Super Bowl XLIX Rematch Lives Up to the Hype

By Djack

A rematch of the Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl of two years ago took place on Sunday night football and boy did it surpass all expectations. Going into this game I don't think anyone expected the type of close game we had two years ago when these teams faced off in the biggest game of them all, but that's exactly what we got in almost the exact same fashion. 

Seahawks were having major trouble converting in the red zone early, they were able to move the ball down the field, but were struggling to get it across the goaline. Sound familiar? They settled for 2 chip shot field goals in the first quarter, but still trailed 7-6 after the first since LeGarette Blount was able to punch one in for a touchdown on the first drive of the game. The Patriot offense was a little dormant after that first drive, the Seahawks were rolling, and Russell Wilson would throw two touchdowns in the second quarter to Doug Baldwin as they were finally able to break through into the endzone. Luckily the Patriots were able to put together at least one more good drive in the first half as they scored once again on a LeGarette Blount TD run. The score was 19-14 Seahawks going into halftime and the Seahawks looked like the better team early, they got Brady to throw his first interception of the season, and they forced multiple 3 and outs so the defense didn't look outmatched at all despite playing a ridiculous amount of snaps in the prior two weeks.

The Second half adjustments are where teams make or break themselves, Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick, are two of the best in the business, and their teams came out firing in the second half. Patriots force a 3 and out to start the second half and they score on a 10 play 91 yard drive that lasted about 6 minutes. 21-19 was now the score, but wouldn't be for long. Seattle and New England would then exchange leads 3 times over the next three drives, Seattle hit a field goal to go up 22-21, then the Pats got a field goal to make the score 24-22, and then the Seahawks followed that up with another field goal  to make the score 25-24 as Steven Hauschka was having a career day. Patriots would then come out looking to drive down the field and retake the lead once again, but a fumble by Julian Edelman gave the Seahawks the ball in Patriot territory giving them the opportunity to really put the pressure on the Pats. Russell Wilson who had an incredible game, threw his third touchdown of the game, and Doug Baldwin received his third touchdown of the game as the Seahawks regained the lead. Seahawks went for the 2PT conversion to try to go up by 9 and ultimately put the game outta of reach, but they failed. 31-24 was the score with too much time for Brady to drive the length of the field, and he would do just that. Brady got the ball inside the Seahawks 2 yard line on a dime ball for the ages to Rob Gronkowski. The Patriots needed a touchdown to tie the game and send it to overtime. With 45 seconds left, all their timeouts left, and their unbelievable ability of scoring in goal line situations, the circumstances didn't bode well for Seattle. Seattle wanted revenge though, especially Pete Carroll, who once coached the New England Patriots way back when. Well, the Patriots tried two QB sneaks with Brady, both of them failed, which almost never happens, and one of them he actually fumbled, but was able to fall back on it luckily enough. They also tried to pound Blount in since he'd already done it a couple times earlier in the game, that also failed. It was now fourth down with the game on the line, Brady gets Gronk one on one on the outside with Kam Chancellor, throws a jump ball in the back of the endzone, falls incomplete, great defense by Kam, Gronk is looking for a flag but doesn't get it, and the Seahawks exact their revenge winning in similar fashion to how the Patriots won the Super Bowl just two years ago. I doubt the Patriots or Patriot fans will care too much about this lose, I mean I'd definitley take the Super Bowl win over this one, and this game will mean nothing at the end of the season, but I guess it's a nice consolation prize for Seattle.