Super Bowl XLIX, 2015: New England 28 Seattle 24

Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champions of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks, 28–24. The game was played on February 1, 2015, at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the second Super Bowl held at the stadium and the third in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

The Patriots' victory was their fourth overall and first since 2004's Super Bowl XXXIX, ending a 10-year championship drought. They finished the regular season with a 12–4 record en route to their eighth Super Bowl appearance, tying the record held by the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers, and sixth under the leadership of head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. The Seahawks, led by their Legion of Boom defense, also obtained a 12–4 record and were making their third Super Bowl appearance, in addition to their second consecutive after winning Super Bowl XLVIII. As the defending champions, the Seahawks were seeking to become the first to repeat since the Patriots in 2004. For the second consecutive season, both teams were the top seed from their respective conference.

Super Bowl XLIX was kept within a one-possession margin until Seattle took a 10-point lead in the third quarter. New England responded by scoring 14 consecutive points during the fourth to take a 28–24 lead with just over two minutes remaining. The game is most remembered for the Seahawks' last play, in which they threatened to score a winning touchdown from New England's 1-yard line, but were intercepted in the final seconds by Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler. Butler's interception is regarded as one of the greatest plays in NFL history, while Seattle's decision to pass instead of run the ball is considered one of the worst calls. Brady, who set the Super Bowl record for completions at 37, was named Super Bowl MVP for the third time, tying the record held by Joe Montana. Two years later, Brady would surpass both records in Super Bowl LI.

NBC's broadcast of Super Bowl XLIX set the record for most-watched program in American television history and is the third-most watched American television broadcast of all time after Super Bowl LVII and the Apollo 11 Moon landing. The game was seen by an average of 114.4 million viewers, with it reaching to 118.5 million during the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show featuring Katy Perry and peaking to 120.8 million during New England's fourth quarter comeback. It is considered one of the greatest Super Bowls and was ranked eighth on NFL.com's 100 Greatest Games, the third-highest Super Bowl game. Butler's game-winning interception was ranked fifth on NFL.com's 100 Greatest Plays, the highest defensive play.

Game summary
First half
After the first two drives of the game ended in punts, New England got the first scoring opportunity with a drive to the Seattle 10-yard line. However, on third-and-six, quarterback Tom Brady threw a pass that was intercepted by cornerback Jeremy Lane and returned to the 14-yard line. Lane broke his wrist and tore his ACL on the play when he tried to break his fall with his arm extended after being tackled by Julian Edelman, and subsequently missed the rest of the game. The game remained scoreless until New England's first drive of the second quarter, which began with Brady's 17-yard completed pass to Danny Amendola. Brady later completed a 23-yard pass to Edelman on third-and-nine, and eventually finished the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to receiver Brandon LaFell.

Seattle began to make progress when Russell Wilson completed his first pass of the day, a six-yard completion to Jermaine Kearse on third-and-six and with 5:36 left in the second quarter. After a five-yard run by Marshawn Lynch, Wilson completed a 44-yard pass to receiver Chris Matthews on the Patriots 11-yard line, setting up Lynch's three-yard touchdown run to tie the game. Only 2:16 remained in the half after Lynch's touchdown, but the scoring was far from over. Brady completed 5/6 passes for 59 yards on New England's ensuing possession, the last one a 22-yard touchdown completion to tight end Rob Gronkowski with 31 seconds remaining. Taking the ball back on their own 20, Seattle started off their drive with a 19-yard burst from Robert Turbin and a 17-yard scramble by Wilson. Then Wilson completed a 23-yard pass to Ricardo Lockette, with a facemask penalty on defensive back Kyle Arrington adding additional yardage that gave the team a first down on the Patriots 11-yard line. Only six seconds remained until halftime at this point, but coach Pete Carroll decided to take a shot at the end zone rather than kick a field goal, a gamble that paid off as Wilson threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Matthews on the next play, tying the game at 14 with just two seconds showing on the clock.

Second half
Seattle took the second half kickoff and drove 72 yards to the Patriots eight-yard line, featuring a 15-yard run by Lynch and a 45-yard reception by Matthews. After Lynch was stopped on third-and-one in the red zone, Steven Hauschka finished the drive with a 27-yard field goal, giving Seattle their first lead of the game at 17–14. On New England's next possession, linebacker Bobby Wagner's interception of a Brady pass and six-yard return gave the Seahawks the ball at midfield. Just as with their last interception, Seattle lost a key defensive player due to injury. Defensive end Cliff Avril lay on the field motionless. After finally getting to his feet, he entered concussion protocol and did not re-enter the game. Seattle's pass rush, particularly Bennett inside and Avril outside, had hurried Brady into several drive-ending incompletions as well as the first interception. "At times that night in the desert Bennett and Avril controlled the line of scrimmage almost by themselves." With Avril out, the Patriots were able to double-team Bennett and give Brady more time in the pocket.

