On to the top half!
9) 2001 AFC Championship vs Pittsburgh Steelers (Final Score: 24-17)
Purportedly before the game, the Steelers had already packed their bags to get ready for the Super Bowl to be played in New Orleans, as they were largely expected to win. This did not sit well with safety Lawyer Milloy, quipping, “You don’t do that to the Patriots.”
With just under 4 minutes left in the quarter, Steelers punter Josh Miller (who later played for the Patriots in the 2004 season) placed a kick deep in Patriots territory near the sideline for 64 yards, but was negated thanks to a penalty on Steelers gunner Troy Edwards. With Miller pushed back another 5, he punted one down the middle (something Steelers coach Bill Cowher didn’t want) to punt returner Troy Brown (his name will come up more later), who then ran it back into the end zone for 55 yards. 7-0 Patriots.
Later on with 1:59 left in the first half on 3rd-and-9 on the Patriots 32, Brady threw a 28-yard dart to Troy Brown. After the ball left his hand, Steelers safety Lethon Flowers tackled Brady low, injuring his knee. Guess who came to relieve him… Drew Bledsoe, the guy whom he replaced earlier in the season. How ironic.
With the Patriots still in possession, Bledsoe marched the offense down the field, even taking a vicious hit from Chad Scott on his second play as he ran toward the sideline for four yards, and, although eerily similar to the hit that got him hurt, Bledsoe shrugged it off and appeared even more amped up after. Bledsoe made three pass attempts, all to David Patten (whom I will discuss later), who converted all of them, including the last one for a touchdown in the corner of the end zone. 14-3 Patriots.
How do you add insult to injury? The Steelers got bested on Special Teams, then allowed the “backup” to finish off a drive with a touchdown. What more to add salt to the wound? Beat ’em on Special Teams again: on a 34-yard field goal attempt, tackle Brandon Mitchell blocked the kick and the ball rolled for about 15 yards before winding up in Troy Brown’s hands. Barely getting out 5 yards, he made a lateral pass to Antwan “Puddin’” Harris, who took it the rest of the way. 21-3 Patriots.
Sure, the Steelers still scored two touchdowns after, but that blocked field goal return was the decisive play. Even so, the death knell for any comeback was an interception by Lawyer Milloy with 2:02 left. Game over.
A classic Belichick win given that it was Special Teams doing most of the work on the scoresheet. Also, another classic Belichick way of shoving it to the opponent: don’t get complacent because you still have a game to play!
8) Super Bowl XXXVI vs St. Louis Rams (Final Score: 20-17)
Going up against The Greatest Show on Turf at the height of their power, the Patriots were 14-point underdogs going into the championship. One major question: who was starting for New England? The answer was unsurprising considering the same question occurred months prior: Brady.
When the Patriots started the season in Cincinnati, the PA announcer mistakenly started calling the players’ names before they even entered the tunnel, which made them decide to simply walk out on to the field as a team. This would start a tradition that culminated in their collective entrance on to the field at the Louisiana Superdome for Super Bowl XXXVI, which went against the tradition of introducing players one-by-one. Belichick was initially asked to introduce either his offense or defense, to which he chose neither and asked for his team to be introduced together in the spirit of unity. Despite the rejections by the NFL, Belichick didn’t budge, forcing the league to honor his request. This would set a precedent that all teams afterwards in the Super Bowl would be introduced as a team, as the gesture of unity struck a chord with a nation still grieving from 9/11.
As for the game, the Patriots always felt that they had a chance, having met the Rams earlier in the season. Despite the close loss (which was ironically the last that season), the Patriots felt that the Rams weren’t that much better, and Rams coach Mike Martz remarked that the Patriots were a Super Bowl-caliber team. Indeed, while the Rams scored first on a field goal, it was a 47-yard pick six by Ty Law off Rams quarterback Kurt Warner (who was the 2001 NFL MVP) in the second quarter that demonstrated just how good the Patriots actually were. Many fans and pundits point to the interception as a defining moment: the Patriots really did have a chance.
