With just over two minutes to go, the Seahawks had the ball and trailed by four. Wilson has been clutch in big situations before and looked ready to lead Seattle to victory. A couple passes got the Seahawks past midfield and then the amazing happened. Russell threw a pass to Jermaine Kearse that deflected off his hands and again off of his leg as he was falling to the ground. He caught the ball while lying on his back at the four yard line. Seattle looked destined for a comeback victory.
Then, it was heartbreak.
With 20 seconds and one timeout remaining, Seattle elected to pass rather than hand the ball to the beast, Marshawn Lynch. The pass was intercepted, securing a victory for New England. The decision to pass in that situation will certainly be criticized for a long time. But, of course, if it had resulted in a touchdown, we would most likely be praising the risky call.
As a whole, Super Bowl XLIX was one of the more entertaining games this year. It may have ended in disappointment for Seattle, but it was a hard fought game that went all the way to the final minute and kept spectators on the edge of their seats. Chris Matthews, a Seahawks wide receiver with no career receptions, broke out for 109 yards and a touchdown. He was a likely candidate to take home the Super Bowl MVP award, had the Seahawks come up on top. But they didn’t, and the New England Patriots were the ones who left Arizona with the Lombardi trophy.
Congratulations are in order for the Patriots. They played a great game and Tom Brady added to his case of being considered one of the best quarterbacks of all time by winning his fourth Super Bowl.
Although the loss was disappointing, actions toward the end of the game were worse. Bruce Irvin is an emerging star on an already amazing defense, but the fact that he started an on-field brawl and got ejected when the game was already decided was inexcusable. On a team with admirable leaders such as Wilson, Sherman and Thomas, I expected more than that. Clearly he allowed emotions to get the better of him, but you should never act that way, especially in the biggest game of the year when the whole world is watching. As I expected, he did issue a public apology on Monday.
The Seattle Seahawks are still an incredibly young team with a lot to learn and despite the success they’ve had the past few years, I don’t believe they have peaked. Wilson is set to earn a large contract extension, and, once again, very few key players will be lost from the roster. This team will have several chances to take back their crown. We may not have won the championship this year, but the 12th Man has plenty of reasons to stay optimistic.
After all, there’s always next year.
Harrison may be reached at [email protected]
