Nader Hussein, ‘Doah Staff Writer
February 4, 2015

“Well, it’s been a long journey. I’ve been at it for 15 years, and we’ve had a couple of tough losses in this game. This one came down to the end, and this time, we made the plays.”

Tom Brady may have said it best after his New England Patriots defeated the defending champion Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1, in Glendale, Arizona, by a score of 28-24. It was a very close game, and it ended in tears for both sides. The Patriots shed tears of ecstasy, while the Seahawks were left with tears of sorrow.

Brady won his record-tying fourth Super Bowl title in his 15-year career, while also tying the record for most Super Bowl MVP awards with his third. He drew level with former San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana on both, with ex-Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw level with them on the former. Brady completed 37 of 50 pass attempts, throwing for 328 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.

This matchup pitted Brady, considered by many experts to be the greatest quarterback in NFL history, against Seattle’s famed defensive secondary, nicknamed the “Legion of Boom.” Most expected a tight affair that had the potential to be either a high-scoring shootout, or a low-scoring, defensive battle. Fans of both offense and defense were not disappointed as the game featured great play on both sides of the ball.

It was over five minutes into the second quarter before Brady hit Brandon LA Fell for a touchdown to open the scoring. The Seahawks then drew level with a touchdown run from Marshawn Lynch with just over two minutes left in the first half. Brady then hit tight end Rob Gronkowski for a touchdown with 31 seconds left in the opening half. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson then lead the team down the field, putting them in position to kick a field goal just before halftime. Seattle then made a risky decision, opting to try and score a touchdown instead of settling for a field goal. The risk paid off, with Wilson hitting receiver Chris Matthews for a touchdown, tying the game at halftime.

Seattle then took a 24-14 lead in the third quarter with a field goal by Steven Hauschka and another touchdown completion, this time to Doug Baldwin. The Patriots then scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, with two short-yardage completions to Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman. Russell Wilson was again able to lead the Seahawks down the field, taking them to the one yard-line. Where most coaches would have run the ball with Marshawn Lynch, one of the most prolific running backs in the NFL, the Seahawks opted to throw the ball, which turned out to be a fatal mistake. Wilson threw a short pass intended for Ricardo Lockette, but Patriots rookie reserve cornerback Malcolm Butler jumped the route, and intercepted the ball to give the ball back to the Patriots with 20 seconds left.

Since the Patriots had the ball on their own one yard-line, they could not just kneel the ball to run the clock out. Seahawks defensive lineman Michael Bennett jumped offside, the ball was moved to the six yard-line. After Brady took a knee, a short brawl broke out between the teams, which saw Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin ejected for punching Gronkowski. Brady then took another knee, ending the game with the Patriots victorious.

Following the game, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll took responsibility for the interception, although it was not him who called the play. “There’s really nobody to blame but me,” said Carroll.

With a fantastic match in the books, both teams will now look to strengthen up in the offseason, to make it back to the biggest game in professional football.