What’s even crazier? The Patriots defense forced a turnover that led to more points: Antwan Harris forced a fumble on Ricky Proehl (more on him later), which Patriots defensive back Terrell Buckley recovered. Then, at the end of the Patriots drive, Brady threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to David Patten over Rams cornerback Dexter McCleon, his lone touchdown pass that postseason. In fact, the catch itself looked very similar to Patten’s the previous week against the Steelers. 14-3 Patriots at the half.
To make matters worse, cornerback Otis Smith intercepted another pass and returned it 33 yards to the Rams 33. The Patriots converted this into a field goal. Was the Rams offense that easy to stop? Yes… but only for a while.
The Rams managed to get to the Patriots 3, and on a fourth-and-goal, attempted a quarterback sneak. Warner fumbled it thanks to a Roman Phifer tackle, and safety Tebucky Jones took it back 97 yards. However, all that got washed away when linebacker Willie McGinest was called for a hold. Two plays later, Warner cashed in a touchdown run. The Rams were now within 7.
In the meantime, the Patriots offense weren’t getting much going as was the case for most of the game. After Warner’s touchdown run, the Patriots went three-and-out. After another Rams punt, it was another three-and-out. However, the Rams had 1:51 left and were on their own 45. Warner responded with three consecutive completed passes, the third being a 26-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl. Tie game.
So now what? The Patriots had no timeouts left. 1:21 remaining. How on earth can you do anything aside from trying to win the game in overtime? Color commentator (and legendary coach) John Madden felt this was the only option. Well, Adam Vinatieri calmly said to the Patriots equipment guy, “They screwed up. They gave us too much time!” Indeed, the Patriots decided to try to put together a scoring drive. Brady went up to offensive coordinator Charlie Weis to ask what they were going to do, to which the response was, “We’re going”. Weis yelled at Brady to take care of the ball (meaning don’t commit a turnover), although Bledsoe slid in between to tell Brady, “…F*** that. Go out there and sling it.“
The drive that ensued was unremarkable at first, with three of the four plays being simple completions to running back J. R. Redmond to move up to the Patriots 41. After a pass rush forced a pass incomplete, there was only 29 seconds left. Then, Brady threw a 23-yard dart to Troy Brown. Brown, who had come up big the week before, had put together a remarkable season overall. Known prior as primarily a punt returner, Brown’s 2001 season was a career year: 1,199 receiving yards in the regular season, along with 230 in the playoffs up until that 23-yard reception to go with a Pro-Bowl selection. Brown’s knack for clutch paid dividends in this season as well as seasons thereafter, and the catch to get into Rams territory is a microcosm of that (Bruschi quipped that the sideline screamed, “HE DID IT AGAIN!!!” during Brown’s induction to the Patriots Hall of Fame). Then, Brady threw a short pass to tight end Jermaine Wiggins (another player whom I will talk about later) before spiking it to stop the clock with 7 seconds left.
48 yards (remember this number?). Adam Vinatieri. One kick to win it all. Vinatieri had done it before: his miraculous kicks two weeks ago (which, much like a lot of things, I will discuss later) were as clutch as it gets. Could he do it? Why, yes he did. 20-17. The Patriots completed their Cinderella season (and some broadcasters called the game terrible, a god-awful take). Their first championship in franchise history. And the first of many not just for the Patriots, but the New England area as a whole: the Boston Red Sox broke their curse in 2004, then the Celtics rose back to the top in 2008, and finally with the Bruins ending their drought in 2011, along with other Red Sox and Patriots championships interspersed in between. Without this one, I’m not sure how many Boston-area teams would have won.
One must also remember that the Patriots were amongst the laughingstock teams in the NFL. From their inception in the AFL to the merger with the NFL, then barely tasting the playoffs in the mid-late 70s, then an improbable run in 1985 to the first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history only to get embarrassed by the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears defense. After failing to advance to past the divisional round the following season, another period of suckitude settled in. 8-7. 9-7. 5-11. 1-15. 6-10. 2-14. 5-11. That last 5-11 was the 1993 season when the Patriots drafted Drew Bledsoe and hired Bill Parcells, who together began the team’s slow turnaround. Without Bledsoe and Parcells, the Patriots would not have been in position to begin the Brady-Belichick tandem that started in 2000. And then with the win in Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots became a team that fans had to take seriously. No longer could people point and laugh at Patriots fans for cheering for a team that sucked. They were now a legitimate team.
