What a Difference a Play Makes: Making Sense of the Patriots' Super Bowl Win and the Seahawks' Loss

Welp, Seahawks fans aside, this had to be one of the most thrilling Super Bowls we've had in a generation or maybe ever, especially after that foregone conclusion of a rout we got a year ago.  It all came down to the goal line, Seattle trailing by four with 20 seconds left on the clock, second down and a yard away from a second consecutive title.  You already know how this one ends since it's all anyone has been talking about for the past two days, but it's incredible to see how the "Narratives" about these two teams and their players swung on the fate of a simple slant route.  As we reminisce about this instant classic between two valiant teams that played like they deserved to be there, let's have some fun dissecting some of the Hot Takes from the fallout of a wild finish that gave the Patriots their fourth Super Bowl title in fifteen years, shall we?


Hot Take #1: That Was the Worst Play Call in the History of the NFL - No Wait, in All Of Football

What It Really Means: Sure, sure, sure. With a rearview mirror and a Twitter army backing us up, we can all say with certainty that Seattle's decision to dial up a slant pass to WR Ricardo Lockette on that fateful second down was awful.  I will merit that: 1) Marshawn Lynch was easily Seattle's best matchup against the Patriots defense compared to any passing option; 2) the pass play was not well-designed or well-disguised; and 3) it also wasn't well executed by Russell Wilson, who threw the ball too far inside and possibly misread the coverage, nor by Lockette, who got thrown under the bus by his own offensive coordinator for letting CB Malcolm Butler take him off his route. But nine times out of ten, the worst thing that happens in that situation is an incomplete pass that stops the clock so that the Seahawks get two more cracks at the end zone and we forget about that play (as we did about Marshawn Lynch falling just short on the previous play) when the game ends 1 - 2 downs later.  After all, Wilson's pick marked the first interception from the 1-yd line all season, so I'd say it's a stretch to call this an overly high-risk play even if it didn't end well here. Seattle was down to one timeout at that point, meaning they would have a shot at one running play and two passing plays at best to try to score a touchdown in all likelihood.  Wilson had Lockette in man coverage against an undrafted fifth-string rookie, and he played the odds instead of throwing it away.  So while it's easy to judge the call by its disastrous result, I just gotta say I feel it's more forgivable in principle than we will ever let on because who wants to try recalling the collective effort of 106 players over the course of 125 plays and 60 minutes that we mostly weren't that sober for?

The Better Take: Maybe God isn't so big on Russell Wilson these days.  Also, always use corner fades, turn signals and sunscreen in life.

Hot Take #2: Tom Brady Is Officially the Greatest Quarterback of All Time

What It Really Means: Brady added some tremendous gold stars to his already lengthy Hall of Fame resume on Sunday night to be sure, but however you feel about his legacy, I hope you felt the same way about it before and after Seattle's final possession.  Now that the 37-year-old quarterback has a fourth ring, a third Super Bowl MVP and an unprecedented sixth championship appearance to his name, you'd be downright foolish to discredit his mountain of accolades, even if you're a little obsessed with his lumpy footballs these days.  But had the Seahawks converted that final touchdown drive and sent the Ugg-ed one home 0 - 3 in his past three Super Bowls, a good number of us would still be yammering today about how washed up and un-clutch Tom Brady has been in his late career.  The irony of course is that this game came down to a coin flip of a goal line situation with Brady on the sideline.  He played a great if somewhat flawed game, given the two interceptions, and was absolutely instrumental in driving his team back from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter against the formidable Legion of Boom (more on them in a little bit).  But how we will remember Brady in this game and over the past few seasons is now inextricably linked to the Patriots' defense in those final few seconds just as Brady's overall success as a player cannot be separated from Bill Belichick's equal or greater prowess as a coach.  Nevertheless, while Malcolm Butler made the biggest single play of the game and Gronkowski and Edelman were more fun to watch, this was a very deserved MVP performance for Brady for his resilience and his overall offensive contribution given that the Patriots barely surpassed 50 yards on the ground.  And so, much in the way LeBron James is definitely part of "The Conversation" in the NBA next to Jordan these days, yeah, Brady deserves your consideration for the decidedly subjective GOAT accolade with fewer and fewer peers able to make the same case.  Good on him.

The Better Take: Brady better be at least in your Top 2 of all time or now you're just being chippy.


Hot Take #3: The Legion of Boom Is Mortal

What It Really Means: Okay, this one isn't the hottest take or the most prominent buzz out there, but what exactly happened to that vaunted Seattle defense that I bet my Super Bowl pick on?  The last time the Seahawks allowed 28 points to any opponent was almost four months ago when the St. Louis Rams put on a special teams opera for the ages.  We knew there was a chance the Legion of Boom would be a little less boom-y going into Super Bowl Sunday given that Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor were all nursing ill-timed injuries. Things got worse quickly for Seattle when Jeremy Lane left the game for good after a huge interception in the end zone, and Cliff Avril eventually left for good too after a failed concussion test, jeopardizing Seattle's already uneven pass rush. Still, I can't say the injuries were solely to blame for the Seahawks' defensive regression, especially given that they didn't look like an impenetrable fortress against the Packers or Panthers either.  They controlled the Patriots on the ground pretty well, but they were pushed around and thrown off numerous times by the Pats' receiver formations and Tom Brady's reads and left players wide open far more often than I've seen in a while. But if I had to pinpoint a single overriding issue with this team in this game, it'd be on the flipside of the ball - Seattle's passing offense against New England's secondary.  Under constant pressure, Wilson completed only 12 passes on the day and got such little help from his receivers that rookie-with-0-NFL-receptions-to-his-name Chris Matthews became his top target.  There were flashes of brilliance like Wilson's laser TD pass to Matthews with 6 seconds to go in the first half, but the Seahawks' passing game fell short in terms of opening things up consistently for Marshawn Lynch or keeping the chains moving in the fourth quarter with a big ole' 10-point lead.  It cost them big in tandem with Seattle's banged up defense hanging on for dear life.

The Better Take: Delight in the fact that after suffering through seven years with the Jets and Buccaneers, Darrelle Revis finally has a Super Bowl ring!


Hot Take #4: Missy Elliott Is the Chosen One

What It Really Means:  This is actually 100% factually correct. I'll even let that "Pass That Dutch" omission slide because sharks.






Enjoy the offseason!  I'll be working on a Top 10 Games of the Season post soon and then going on an unpaid hiatus to match my unpaid blog labor time.