Super Bowl Recap
In the preview post of the Super Bowl written by Cam Burian, he wrote near the end that the Seahawks and Patriots wouldn’t disappoint in the big game. Was he ever right? After all the hype building up over the 2 weeks between the Championship games and the Super Bowl, the game had finally arrived.
It started off slowly, with both teams not getting much done throughout the first quarter. But in the dying minutes of the quarter, with the Patriots on the 10 yard line, Brady threw to the end zone looking for Edelman and was intercepted by Jeremy Lane. Unfortunately for Seattle, as Lane was running with the ball he was hit and suffered a nasty break in his arm that ended his night. He ended up being replaced by Tharold Simon.
The second quarter started and Brady was able to hit Brandon Lafell on a slant route in the end zone to open the scoring. However, with just over 2 minutes to go in the half, the Seahawks drove down the field, and Marshawn Lynch took a handoff from the 5 yard line and was able to punch it in to tie up the game. With less than 40 seconds left in the quarter, Brady decided to throw a deep ball to the end zone, looking for Rob Gronkowski, who was able to come down with the ball for the touchdown. With 30 seconds left in the half, the Seahawks went to work. After a great play by Russell Wilson to gain about 20 yards on his feet, the Seahawks just needed a few more yards to be in field goal range, but they had other plans. With 12 seconds to go Wilson finds Lockette open on a corner route, and a crucial penalty by New England cost them an extra 15 yards, putting the Seahawks on the 11 yard line with 6 seconds left in the half. Most teams would decide to just take their points with a field goal, but not this team. They decided to throw a ball shoulder ball to a rookie named Chris Matthews. Matthews played a crucial role in the NFC Championship game, catching the onside kick which eventually led to the Seahawks scoring late in the game. He had just had his first career reception in the game just minutes earlier on a deep ball, and now Pete Carroll had enough faith in the rookie to throw to him on the final play of the half. He didn’t disappoint. He went up and snatched the ball out of the air, leaving the cornerback no chance, and tying up the game going into halftime.
Lots of people who watch the Super Bowl don’t enjoy football – they watch it for the commercials and the halftime show. This year Katy Perry was performing. The performance was very interesting to say the least. It started off with her coming out on a mechanical lion and singing one of her more recent hits, Roar. Then she switch to a more techno vibe, singing her song Dark Horse, which utilized amazing choreography as well as visuals on the field. She proceeded to sing an older hit called “I Kissed a Girl” with guest singer Lenny Kravitz. Unexpectedly, the performance took a turn and became more light-hearted and almost childish. At center field the stage was set with palm trees, people in surfboard, beach ball and shark costumes. She sang two of her well known songs called “Teenage Dream” and “California Gurls”. However in this scene of the performance, the sharks were the most memorable part as they ended up going viral all over the internet. After this another guest singer came on stage, Missy Elliot, Katy and her sang “Get Ur Freak On” and “Work It” then Missy proceeded to sing “Lose Control” as Katy Perry changed outfits. The performance had a good ending, with Katy Perry singing probably her most famous song “Firework” as she stood on a literal shooting star that took her around the stadium. You can watch the full half time show here
The action didn’t stop as the 3rd quarter started. Less than 7 minutes into the quarter, Brady threw a ball over the middle that got intercepted by Bobby Wagner, giving Seattle the ball deep in New England territory. The Seahawks drove down the rest of the field and on a second and goal, Wilson through a play action pass to Doug Baldwin who was wide open in the end zone due to the fact that Darrelle Revis, the man covering him, ran into the referee in the back of the end zone! This put Seattle up 24-14 and you started to feel the momentum shifting their way.
However, the fourth quarter arrived, and Tom Brady wasn’t planning on losing his 3rd Super Bowl in a row. Just under 8 minutes to go Brady threw a bullet pass to the back of the end zone that Amendola caught for the TD. Seattle weren’t able to do anything on their next possession, giving the ball to the Patriots with under 5 minutes to go. Brady drove them down the field, and on the final play before the 2 minute warning, Brady hit Edelman on a zig route to put them up, 28-24.
With two timeouts and less than 2 minutes to go in the final game of the season, Wilson hit lynch downfield on the sideline to get the Seahawks to the 45 yard line. A play later, Wilson threw a deep ball to Jermaine Kearse near the end zone, Kearse went up for the ball and couldn’t come down with it in his hands, but as he was falling to the ground, the ball hit his leg and popped up in the air again, before it hit the ground he was able to catch it on the 5 yard line! Everyone was stunned, what an amazing/fluke play to happen with a minute left in the biggest game of the year! Next play, they handoff the ball to Marshawn Lynch, who gets them down to within the one yard line, just feet away from the end zone! What happened next was unthinkable. Even though Seattle had arguably the best running back in the game with Lynch, they decided to throw the ball. Wilson tried to throw a quick slant over the middle to Ricardo Lockette. Out of nowhere, a 5’10 rookie safety came flying in to get the interception! Everyone was in shock. It was crushing for Seattle fans, the fact that they were less than a yard away from most likely another Super Bowl victory, and all of a sudden, it was over in less than a second. If you want to watch the play click here
In the aftermath of the game, Pete Carroll the coach of the Seahawks, as well as Darrell Bevell, the offensive coordinator received a lot of heat for throwing that ball when they had Lynch in the backfield with a timeout. Fans were outraged at the call to pass in that situation. Brady won his 4th Super Bowl as well as his 3rd Super Bowl MVP.
This game will most likely go down as one of the best Super Bowls of all-time (unless you’re a Seattle fan of course). It is also a great example of how the game is never over until the final whistle blows.
Dylan Enright is currently a Grade 11 boarding student at St. Georges School in Vancouver, B.C. He was born and raised in Hong Kong until he was 14 years...