Brady won Super Bowl MVP honors, his first, completing 16 of 27 pass attempts for 145 yards, with one touchdown and zero interceptions. Also no fumbles. He protected the ball, Charlie! Following the win, Brady furthered his ascension to dominance in the years afterward, while Bledsoe got traded to Buffalo prior to the 2002 season.
One particularly humorous exchange that seems so ironic afterward is one that Brady and Belichick had prior to returning to New England to celebrate the championship win in Boston (a clip here of that celebration). As Brady won Super Bowl MVP, he was asked to go to Disney World (indeed, he was featured in those famous “I’m going to Disney World!” commercials), although Belichick said that the team was going to be flying back to Boston together. Brady cautiously approached his coach about the subject of going to Disney World, to which his reply was, “…S*** YEAH! How many times you think you win the Super Bowl?!” IRONIC.
7) 2003 AFC Championship vs Indianapolis Colts (Final Score: 24-14)
This game is a microcosm of how Patriots fans think of the Colts: no matter how good they can get, they’ll be stonewalled when it matters. Sure, the Colts would get their wins after, but this was before that, and even then, Patriots fans still don’t look at the Colts and get a sense of fear.
As mentioned before, Colts QB Peyton Manning was the 2003 NFL co-MVP with Steve McNair, leading the league with 379 pass completions for 4,267 yards. The Colts were beginning to find their groove in their second year under head coach Tony Dungy. This was a team not to be taken lightly. Indeed the Patriots and Colts faced off in a fantastic showdown in Week 13 of the 2003 season, where a banged-up Patriots defense barely managed a now-famous goal-line stop led by Willie McGinest to hold on to win in Indy. Now it was time for Brady and Manning to meet for the first time in the playoffs.
On the opening drive, the Patriots promptly marched down the field and capped it off with a David Givens receiving touchdown. The Colts responded with a drive to the New England 5. On 3rd-and-3, Manning threw toward the end zone for Marcus Pollard but the ball wound up landing in the hands of a leaping Rodney Harrison (remember him?).
You know how Givens caught a touchdown for the Patriots? That was the only one for the Patriots offense. So how on earth did they manage more? Well, it was largely thanks to a fantastic ground game backed by Antowain Smith, who ran for 100 yards in the snow (for the record, Smith was an absolute workhorse tailback, tallying 1,157 on the ground in the 2001 regular season along with 204 in the postseason). While they were unable to get in the end zone again, the offense still got far enough into Colts territory to kick field goals that Adam Vinatieri was able to make (five total).
Now for the Colts offense, could they respond to that back-breaking pick? Kind of… they did manage two touchdown scores, although the first was in the third quarter and the last with just over two minutes left in the game, and by then, the score was 21-14. Manning, as mentioned before got picked by Harrison. However, he threw three more, all to Ty Law. As many would joke with time, Manning would try to fight the Law, but the Law won: the Hall-of-Fame cornerback routinely made Manning’s life miserable, and during his career, picked off Manning nine times, five of them coming from the playoffs (including the three from this game). Law’s physical play from this game led to a stricter enforcement of a five-yard illegal contact rule for the seasons after (this rule would become informally known as “the Ty Law rule”). The Colts consistently complained about the physical play from not just Law, but the Patriots defense in general, yet the picks that Manning gave up to Law were CLEAN.
So yea. This game was both dumb and fantastic at the same time. A microcosm of this aspect was that the game-winning play was a safety. A GOSH DARN SAFETY. The Colts scored on all of their drives in the divisional round against the Kansas City Chiefs the week prior (the Chiefs didn’t punt either), and even then, they didn’t even punt at all two weeks prior in the Wild Card round against the Denver Broncos. Thus, a very out-of-practice punting unit came on for the first time in the postseason amidst the falling snow. Long snapper Justin Snow (ironic surname, eh?) let off a high snap that sailed over punter Hunter Smith into the end zone, forcing Smith to kick it out for the safety. Very dumb. And fantastic for what it meant in the end.
As for what it meant for the Brady vs Manning rivalry, Brady didn’t really make headlines in this game. Manning certainly did, though, albeit for all the wrong reasons.
