GLENDALE, ARIZ. – Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots might or might not have purposely deflated footballs in the AFC Championship Game, but they sure as heck inflated their legacies in a wild come-from-behind fourth-quarter victory in Super Bowl XLIX.
On the same field where Giants receiver David Tyree made his famous catch to help derail New England's perfect season seven years ago, the Patriots this time survived an even more unbelievable catch in the closing seconds to unseat the defending champion Seattle Seahawks 28-24 at University of Phoenix Stadium on Sunday night.
"We just keep fighting, and that's why we're the only dynasty in the NFL," said Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty, a reference to the Seahawks' quest to win a second straight Super Bowl with a defense that has ranked No. 1 in scoring the past three years and destroyed Peyton Manning and the Broncos 43-8 in last year's Super Bowl.
Brady, the MVP in his record-tying fourth Super Bowl victory in the past 14 seasons, led the Patriots back from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit. After 17 straight Seattle points, Brady's offense put up 14 unanswered points. He went 8-for-8 for 63 yards and the go-ahead 3-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman with 2 minutes, 2 seconds left.
Then he waited nervously on the sideline as Belichick's defense clung desperately to the lead through a Tyree-esque déjà vu moment before making a clinching interception at the goal line with 20 seconds left.
On first-and-10 from the New England 38-yard line, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson launched a high-arcing pass down the right sideline. Rookie defensive back Malcolm Butler leaped high in front of receiver Jermaine Kearse. Butler got a hand on the ball, but it proceeded to rattle off the falling Kearse's legs and hands before Kearse finally plucked it out of the air at the Patriots 5.
But after a 4-yard run by Marshawn Lynch put the ball at the 1 with less than a minute to go, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll amazingly went away from Seattle's "Beast Mode" running back and attempted a slant pass to Ricardo Lockette on the goal line with players packed tightly in the box. Butler read the play, jumped the quick route and made the interception.
"With the throw, one thing you're thinking is going to happen is it's going to be incomplete or it's going to be touchdown," said Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who formerly held that role with the Vikings. "Either way, we have a chance to stop the clock there, save our timeout, and we could still end up getting all four of our downs."
