Patriots Dethrone Seahawks for Super Bowl Victory

Alright welcome in to a special full recap post of Super Bowl XLIX between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks where the Seahawks are no longer the defending champions as the Patriots knock off the Seahawks 28-24 in a wild finish thanks to a game winning drive orchestrated by Tom Brady once again and a Malcolm Butler interception in the end zone.

What a wild finish! A divine catch, a fight at the end of the game, no-names being big heroes on the grandest stage in all of football, this Super Bowl had it all. Patriots fans, you can take off all that winless since Spygate, Deflategate, etc. because giving credit where credit is due, the Patriots stood calm and collected despite being down 10 when both Seattle’s offense and defense turned it on. Once that 4th quarter hit, Tom Brady became Tom Brady and masterfully executed a game winning drive.

Seattle Seahawks

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Chris Matthews, 4 receptions, 109 yards, 1 TD. He played some hardball this game. Even though the Seahawks lost, you gotta give it up for this kind of performance. Matthews was just a special teams player all season long, and to put up these kinds of numbers in the big game is just unbelievable. The Seahawks couldn’t get anything going on offense until Wilson hit one long play to this guy to set up a Marshawn Lynch TD. With Baldwin and Kearse being shadowed by Revis, McCourtey, and Arrington, Matthews stepped up his game to give Seattle’s offense something.

Marshawn Lynch, 24 carries, 102 yards, 1 TD, 1 receptions, 31 yards. How do you not hand off to Lynch for the go ahead score with your title on the line is beyond me? Sure, the Patriots’ defense had some good highlights stopping and bringing down Lynch, but once he finally hit his stride, he was impossible to stop in the ground game. Beast Mode was on for this game and he has outrushed New England’s running backs 102-53. It’s impossible to run over a defensive line when Vince Wilfork is waiting on the other end, but still Lynch was unstoppable for the Seahawks.

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Play calling in the final seconds. I touched on this while talking positive about Lynch and I’m going to ask it again, how do you not hand off the ball to Lynch? The Seahawks had an identity of running the football till the defense tires out. You have one timeout left, Lynch just got you to the half yard line or 2 yards, why not punch it in? To abandon what you usually do on offense at the goal line, I am just completely dumbfounded. Run it with Lynch down their throat, read option with Wilson, that’s something that Seattle fans will talk about for the remaining offseason.

Sportsmanship. Pass it on. If you’re going to lose, lose with class. The Seahawks defense got caught with an encroachment penalty as the Patriots were about to try and get out of their own end zone to avoid a safety. Then ensuing play, Seahawks pulled something ala Greg Schiano and all of a sudden they started a fight resulting in a 15-yard penalty. Now, you see why some people hate the Seahawks because of their lack of class and dignity. Yeah, play until the final whistle blows, but once it’s game, set, and match, take the loss and prepare for next season to come back stronger.

New England Patriots

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Tom Brady, 37 of 50 passes, 328 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs. Tom Brady joins the pantheon of the great quarterbacks with 4 rings, joining Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw. As a Raider fan I hate this guy with a passion, I can’t stand him, but this stage is no surprise to him. As you guys saw, Brady’s been announced the Super Bowl MVP. Seattle managed to get to him like once or twice, but once they get pressure on him, Brady released the ball to a receiver for first down yardage.  Aside from the two INTs, Brady has been consistent, beating Seattle’s defense with the short passes and his quick release.  Honestly, put the Brady-Manning debates to rest. I think we all know who we want when the game is on the line in the playoffs. Aside from all the hate for Brady, I can’t deny his greatness.

Julian Edelman, 9 receptions, 112 yards, 1 TD, 1 rush, 7 yards. Wes who? With the game Edelman had in the biggest stage, he constantly burned the Seahawks’ pass defense all game long. I said it before, look at the tape in the San Diego game when the Seahawks had no answer for Eddie Royal, the Patriots exploited that with quick passes to Edelman. He had a chance to haul in 2 TDs, one he should’ve caught to cut the lead to three, but the Patriots eventually cut it to three with a pass play to set up a Amendola TD. This guy is the reason why Patriots fans don’t miss Wes Welker in the slot and with the game he had this game, there should be no mention of Wes Welker to Patriots fans.

Malcolm Butler, 3 tackles, 3 pass defensed, 1 INT. It’s a game of no names! If there’s one defensive we want to see from the Patriots to come up with the biggest play to seal the Super Bowl, we’d expect it to be Revis or Browner or McCourtey, but Malcolm Butler, he has his name stamped on here. Prior to that INT, he came up with a big play of deflecting a ball to Jermaine Kearse that would’ve put Seattle back into New England territory and he came up huge to make it fourth down. And in his big moment, with the game on the line, Butler picks off Wilson to give the Patriots their fourth Super Bowl championship. You can’t write a better fairy tale than that. There may be a lot of positives for the Pats, but Malcolm Butler, for sure is one of those under-the-radar positives.