6) 2014 Divisional Round vs Baltimore Ravens (Final Score: 35-31)
This one was a nail-biter, both because it was cold (19 degrees) and for how nerve-wracking it was. Two 14-point deficits. Unorthodox formations. Lots of bombs. YUP.
The Patriots and Ravens had history prior to this game. In 2009 in his first postseason off his ACL tear in 2008 at the hands of safety Bernard Pollard, Brady committed three turnovers that the Ravens would convert into 24 points that they wouldn’t look back from en route to a 33-14 thrashing in the Wild Card round. The Patriots would get revenge two years later in the AFC Championship when the Ravens dropped a go-ahead touchdown and missed a game-winning field goal. However, the win came at the cost of Rob Gronkowski suffering a high ankle sprain during a catch when he was tackled by none other than Bernard Pollard. Then, a year later facing a rematch, the Ravens had the last laugh despite being behind at the half. The loss was Brady’s first at home when leading at halftime. In the final quarter with a chance to tie the game, Stevan Ridley fumbled the ball following a direct helmet-to-helmet hit and wound up suffering a concussion, briefly losing consciousness that caused him to lose control of the football, and the one who hit him was you guessed it- Bernard Pollard (Pollard himself also indirectly ended Wes Welker’s season in 2009, more on that in a later post perhaps).
So I guess Pollard had quite a hand in killing the Patriots (he earned the moniker “the Patriot killer”), although by this point, he had left to play for Tennessee. Even so, the Ravens stormed down the field on their opening drive to go up 7-0. Then after a Patriots three-and-out, the Ravens stormed down the field again for another touchdown to go up 14-0. However, the Patriots would gradually chip away to tie the game. In the process, Brady managed to set a new record for passing yards in the postseason when his 23-yard pass to Gronkowski put him at 6,595 total, along with a rushing touchdown that opened the Patriots scoring.
Later on, with just over a minute left in the half, Brady threw an interception to Ravens linebacker Daryl Smith which then led to more points when Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco found Owen Daniels in the end zone to go up 21-14. The Patriots drive to start the second half fell short (which included a controversial no-call on pass interference), which then led to more Ravens points when Flacco found running back Justin Forsett for 16 yards, his fourth touchdown pass of the game. Another 14-point deficit.
The response drive is one to be remembered: the Patriots managed to successfully fool the Ravens defense by employing unconventional formations, dubbed “Baltimore” and “Raven” by Brady and Belichick. Using a four-man line with another offensive skill player declaring himself ineligible, Brady drove down the field in 9 plays for 80 yards to pull within 7. Then, the Ravens went three-and-out, giving the Patriots another chance, which they cashed in on in just three plays: the Patriots performed a double-pass where Brady lateraled to Julian Edelman who then threw it down 51-yards to wideout Danny Amendola. Tie game. Not bad for the guy attempting his first pass attempt, especially someone was originally drafted as a quarterback out of Kent State!
In the fourth quarter, the Ravens did manage to get into Patriots territory again, but had to settle for a field goal, giving them a slim three-point lead. Brady responded with a 10-play, 74-yard drive (one that once again employed “Baltimore” and “Raven”) that culminated with a 23-yard pass to wideout Brandon LaFell, which set a new record for postseason touchdown passes by a quarterback with 46. Brady managed to surpass his childhood idol Joe Montana who managed 45 in his career.
The Ravens were able to storm down the field to try to wrestle the lead back, but Flacco threw a pick to Duron Harmon at the Patriots 1. Although the Patriots kneeled in an attempt to run out the clock, the Ravens used their final timeout which forced a punt. With just 4 seconds, Flacco attempted a Hail Mary but it would be batted out of the end zone, and the Patriots would barely hang on.
After the game, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was livid over the formations from the “Baltimore” and “Raven” plays. The NFL confirmed that all substitutions and declarations the Patriots made were legal, but a rule change for the following season would make running these formations illegal. Much would be discussed afterwards regarding these, and I suggest you check out this video that talks about the comebacks from the Patriots players perspective as well as Do Your Job, a 40+ minute feature where the Patriots coaching staff discussed their season while dissecting key plays.
