It was all but over. New England had allowed 17 unanswered points only to take a 28-24 lead with just 2:02 to go, but Seahawks WR Jermaine Kearse had visions of David Tyree dancing in Pats' fans' heads thanks to a miracle catch at the NE 5. When Marshawn Lynch cracked 100 rushing yards by getting to the 1, it looked like the same old heartbreak from the last two Patriots Super Bowl losses--"Beast Mode" punching the dagger in with three tries to do it was a mere formality, right?
Then against all reason Seattle dialed up a pick play that was snatched out of the air by Malcolm Butler, and by the way, WHO THE HELL IS MALCOLM BUTLER?! After a penalty, a scrum, and one last snap, the New England Patriots were winners of Super Bowl XLIX!
In the NFL playoff and Super Bowl record book, there used to be a sheaf of pages devoted to marks set by QBs; that's no longer necessary when a single page will do it, and that page will say "Tom Brady." Tom Terrific may have had his doubters, especially after he threw two uncharacteristic interceptions to go with a few other bad passes. Still, a third--
third--Super Bowl MVP says he did just fine, going 37/50 for 328 yards and four TDs in a game against Seattle's top-notch offense that allowed just 57 yards on 21 carries for New England's RBs.
Brady had to come up big, he knew it, and he went out and got it, thanks also to an excellent defensive performance and a career-defining game for QB-turned-WR Julian Edelman.
Real football fans will remember these Patriots not for fabricated and overblown "scandals" like "Spygate" and "Deflategate," but for returning to the top of the heap by doing everything just a bit better than 31 other NFL teams. What a game, what a season, what a dynasty!
Super Bowl XXXVI, February 3, 2002: New England 20, St. Louis 17
MVP: Tom Brady
Super Bowl XXXVIII, February 1, 2004: New England 32, Carolina 29
MVP: Tom Brady
Super Bowl XXXIX, February 6, 2005: New England 24, Philadelphia 21
MVP: Deion Branch
Super Bowl XLIX, February 1, 2015: New England 28, Seattle 24
MVP: Tom Brady
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Great game! He has put himself into elite company.
ReplyDeleteSure was! And that's "real" elite, not "Eli Manning elite."
DeleteI honestly don't know an all time QB I would put above Tom Brady after this season/last night. I used to be team Tom-isn't-close-to-the-best-all-time, but the stats bear it out.
ReplyDeleteMontana has the postseason hardware...but Brady's postseason stats (outside of interceptions and losses) are all better. And Brady's regular season stats are much more impressive, especially touchdowns thrown, with lesser receivers (Montana had Rice after all).
Manning has better regular season stats (he's sort of the Dan Marino of this generation, but with a Super Bowl win) but without as much playoff success.
After that, who is even in the conversation? Favre and unitas were gunslingers - lots of tds and some postseason success but crazy low completion percentages and way more picks than the three guys above. Elway is sort of a more composed version of those two guys - still a low completion % and lots of picks, but less so, with more postseason success. Steve Young and Troy Aikman actually look real good on paper, but Aikman's career was so short (and had Irvin and Smith the whole time) while Young's peak was pretty short. Terry Bradshaw was 4-0 in the Super Bowl, but that was all about defense...he actually wasn't that good (51% completion percentage for his career).
TL:DR Gimme Brady every time!
DeleteGreat game by Brady. We get spoiled up in New England
ReplyDeleteLadies and gentlemen: the first Boston-team fan to realize he's spoiled by his teams' success! I don't care about the Sox but I'd be perfectly happy with the Pats winning rings until Brady retires.
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