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Post by Willing Sniper on Feb 2, 2015 14:09:16 GMT -8
Did One Of The Best Matchups In Super Bowl History Live Up To The Hype? By: Joshua Ruga - February 2nd, 2015
Game decided in the closing seconds
It was the matchup between the two teams that had proved they were the best in the NFL all season. A matchup between two teams with tons of defensive talent, especially in the defensive backfield. This matchup lived up to the hype as it was decided by a huge defensive play in the closing seconds with Seattle at the New England one yard line, down by four points. Patriots rookie safety Malcolm Butler intercepted a Russell Wilson pass to the goal line with 20 seconds left on the game clock. With this being the story of how the game would finish, the matchup lived up to the hype completely with numerous big plays made on both sides of a back and forth battle throughout the ballgame. A scoreless first quarter was the story as both defenses came to play early. The Seahawks were able to keep the game scoreless on the Patriots best possession of the first quarter, by intercepting a pass at the goal line to give their offense another opportunity with the football. New England’s top notch defense was able to live up to the hype by not allowing a completion by Russell Wilson until a few minutes into the second quarter. New England also made life tough for Marshawn Lynch early on in the ballgame even though he eventually got going to put together a very strong performance. With the way the game was finally decided, there are going to be fans that want to blame someone because of the unconventional play call on second down at the Patriots one yard line.
Is Russell Wilson to blame for throwing a late game interception?
Even though it was quarterback Russell Wilson who threw the interception that cost the Seahawks the opportunity to win back to back championships, he was just running the play that was called. Wilson made a throw that was on target to his receiver Ricardo Lockette, as he was crossing the goal line. Malcolm Butler just made a great play on the football by timing his jump perfectly so that he would make contact with the receiver just as his hands touched the ball. Butler was able to make the most of his opportunity because the Seahawks decided to throw the football in that situation. After the Seahawks first down play in that series gained them four yards with Marshawn Lynch surging toward the goal line and ultimately being stopped at the one yard line, it was puzzling to see a pass called in that situation. The Seahawks had established all season that they were a team with a very physical identity, and one that enjoys imposing their will on their opponents in situations just like the one that faced then in their final offensive play of the Super Bowl. This is where it becomes a situation where the quarterback is not blamed for throwing the interception, but rather the play caller is blamed for giving the defense the opportunity to make that great play when the Seahawks strength on offense is to gain that tough yard at the opposition’s goal line.
Did New England expose a weakness in the Seattle defense?
The Patriots did not back down from the highly rated Seattle defense in this year’s Super Bowl. They continued their creative style of offense that is designed to create one on one matchups for their playmakers downfield. Tom Brady was able to regularly drive the ball into the open window, and the Patriots put together an offensive game plan that was never slowed too much other than a few possessions here and there. Even though Tom Brady ended up throwing two interceptions, New England was able to execute many things that worked well for them throughout the game. The shiftiness of both Edelman and Amendola continued to play a role for the Patriots whenever they got the ball in space, as they were able to face the sure tackling Seahawk defenders into some missed tackles. The Patriots showed a spread formation look for the majority of the ballgame, which involved a mixture of quick screens without ever attacking Richard Sherman’s one on one matchup. New England was able to get Gronkowski involved in the game by having him run routes on the perimeter, in order to make it tough for middle of the field defenders such as Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor to help whoever else was assigned to covering him on that given play. By featuring a downhill running game with LeGarrette Blount and sticking to their strengths offensively, the Patriots were able to put together a performance that would suggest they found a weakness in Seattle’s defense.
What Seattle did well
The Seattle Seahawks gave themselves a chance in the ballgame by not allowing LeGarrette Blount to take over on the ground. They also did a great job of forcing the Patriots to take snaps, as they held Tom Brady to fewer than ten yards per completion throughout the ballgame, and only allowed two plays of more than 20 yards. On the offensive side of things, Russell Wilson did a great job of staying after the Patriots secondary by challenging them regularly with strong downfield throws. This nearly paid off in the biggest possible way for Seattle when Wilson was able to complete a pass for a gain of 33 yards on an improbable catch by Jermaine Kearse. Even after Kearse had the ball knocked away from him, the ball bounced on his body as he was sliding on the ground, and he was able to control it before the football reached the ground. This good fortune went for nothing when Seattle did not stick with what they were able to establish throughout the ball game after Marshawn Lynch was off to a slow start against the stout Patriots defensive front. Lynch ended up with over 100 tough yards on the ground, with more than one run of more than 10 yards. The variety of things that Seattle was able to establish throughout the ball game, combined with the Patriots strong offensive performance, made for one of the greatest shows ever on the NFL’s biggest stage.
Did the matchup live up to the hype?
From the scoreless first quarter to the controversial play call to finish out the ballgame, this matchup lived up to the hype as both sides played with extreme intensity throughout. With innovative play calling and strong execution, the Patriots were able to put together a show for the fans against the best defense in football on the NFL’s biggest stage. Seattle had their moments with the great plays to take the football away from New England, but it was a member of New England’s spectacular secondary that had the last great play of the night. For a second straight year, a lesser known player in Chris Matthews, was able to put together an MVP caliber performance on the biggest stage. Marshawn Lynch proved once again that he is one of the best running backs in the game of football, but ultimately it was Brady’s patient workman-like performance that delivered for his team when they needed it most. In a matchup of two teams that were built to compete against each other, the New England Patriots put together the performance necessary to end their ten-year run without an NFL title.
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