5) Super Bowl XXXVIII vs Carolina Panthers (Final Score: 32-29)
What. A. Thriller. Also, be prepared for a long one.
After 2002 ended in disappointment, the Patriots worked their way back to the Super Bowl with a dominant 2003 season, going on a 12-win tear after starting the season 2-2 on the backs of a suffocating defense (which I talked about previously) that led the league in fewest points allowed per game (14.9), fewest passing yards allowed per attempt (5.64), fewest passing touchdowns allowed (11), and most interceptions (29). In the meantime, the offense also improved with the rise of wideouts Deion Branch and David Givens (who filled in for an injured David Patten) to complement veteran Troy Brown, along with Antowain Smith and Kevin Faulk carrying the ground game.
Carolina was just as formidable. After finishing 1-15 in the 2001 season, owner Jerry Richardson hired John Fox for the 2002 season, who improved the team record to 7-9. For the 2003 season, newly-signed free agent Jake Delhomme helmed an offense backed by rising star wideouts Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad and running backs Stephen Davis and DeShaun Foster. Their defense was also formidable with Julius Peppers, Mike Rucker, and Kris Jenkins accruing 24 total sacks while Reggie Howard, Mike Minter, Deon Grant, and Ricky Manning Jr. compiled 11 interceptions.
As mentioned before, 2002 was a woeful season for New England, which seemed to fuel the speculation that 2001 was a fluke. Then 2003 happened, and now the Patriots were in position to prove they were here to stay. With two strong wins against two strong opponents, could they pull it off?
Here’s the thing: I remember watching the championship against the Colts at home before attending a Super Bowl party at a friend’s house (I was 10). I remember my younger brother saying there was this legend that there was this fan dubbed “the lucky guy” where every game he attended was a Patriots win. I don’t think this has every been proven.
The Panthers received the opening kickoff, but only managed a punt. The Patriots, however, got to the Carolina 9, but Vinatieri missed the ensuing 31-yard field goal attempt. The ensuing defensive struggle lasted late into the second quarter. Brady once again managed to get close, but Vinatieri couldn’t cap off the drive after Shane Burton blocked his 36-yard attempt. On the ensuing Carolina drive, linebacker Mike Vrabel strip-sacked Delhomme at the Carolina 20. In response, Brady calmly led his offense to the Carolina 5, where a play-action pass to a wide-open Branch opened the scoring. This was a record for the longest time the Super Bowl was scoreless at 26:55 elapsed.
However, the touchdown opened the floodgates to more scoring. The Panthers ran an 8-play, 95-yard drive to score a touchdown of their own when Smith beat Patriots corner Tyrone Poole on a 39-yard bomb. With 1:07 left in the half, the Patriots then responded with a 6-play, 78-yard drive that included a 52-yard bomb to Branch and culminated in another play-action pass for a touchdown, this time to Givens. Vinatieri then attempted a squib kick to stop a potential long return, but Panther tight end Kris Magnum returned it to the Carolina 47 for 12 yards which set up a 50-yard field goal for John Kasay. 14-10 at the half.
After a rather eventful halftime show (my brother and his friend saw “that”), another defensive struggle ensued, although the Patriots managed to put a scoring drive that would end at the start of the fourth quarter where Antowain Smith punched in a 2-yard rush to the Patriots ahead by 21-10. However, this also opened the floodgates for more scoring, this time an explosion that has yet to be replicated: 37 points in a single quarter. So let’s set our points scored total at 7.
Countering Smith’s touchdown was a 6-play, 81-yard drive that culminated in Foster’s 33-yard rushing touchdown. Interestingly, the Panthers tried to go for two but they failed (Points scored: 13). The Patriots responded with a drive to the Carolina 9, but Reggie Howard intercepted a third-down pass from Brady. Then, Carolina managed just 3 plays to take the lead, the last being the longest play from scrimmage in Super Bowl history where Delhomme connected with Muhammad on an 85-yard bomb. Patriots safety Eugene Wilson was also injured on the play, a sign of things to come. Another Panthers attempt for two failed, although Carolina now had a slim lead of 22-21 (Points scored: 19).