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Running game. Seattle’s the #1 rush defense, it’s understandable as to why New England’s running game can’t get going. They tried to ground and pound with Blount, then play finesse with Vereen and they just couldn’t get anything. Luckily for Vereen, he managed to burn Seattle’s defense in the screen game softening up this negative more. Credit to the Seahawks’ defense, they kept this running game in check.

Conclusion

Congrats to the Patriots for winning a hard fought Super Bowl. This team has gone to four straight AFC Championships, two Super Bowls in that span. It’s really tough with all those regular season games, practices, postseason games to do something like that, especially in a physical game like football. I’ll give the Patriots 100% credit for that. Their perseverance through all that plus the Spygate scandal and the Deflategate investigations, there’s not a way to summarize that kind of perseverance the Patriots had to go through. As for the Seahawks, they’ll be back and contend in the NFC West again, but that last play will be looked at forever as the play that lost them the game and a chance for a repeat. Yes, there a lot of questions for the Seahawks going forward. Is Marshawn Lynch going to stay? That’s one of the most asked questions the Seahawks have to answer once the offseason hits. Anyway, crazy game, but at the end of the day, the Patriots are the last team standing. Thank you guys for following my coverage for the 2014 NFL Season and Super Bowl XLIX. Once you guys finished reading this, we’ll go back to our normal lives cheering for our own team again and looking forward to the offseason and the draft. I’ll see you guys later.

Congrats New England Patriots Super Bowl XLIX Champions!

(photo courtesy of: espn.com)

SUPER BOWL XLIX: New England Patriots (AFC) vs. Seattle Seahawks (NFC) Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: NE 28 SEA 24

The biggest mistake ever by the Seahawks to not let Lynch punch it in after making it to the half yard line to set up a game winning TD and cap it off with the defense getting an encroachment penalty and not let Brady attempt to get out of his own end zone to run the clock out. What a crazy game with Kearse getting a reception off of his feet to set up a potential game winning TD for the Seahawks. This is a game for no names with Chris Matthews getting it going for Seattle's offense and stepping up big, but in the end, the undrafted rookie, Malcolm Butler came up big with an INT for the Patriots. The Seahawks had a chance to repeat, but not letting Lynch run for a TD on their one yard line for the go-ahead score will be looked at forever. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: NE 14 SEA 24

Seattle opened this game up just quite a little bit. The offensive execution is much better and Chris Matthews continues to have the game of his life on the big stage. Seahawks' defense is feeding off the energy of that offense getting going as they managed to pick Brady off yet again to set up a Wilson TD to Doug Baldwin. Could've had another red zone trip if Jermaine Kearse didn't drop that deep ball and that could be huge for the Patriots driving right now as they attempt to make yet another comeback orchestrated by Tom Brady.

Q2:

Score: NE 14 SEA 14

All deadlocked at 14. With the pace this game is going in, it's going to be a grudge match. The Patriots offense continued to roll with 2 TDs from Tom Brady, but the Seahawks responded back with a run TD by Lynch and a pass TD to Chris Matthews from Russell Wilson. Seattle's offense may have started slow, but they are playing the role of catch-up this quarter. When the Pats score, the Seahawks answered back. Gutsy call by Pete Carroll on that last drive to go for a TD. They call him "Big Balls Pete" for a reason. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: NE 0 SEA 0

Well, I didn't have to change the score. There's no quick score 12 seconds into the game this time. I thought the Patriots did a great job controlling the majority of the quarter offensively. They kept Seattle's defense out there with a lot of power running plays and quick throws. The Seahawks had to play "bend but don't break" defense during the Patriots' long 2nd drive and they didn't break as Jeremy Lane picked off Tom Brady to give the ball back to Wilson, Lynch, and company on Seattle's offense.

Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Post

Score: NE 14 SEA 14

Alright welcome in to the special halftime post for Super Bowl XLIX between the Patriots and the defending champion Seahawks where it's all tied up at 14 a piece.

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NE: Julian Edelman, 3 receptions, 41 yards, 1 rush, 7 yards. I said in my preview, the only thing that could hurt Seattle’s secondary is New England’s small, yet swift receivers like a Julian Edelman. That prediction is coming true. Sure Brady passed to LaFell and Gronk for the TDs, but Edelman has done most of his damage in the Patriots’ quick passing game to set up most of those TDs and he got a nice gain off a receiver sweep. So far, the Seahawks have no answer to figure out Edelman and the Patriots’ spread offense.

