By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, February 1, 2015

A late New England rally, followed by a stellar goal line stand in the final minute, helped the Patriots win their fourth NFL championship since the 1970 merger by edging Seattle 28-24 in the 49th annual Super Bowl.

The game, played before 70,288 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, was tied 14-14 at halftime.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was selected as the game’s most valuable player – his third – but the big play of the night belonged to New England defensive back Malcolm Butler, whose goal line interception of a Russell Wilson pass with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter snuffed out a potential Seahawks game-winning drive and secured the title for the Patriots.

Brady threw for four touchdowns and 328 yards, and in the process, passed Joe Montana’s previous record of 11 Super Bowl touchdown passes.

Both teams did their best to make sure the game was about football in general, not the proper inflation of the game balls, which dominated pregame press conferences after the allegations following the Patriots’ 45-7 AFC championship win over Indianapolis.

Late in the fourth quarter, before Seattle set up with a 1st-and-goal at the New England 1 yard-line, an acrobatic catch by Jermaine Kearse set up the incredible finish. After Wilson’s pass was seemingly broken up, the ball floated in the air and landed in Kearse’s hands as he lay on the ground near the Patriot 15.

That eventually set up Seattle Coach Pete Carroll’s decision not to use Marshawn Lynch on second down at the New England 1. Butler read the play and made the pick, darting in front of intended receiver Ricardo Lockette. A series of penalties eventually moved the ball to the 15, allowing Brady to make the final kneel-down.

Carroll explained after the game that he and his staff felt New England was too difficult to run on initially and “was planning to run on third and fourth downs.” The play call surprised nearly everyone watching.

Seattle was leading 24-14 with just under eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Brady responded with touchdown passes to Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman, the latter putting the Patriots up 28-24 with 2:02 left.

Seattle wide receiver Chris Matthews grabbed four passes for 109 yards and a touchdown, and Lynch ran for 102 yards. But Marshawn didn’t get the call in Seattle’s final possession, a decision that will haunt Carroll and the Seahawks for an indefinite period.

After the game, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell presented the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who called the commish out earlier this week in regard to the allegations of purposely deflated footballs.

The investigation into “Deflate-gate” is ongoing, but the Patriots have a fourth Lombardi Trophy to clean the fingerprints off of.