New England responded with an 11-play, 68-yard drive that ended with a touchdown play-action pass to linebacker Mike Vrabel, which I foreshadowed previously. On the touchdown play, the Panthers managed to cover Brady’s primary targets, but Vrabel managed to cut around from the left end of the line, breaking free from his defender (who collided with another) to haul in the 2-yard toss (Points scored: 25). Then, the Patriots decided to go for two, which they cashed in on when Kevin Faulk rushed in on a direct snap (a play to keep in mind for later). Despite amassing over 1,000 all-purpose yards during the season, these were Faulk’s only points during the season (Points scored: 27).
Carolina, who also had a knack for comebacks during the season, proceeded to pull one off again by chewing 1:43 of game clock with 7 plays for 80 yards. What was worse? Rodney Harrison would break his forearm and wouldn’t return to the game, further crippling a tired, weary defense. Adding insult to injury? The one to catch the touchdown pass that ended this drive was none other than Ricky Proehl, the same wideout who tied it two years earlier. John Kasay nailed the extra point attempt, and the game was tied at 29 apiece (Points scored: 34).
And the Patriots found themselves in the virtually identical spot that they were in two years prior, albeit with less time with just 1:13 left. However, they got some luck when John Kasay kicked the ball out of bounds on the ensuing kickoff, a penalty that placed the ball at the Patriots 40. Then, on a 3rd-and-3 from the Carolina 40 with just 15 seconds left, Brady connected with Branch on a 17-yard pass. Vinatieri now had a chance to put the Patriots ahead just as he did two years ago.
If you hadn’t noticed, Vinatieri had trouble this game. Despite nailing all of his extra point attempts, he missed all of his field goal attempts as noted before. Up to this point, he was 31 for 35 on field goal attempts indoors, with all four misses coming in the then-named Reliant Stadium, coincidentally where the Patriots and Panthers were battling for it all. But little does anyone know that there was also a story involving Vinatieri’s long snapper. That season, starting snapper Lonie Paxton landed on season-ending Injured Reserve during the season, and then his replacement Sean McDermott (not to be confused with the current coach of the Buffalo Bills with the same name) also wound up there as well. With just two games left, Bill Belichick called on someone whom he knew from his Cleveland days in the early-90s, although that same person had been out of football since the end of the 1999 season.
Enter Brian Kinchen, former tight end who knew how to long snap but had never really done it in a live setting. After finding he had suffered an ACL tear early in 2000, Kinchen seemed to be faced with the end of his career. Despite trying out for teams, he was unsuccessful and resigned to filing retirement papers early in 2003 and took on a new career as a Bible instructor at Parkview Baptist. In mid-December while his seventh grade students sat quietly to prepare for their exams, his phone rang, and on the other end of the line was Belichick’s then-right-hand man Scott Pioli, whom Kinchen also knew from his Cleveland days. Pioli begged for Kinchen to come out of retirement, and the latter was unsurprisingly hesitant, although he eventually agreed and was now back in the game playing for a team making a serious championship run. And then, improbably, the Patriots made the Super Bowl. In the pre-game meal, however, Kinchen accidentally cut his hand with a steak knife that needed three stitches after the game. Yikes. So with that in mind, coupled with all the anxiety he had rapidly built up, you could imagine a lot was riding on this kick (check out more about this story here, it’s nuts).
9 seconds. 41 yards. Snap away. The kick… was good (Points scored: 37).
Now, Carolina had to hope for a score on the ensuing kickoff, but Matt Chatham, who had tackled a streaker just before the start of the second half, ended it when he ran into Rod Smart, and as TV play-by-play announcer Greg Gumbel stated, “the Panthers ran out of time.” Game.
Brady would notch a second Super Bowl MVP, while his leading receiver Deion Branch caught 10 passes on 14 targets for 143 yards (greater than his output the year after as noted before). The Patriots were back on top.
4) Super Bowl XLIX vs Seattle Seahawks (Final Score: 28-24)
The Patriots were back in the Super Bowl, ready to vanquish their demons after suffering losses in their previous two appearances, both against Eli Manning and the New York Giants. Interestingly, this one was played at University of Phoenix Stadium, where they suffered their first Super Bowl loss with Brady at the helm that left them failing to produce a perfect, undefeated season.