NE: Shane Vereen, 1 rush, 1 yard, 7 receptions, 42 yards. LeGarrette Blount may be doing most of the damage in the running game, but when the Patriots are looking to the screen game, they go to Shane Vereen for that. They have done that for the most part of the game, especially when Seattle’s pass rush is clamping down the pocket. Luckily for Brady’s quick release, he’s able to find Vereen in most cases and he’s able to field decent gains, especially during 3rd down.

SEA: Chris Matthews, 2 reception, 55 yards, 1 TD. First off, you guys are going to ask, “who?” This is the same Chris Matthews that fielded an onside kick to set up a game tying rushing TD by Lynch against the Packers in NFC Championship game. He’s started to come on in these few games. The Seahawks are known to pick up these no-name or undrafted players and in games like these, they answer the call. Chris Matthews is doing exactly that. Seattle’s offense couldn’t get anything, until Wilson hit a long ball to Matthews to set up the Lynch TD and another TD before time expired in the first half.

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SEA: Offense, before Wilson hit that ball to Matthews, the Seahawks’ offense couldn’t get anything. Credit to the Patriots’ defense, they were winning the one-on-one press coverage, not giving Seattle’s receivers any space to get open and they have managed to get Wilson to scramble. Chandler Jones managed to get a hand on him and Revis got a hand on him. Seattle’s O-line’s got to do a better job in pass protection, especially when Wilson’s pocket collapse, there has to be that extra blocker for him to extend the play a little more.

Bottom Line


The Seahawks get the ball to start in the 2nd half after deferring. They have to ride Chris Matthews while he’s hot because that’s the only the offense can get anything big. That plus running the ball with Beast Mode and trying to get Doug Baldwin or Jermaine Kearse going should get the Seahawks’ offense to stride. For the Patriots, they have to continue to wear down Seattle’s defense with the short throws, slants, crossing routes, screen passes to give the #1 defense a tough time and once opportunity arises, start giving the ball to Rob Gronkowski. Let’s see what happens in the 2nd half.

Super Bowl XLIX Preview: New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks

Alright everybody, another Sunday before the Super Bowl since nobody cares about the Pro Bowl anyway, another preview. Welcome in to the True Raider Laker’s Super Bowl XLIX preview between AFC champion, New England Patriots and the NFC champion and the reigning defending Super Bowl champs, Seattle Seahawks. Like last year, I will evaluate both teams’ roster, their season, and my final prediction on who will the champion at the end of the day when it’s all said and done.

For the 2nd straight time, the top two teams will match up against each other in the Super Bowl and for the 1st time in 10 years, the defending Super Bowl champion advances to back to the big game the year after. The Seahawks will look to end all this talk that “it’s hard to repeat in the Super Bowl” and they will look to do so against the team that was the last team to win back-to-back titles in the New England Patriots.

New England Patriots

For the Patriots, the team has revolved on two people for over a decade: Tom Brady and Bill Belichick (Shady Brady and Bill Belicheat). As long as Brady is on that field, commanding the offense and Belichick is on the sidelines, the Patriots have compiled consistent winning season after season. They’ve barely relinquished the mountain top of the AFC East (2008 as the exception of course since Brady got hurt) and they have consistently added pieces to the puzzle whether its big names or under the radar names to keep contending. Of course on the defensive side, they’ve revamped their secondary with the additions of Darrelle Revis and former Seahawk, Brandon Browner add that up to Chandler Jones and a healthy Vince Wilfork to wreck the pocket and that spells a pretty good defense. On the offense, for the first time in a long time, Rob Gronkowski is 100% healthy and that Brady-Gronk duo has had defensive coordinators shaking their heads. With Gronk on the field, it opens up the passing game for the Patriots and if defenders double-team him, then that leaves either Edelman or LaFell open. This season, the Patriots have played a game of “running back roulette,” constantly switching with LeGarrette Blount, Shane Vereen, and Jonas Gray and all are capable of doing damage to defenses in the trenches.

During the season, the Patriots started real slow and I mean real slow. If you can recall Week 3 when the Raiders played them, we were expecting Brady to throw darts, but they barely scored multiple TDs and still wound up winning 6-16. The real concern was the following week in the Monday Night game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs took it to the Pats and hammered them out of Arrowhead. After that game, there was just a little turmoil in the team that the fact Tom Brady’s age is catching up and questions were surrounding Belichick whether it’s necessary to start rookie QB, Jimmy Garoppolo for evaluation. Belichick muttered the words in the press conference: “we’re on to Cincinnati” and that’s all that’s written. After that Chiefs game, New England got hot and crushing multiple beatable teams beginning with the Cincinnati Bengals in a Sunday Night game. It was like the prime example of waking up a sleeping giant and the Patriots cruised on to a 12-4 record, home field, and another AFC East division title. For a team that has been to the AFC championship game 4 times and constantly recording double digits in the win column, it’s an astounding feat. Of course we all know their situation with “Deflate-Gate” where they used underinflated balls in their AFC championship beat down to the Colts and that can especially take off some momentum riding into next Sunday if the investigation is still ongoing.