Following Wagner's interception, Seattle's offense took advantage of the turnover, driving 50 yards in six plays and scoring on Wilson's three-yard touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin, who was penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct for an improper end-zone celebration. This made the score 24–14, and it would remain this way going into the fourth quarter. Until this game, no team in Super Bowl history had come back to win after facing a fourth-quarter deficit of more than seven points.

With 12:10 left in the game, New England mounted a 68-yard drive to cut their deficit to 24–21 on Brady's four-yard touchdown toss to Amendola. The drive included two 21-yard completions from Brady to Edelman, the first one converting a third-and-14 in what was described by Bleacher Report as "the NFL's worst nightmare". Edelman was clearly concussed by Chancellor's helmet-to-helmet hit "suffering an apparent brain injury, staggering around on the field in plain view of the biggest television audience ever, per Deadline.com, and receiving no treatment." Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reported that "a medical observer was overheard radioing someone a second time saying Edelman needed to be examined." "I thought he was going to go to sleep the way he was running," fellow Patriots receiver Brandon LaFell told Matt Pentz of The Seattle Times. Nevertheless, Edelman remained in the game and eventually caught the game-winning touchdown pass.

Following a three-and-out for Seattle, New England got the ball back on their own 32 at the 6:52 mark. Brady started off the possession with two completions to running back Shane Vereen for 13 total yards, and followed it up with a nine-yard pass to Edelman. Following a penalty against New England, Gronkowski caught a pair of passes that moved the team up 33 yards to the Seattle 19. Over the next three plays, Vereen rushed for seven yards, Brady passed to LaFell for seven more, and Blount ran the ball two yards to the three-yard line. Finally, with 2:02 left in the game, Brady gave his team a 28–24 lead with a three-yard touchdown toss to Edelman.

After a touchback gave Seattle the ball on their 20, Wilson started off the Seahawks drive with a 31-yard completion to Lynch. Then after two incompletions, he picked up another first down with an 11-yard pass to Lockette. The following play gave Seattle an opportunity to win the game. Wilson threw a deep pass down the right sideline to Kearse, who was covered by rookie reserve cornerback Malcolm Butler. Both players dove through the air for the ball, and Butler managed to deflect it with one hand, but the pass fell right into the hands of Kearse, who tipped it to himself and caught the ball while he was lying on his back. Butler managed to recognize the catch and recover in time to shove Kearse out of bounds as he got up, preventing a Seattle touchdown, but the play netted 33 yards and gave the Seahawks a first down at the Patriots five-yard line with 1:05 left in regulation. Announcer Cris Collinsworth compared the play to two other acrobatic receptions by Patriots opponents that had defeated them in prior Super Bowls: David Tyree's Helmet Catch in Super Bowl XLII (which took place at the same stadium) and Mario Manningham's sideline catch in Super Bowl XLVI. Al Michaels also compared it to Antonio Freeman's famous Monday Night Football catch known as "He did what?" (a play that Michaels had himself called).

On the next play, Lynch ran the ball four yards to the Patriots one-yard line where he was brought down by Dont'a Hightower. Since New England did not call a timeout, Seattle was able to run the clock down to 26 seconds before taking the snap for the next play. The Seahawks called a pass play in which Kearse would run a pick on the right side of the field to draw defensive backs away from Lockette as Lockette ran a slant to the middle, but Brandon Browner blocked Kearse at the line of scrimmage, preventing him from reaching Butler. Lockette appeared to be uncovered at the one-yard line when Wilson threw him the ball, but before the ball arrived, Butler correctly read the play and rushed into position to make the interception. The turnover—after an unsportsmanlike conduct call for excessive celebration—gave New England the ball on their own one-yard line with 20 seconds remaining in regulation.

The game was not quite over at this point. Since the ball was placed on the one-yard line, Brady had to take the snap in the end zone. If he took a knee or the Patriots otherwise failed to advance the ball beyond the goal line, this would be a safety, awarding Seattle two points, cutting the New England lead to 28–26, and forcing the Patriots to kick the ball back to the Seahawks who could win with a field goal. However, Seattle defensive lineman Michael Bennett moved across the line of scrimmage, earning a five-yard encroachment penalty against the Seahawks and moving the ball to the six-yard line. Brady then took a knee, Seattle called its final time-out, and Seattle linebacker Bruce Irvin rushed some of the Patriots players, starting a brawl involving players from both teams that resulted in a personal foul penalty for Seattle for another 15 yards. Irvin received the first ejection in Super Bowl history for throwing a closed hand punch at Rob Gronkowski. Brady knelt one more time at the 21-yard line and the Patriots were victorious.