The road to this point had been tumultuous. A back-and-forth-ride against the Ravens followed by a controversy-laden matchup against the Colts. Even before that, the Patriots regular season had its own share of craziness: after a humiliating loss at Arrowhead Stadium against Kansas City in Week 4, Belichick faced questions about his personnel and if Brady was to be unseated by his backup Jimmy Garoppolo. The head coach responded repeatedly with a phrase that has become synonymous with the press conference as a whole: “We’re on to Cincinnati.”
Spygate. Deflategate. The Giants. The Ravens. Bernard Pollard. After their win in Super Bowl XXXIX, the Patriots continued to play well, missing the playoffs just once in 2008 (remember that this was when Brady was injured in the season opener), but they were coming up short. Their opponents? The defending champion Seattle Seahawks, a formidable opponent in all three phases led by Belichick’s predecessor Pete Carroll, Pro-Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson, Pro-Bowl running back Marshawn Lynch (BEAST MODE!), and the Legend of Boom secondary led by Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, and Earl Thomas.
Both drives to start the game ended in punts. Brady seemed poised to score for the first time in the first quarter (he hadn’t done this in prior Super Bowls, including his losses), but an interception to Jeremy Lane ended those hopes. However, Lane wound up injured on the play and missed the rest of the game, leaving the Legion of Boom without one of their reliable “secondary (pun intended)” members. However, on his first drive of the second quarter, Brady found LaFell for 11 yards to draw first blood.
Up until this point, Wilson had yet to complete a pass, but he would do so on his second drive after the Patriots scored. During this drive, he’d find Chris Matthews for his first NFL catch for 44 yards, beating Kyle Arrington in coverage. He’d cap it off by handing it off to Lynch on a three-yard touchdown run to tie the game. Brady’s response was a 22-yard bomb to Gronkowski. Then Wilson found Matthews again for a touchdown to end the half.
After another memorable halftime show with Left Shark and Right Shark, the Seahawks potted a field goal to open the second half. Brady’s first drive of the second half ended in another pick, this time to Pro-Bowl linebacker Bobby Wagner. On the following drive, Belichick made a personnel change by switching corner Brandon Browner to cover Matthews while swapping Arrington for undrafted rookie Malcolm Butler to cover Jermaine Kearse. Matthews would make the first catch of the drive, although this would be his last of the game. This would prove little, however, as Wilson still managed to score a touchdown by finding Doug Baldwin in the end zone. The Patriots were now down by 10, and no team had been able to overcome a deficit of over seven points going into the fourth quarter.
However, the Patriots had one less defender to deal with: Seahawks pass rusher Cliff Avril had left the game after suffering a concussion during Wagner’s interception, which allowed the Patriots offensive line to double team the other pass rusher Michael Bennett, giving Brady more time in the pocket. With 12:10 left in the game, Brady marched the offense down with a 9-play, 68-yard drive to find Amendola in the end zone to pull within 3. Earlier in the drive, Brady found Edelman on 3rd-and-14, and despite a brutal tackle by Kam Chancellor that left him concussed, Edelman was able hold onto the ball and would also finish the game.
A three-and-out for Seattle led to another scoring drive: Brady stormed down the field yet again and found Edelman in the end zone at the end of it for a touchdown, pulling the Patriots back ahead by four. However, the ensuing drive is what this game was is most remembered for. With just over two minutes, Wilson managed to get into Patriot territory on the first play after finding Lynch for 31. On 3rd-and-10 from the Patriot 49, Wilson connected with wideout Ricardo Lockette for 11, and the play afterward was just all too familiar for the Patriots.
7 years ago, the then-undefeated Patriots held a slim 14-10 lead on the Giants and had to hold off any comeback to win it all and be the first team to go undefeated in a season since the expansion of the regular season to 16-games. However, the infamous Helmet Catch by David Tyree kept a Giants drive alive which ended with Manning finding the 6′ 5” Plaxico Burress man handling the 5′ 9” Ellis Hobbs in coverage to go ahead 17-14, a score that would hold after Brady failed to manage a single yard. 4 years later, Manning would find Mario Manningham on a 38-yard bomb on the game-winning drive that put the Giants ahead 21-17, a lead they would not surrender after Brady’s attempted Hail Mary fell short. The Patriots just seemed snake-bitten with all the miraculous catches.