Seattle Seahawks

Wait, I already wrote about them last year. Then I realized; they’re in the Super Bowl again. The Seahawks have carried their core from last year to this year and will look to use the same winning formula in hopes for a “RePete.” The Legion of Boom is still intact. Richard Sherman is still “the best corner in the game,” Byron Maxwell has done an exceptional job taking over the departed Brandon Browner’s spot permanently and of course you have Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor flying all over the field and delivering hard hits. The Seahawks defense overall outside of the LOB is still exceptional. They may have lost a couple of key pieces during the offseason, but Pete Carroll has done a great job getting the defense to stay bulwark against opposing offenses. Speaking of offense, Seattle is still reliable on their dynamic 1-2 combo of Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson, running the ball with Lynch and getting Wilson to extend plays to find open receivers like Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Luke Willson, etc. Not a lot of change except for the glaring fact that they traded Percy Harvin midseason to the Jets, especially with the way how Harvin contributed during the Seahawks’ 43-8 domination over the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.

A lot has happened for the defending Super Bowl champs this season. It’s safe to assume that the Seahawks had some inconsistency and some divide in the team. After their convincing opening night win vs. the Green Bay Packers, they fell flat on their back the next week in a stunning loss to the San Diego Chargers. The first week they’re like the team to beat again and then the next, it’s like they could be the third consecutive Super Bowl champion to get knocked out of the playoffs. It was a bumpy road early on for Seattle considering Arizona had firm control of the NFC West and they were looking up to the 49ers at one point for the Wild Card spot. They’ve had tough and embarrassing losses: against the Cowboys at home, against the Rams in St. Louis when the Rams sealed it on a fake punt run, the Chiefs in Kansas City. Just like the Patriots, after the Kansas City game, the Seahawks started to flip the switch and they have held opponents to a single digit score. They climbed their way back up for another NFC West division title and the number 1 seed. In the conference championship (I know everybody saw that crazy game), it looked like Seattle was dead in the water and their chances of another Super Bowl trip diminished when the Packers were leading 16-0 throughout the game. Then, through crazy special teams play and their defense keeping them alive, the Seahawks came back and won it in OT despite committing 4-5 turnovers. This team just finds ways to win when they’re down, never doubt the heart of a champion. You can’t write a better script with the Seahawks looking to win back-to-back titles and against the team that did it a decade ago and nobody has done it since.

Matchups and Prediction

Obviously Russell Wilson vs. Tom Brady is the top-tier matchup to look forward to. Wilson is undefeated against Super Bowl-winning QBs and Brady is like that final boss to beat in a video game. We’re looking at Wilson’s ability to extend plays and find open receivers vs. Brady’s ability to quickly find receivers on his quick release. Also here, it’s a battle between the best shutdown corners: Revis vs. Sherman. Those two have been trash talking to each for quite some time and there’s no better way to settle the great debate in the big game. It’s expected Revis will have his way against Seattle’s receivers, while Sherman has to look for Julian Edelman. I’m referring back to the Week 2 Chargers game where the Chargers used a small, elusive receiver like Eddie Royal to catch Sherman off guard and the Patriots are looking to that blueprint. Matchup three, Marshawn Lynch vs. ????? in terms of the running game. You can just never guess who New England’s gonna put in there as the feature back as they keep rotating. Obviously, the Patriots’ run defense is going to account for Lynch while the Seahawks’ run defense has to decrypt whoever’s starting at running back whether it’s Blount, Gray, or Vereen. And the most pivotal key matchup, Rob Gronkowski vs. the LOB or Seattle’s linebacker corps. Seattle has had a tough time covering Tight Ends all season long. Seattle’s the champion until dethroned, so there’s understandability to pick them, but I just don’t see how they can cover Gronkowski down, better yet even take him down or how the Seahawks’ receivers are going to get separation from Revis Island. As much as I really hate the Patriots, I’m gonna be honest, they have a real legit chance to knock off the Seahawks and ending their reign. In conclusion, I’m predicting the Patriots to win the Super Bowl and I’m predicting them to win big time against the defending champions.

Final Score (Prediction): NE 31 SEA 16