowls....to Eli Manning! He can't win the big ones anymore. This is an example of many peoples' opinions on Tom Brady lately. There was a feeling that Brady got his rings thanks to his dominant defense and that he was merely a "game manager" during those years. His detractors pointed to his failures in his two Super Bowls against New York as proof of this. What they ignored was that those losses came down to the second luckiest catch in Super Bowl history (thanks Jermaine Kearse) and a Wes Welker-dropped pass. Brady could just as easily have been sitting pretty with 5 rings going into this year's game. For the past several years I have been saying that Brady is one ring away from challenging Joe Montana as the game's best quarterback. While it is difficult, maybe even impossible, to compare players from different eras, I think a darn good case can be made for Brady as the G.O.A.T. Yes, he does play in a much more QB-friendly league than Montana did, but Montana also benefitted from throwing one of the greatest athletes the NFL has ever seen (Jerry Rice) as well as the very underrated John Taylor. Who has Brady been throwing to his entire career? Try Deion Branch, David Givens, Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, and Troy Brown. Take away the couple years with Randy Moss and the last few with Gronkowski and Brady has basically been throwing passes to a bunch of nobodies. Peyton Manning gets a lot of attention due to his incredible knowledge and his gaudy stats, but remember that Manning has almost always been surrounded by an abundance of all-star receivers. Brady has been a personification of the term "more with less." And look what he did statistically when he did have a legitimate deep threat: 2007 stats - 4,806 yds, 50 tds, 8 ints. Not to forget, Brady was the 199th pick of the 2000 draft. I don't think anyone can make a good argument as to why Joe Montana is not the greatest ever, but there is now plenty of good reasons to consider Brady as the G.O.A.T. Like I said, this is one debate that will probably never be decided. Unless Brady goes and wins another Super Bowl....
All in all, Super Bowl XLIX was one of the most exciting games I've ever seen. Going into the game I predicted just that. And it truly was a game for the ages. It's games like these that keep us NFL fans coming back for more, year after year. It's games like this one that make American Football the world's greatest sport.
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