As mentioned before, Malcolm Butler found himself playing in the Super Bowl to cover Jermaine Kearse. Butler is one of many undrafted rookies to make a Patriots roster, and performed admirably in the season, playing 11 games and grabbing 15 tackles. Kearse, on the other hand, was one of Wilson’s more reliable targets, having amassed 537 receiving yards in the regular season and 164 in the playoffs prior to the Super Bowl, including the game-winner two weeks prior in the NFC Championship against the Green Bay Packers. With Butler covering Kearse, Wilson managed just one pass completion to Kearse on three targets. However, after Lockette’s completion, Wilson looked Kearse’s way and found him near the sideline with Butler in tight coverage. Butler managed to bat the ball away, but the ball never landed on the ground as Kearse reeled in the acrobatic catch for 33 yards. Once again, a team made another ridiculous catch with the Patriots at the short end of the stick. Patriots owner Robert Kraft would quip, “We have no… effing… luck.”
The Seahawks would call their second timeout, and on the first play from the Patriot 5, Wilson predictably handed it off to Beast Mode Lynch, but Dont’a Hightower (remember him?) miraculously bounced off of Seahawk tackle Russell Okung before wrapping up Lynch at the one, and he managed to do this with a torn labrum. Following this, the clock was mysteriously still ticking, and many questioned why Belichick wasn’t calling a timeout, including his own coaching staff. Seeing the formation, Belichick called “Goal-line 3”, a formation that called for most of the Patriots defenders lining at the goal line along with three corners. Cornerback coach Josh Boyer told safeties coach Brian Flores to “send Malcolm”, to which Flores turned and screamed, “MALCOLM, GO!” to get Butler back in the game. As Butler made his way to his spot, Browner gestured to guard Lockette. Strange considering how Butler’s matchup had been Kearse…
Well, the ensuing play was something that the Patriots had practiced against. Butler had seen it during practice, where he read the play incorrectly and got beat for a touchdown. Ernie Adams, the quiet Patriots Football Research Director, had designed plays for the Patriots to practice against, and by sheer coincidence, this would be exactly what Seattle would attempt to follow Lynch’s rush.
With Baldwin to Wilson’s left and Kearse and Lockette to the right, Wilson looked to Lockette’s right and fired a pass. Browner held Kearse at the line of scrimmage, allowing Butler to make his move: Lockette bounced off of Butler as he was making his slant, while Butler, who knew what was coming, made a clean pick at the 2-yard line before falling on the field. Patriots ball. To this day, no one can really answer why Seattle didn’t try to run the ball again.
The Patriots understandably celebrated following the miraculous interception, but this led to them getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, putting the ball on the Patriots 1 with just 20 seconds. Brady had to take a snap in the end zone, and had to find a way to get it out, lest the Seahawks manage a safety and receive a kick to try and score again. However, he successfully fooled the Seahawks with the snap count, as Bennett was drawn offsides to get handed an encroachment penalty. With the ball at the Patriot 6, Brady could take another knee. After Seattle called its final timeout, Sherman would go up to Brady and offer a handshake, a flip from when he taunted Brady two seasons prior following a Seattle regular season victory. Meanwhile, a brawl ensued involving many other players, which led to Seahawk Bruce Irvin getting ejected (like it mattered), the first ever in a Super Bowl. Brady knelt one final time to seal the victory.
After all that, Brady managed another Super Bowl MVP, his third overall. Part of his reward was a 2015 Chevrolet Colorado which he would instead gift to Butler for his heroics, which Chevrolet honored by directly gifting it to the rookie. All the postseason demons that Brady and Belichick dealt with had washed away. And thus began the next dynasty…
Again, I highly recommend watching Do Your Job. They go into this game AT LENGTH.
The game occurred during my senior year of college. I don’t remember watching much of the game, but I do remember finding myself at the television and I managed to watch the interception. I was genuinely confused and sat there in silence. Huh? Did we really just pick that off? How? After the game’s conclusion, I went to one of my suite-mates who was a Patriots hater and offered a handshake. He didn’t reciprocate. Oh well.
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