Game statistics
Brady completed 37 of 50 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns, with two interceptions. His 37 completions set a new Super Bowl record, surpassing Peyton Manning's 34 set the previous year against Seattle in Super Bowl XLVIII. He also surpassed Joe Montana's record for career touchdown passes in Super Bowls, setting a new record with 13. His top receiver was Edelman, who caught 9 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for seven yards and returning three punts for 27 additional yards. Vereen caught 11 passes for 64 yards and rushed for 13. For Seattle, Wilson completed 12 of 21 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception, while also rushing for 39 yards. Lynch was the top rusher of the game with 102 yards and a touchdown, and also caught a pass for 31 yards. Matthews, an undrafted rookie who had not caught any passes in the regular season or postseason before the Super Bowl, caught four passes for 109 yards and a touchdown. Wagner had 12 tackles (10 solo) and an interception. Linebacker K. J. Wright had 11 tackles (10 solo). New England became only the fourth team to win a Super Bowl despite losing the turnover battle (after the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V and the Pittsburgh Steelers in both Super Bowls XIV and XL).

In winning, Brady became the third quarterback in NFL history with four Super Bowl victories. Brady was also named MVP for a third time, tying the record set by Joe Montana. The Seahawks became the first defending champion since the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII to lose in the Super Bowl the next year. This also marked the 10th consecutive Super Bowl without a repeat winner (with the last one being the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX).

In a poll conducted by NFL.com a couple of months after the game, Super Bowl XLIX was voted by its readers as the "greatest Super Bowl game" of all time. The article does report that the voting was structured to try to account for "recency bias" in relation to the game at the time when the poll was conducted, but voters still "pushed it through the competition". Most lists of greatest Super Bowls continue to list it in the top few games.

Reactions to Seattle's final play
After the game, Seattle faced heavy criticism for their decision to call a pass play on second and goal from the 1-yard line with 26 seconds and one timeout left instead of a rushing play. Following the play, Collinsworth stated, "I'm sorry, but I can't believe the call. … I cannot believe the call. You've got Marshawn Lynch in the backfield. You've got a guy that has been borderline unstoppable in this part of the field. I can't believe the call." He further added, "If I lose the Super Bowl because Marshawn Lynch can't get it in from the 1 yard line, so be it. So be it! But there is no way... I don't believe the call." Sports Illustrated writer Peter King called the play one of the worst calls in Super Bowl history, as did retired Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. Retired running back Emmitt Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, went even further, calling it the worst play call in the history of football. Others, including University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh and Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath, defended the call, crediting Butler for the play he made and pointing out that the Seahawks only had one time-out left. Writing for Grantland, Bill Simmons said the Seahawks "took too much heat for the final play call" and noted Carroll opted to run the ball on fourth down at the end of the 2006 Rose Bowl, costing his team the game.

Butler's interception, thanks to his quick "read-and-react to Ricardo Lockette's underneath route", has been considered one of the top clutch plays in Super Bowl history. It would also be a launching point for Butler's career. Butler, an undrafted rookie who had started only one game during the season, had entered Super Bowl XLIX listed #5 on the Patriots depth chart. But after this game, he would go on to start in all but one of the Patriots games over the next three seasons, as well as leading the team in interceptions in 2016, a season in which he helped them win another Super Bowl.

In the game, Lynch had gained at least one yard on 22 of 24 carries. While the Patriots in 2014 were ranked fifth-worst (28th overall) in the league in holding opposing backs for no gain or a loss, they had stopped him for no gain on both a third-and-2 and a third-and-1, the latter in the red zone. On the season, Lynch had scored just once on his five attempts from his opponent's 1-yard line. From 2010 to 2014, he scored 45 percent of the time, ranking 30th out of 39 running backs; for his career to that point, he was successful on 42 percent of his attempts (15 of 36).

Seattle offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell acknowledged making the call, but also remarked that Lockette could have been more aggressive on the play. Wilson said the play was a "good call", and lamented throwing the interception and "not making that play." Carroll, though, said the last play was "all my fault", and called Bevell "crucially important to our future." The head coach added that Seattle would have run the ball on a subsequent play, as well that "we don't ever call a play thinking we might throw an interception." Butler's interception was the only one against all 109 pass attempts during the 2014 NFL season from the 1-yard line.

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