Super Bowl XLIX: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New England Patriots quarterback

(12) passes during the fourth quarter against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The season is officially over and it is time to move onto the 2015 season but before moving forward there is time to take one more look back at how the biggest game of the year turned out. The Patriots beat the Seahawks to win Super Bowl XLIX. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly:

The Good

1) Rex Ryan’s Pizza Hut Commercial – Rex is nothing if not extremely entertaining (and bad at challenging things) so it was very appropriate for him to be throwing challenge flags at people for not ordering Pizza Hut. Rex should get used to sub par pizza like that up in Buffalo.

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2) Brady led the Patriots on a 13 play drive…that ended in an end zone interception – Tom Brady took the Patriots down the field taking what the defense gave them, runs, screens and pick plays, but in the red zone the Seahawks forced a 3rd and long. On the 3rd and long, the Seahawks got pressure and Brady threw it right to Jeremy Lane. Jeremy Lane plays for the Seahawks. Possession over.

Brady also started to get happy feet on the 1st drive of the 2nd half, after taking some nasty hits early in the drive Brady started seeing ghosts and threw late to Gronkowski across the middle and was intercepted by Bobby Wagner, who undercut the route. That interception led to a Russell Wilson touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin and a 10-point 3rd quarter lead for the Seahawks.

3) Wilson doesn’t complete a pass for the first 24 minutes then… – Wilson completes a huge 3rd and 6 to keep their drive alive, followed by a beautiful deep ball to Chris Matthews (his first catch ever) down to the Patriots 13. Marshawn Lynch took over from there and the game was tied. After the Patriots scored a touchdown with :31 seconds left in the half, Wilson was able to lead the Seahawks down the field and throw a back shoulder touchdown pass to Matthews (his second catch ever) with two seconds to spare. The Seahawks got momentum and the ball to start the second half. The Seahawks scored a total of 24 points on four consecutive drives. It’s amazing how fast Russell Wilson can go from zero to hero so quickly and then later in the game back to zero.

Next: The Bad

Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New England Patriots tight end

(87) catches a touchdown pass past Seattle Seahawks outside linebacker

(50) during the second quarter in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

The Bad

1) The Jets aren’t playing – That is what we all are waiting for as Jets fans, to see the Jets back in the Super Bowl. After this year’s debacle and the rebuild of the whole organization things look bleak but things change quickly in the NFL. Last year’s disaster could become next year’s redemption. The seeds of that redemption were planted at the Senior Bowl practices and game, continue to the Combine, then onto free agency, then Pro Days and the Draft. Hopefully those seeds will begin to bloom during training camp and the preseason before it is time to get going for real around Labor Day.

2) The Seahawks’ receivers could not get open versus the man coverage of the Patriots – In the first half, Russell Wilson had all day to throw but his receivers could not get open against Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner. Wilson would scramble around for five or six seconds before deciding to run or throw it away. It finally took a pinpoint deep ball and a couple of back shoulder throws for Wilson to get on target.

3) The Patriots were able to dink and dunk their way down the field at will – Although one of their drives ended in a red zone interception, the theme of the 1st half was that the Patriots were able to move the ball via slants, screens and short passes against Seattle’s vaunted Legion of Boom. Patriots’ Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels put Tom Brady and the players in the position to exploit mismatches and Seattle Seahawks Defensive Coordinator (and future Falcons Head Coach) Dan Quinn had to put more on his safeties’ plate in the second half to compensate because the Patriots attacked Seattle’s linebackers in coverage.

The Patriots’ 2nd touchdown was a mismatch of Rob Gronkowski covered by K.J. Wright. Gronkowski is too fast for linebackers and will win that matchup down the field every time.

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4) Seattle could not put away the Patriots when they had a chance – The Seahawks had a chance when they threw deep early in the 4th quarter on a 3rd and 3 which was dropped by Jermaine Kearse. They had another chance when Tom Brady was stuck in a 3rd and 14 deep in his own territory and the Seahawks allowed him to convert and eventually get into the end zone. Then they couldn’t get a 1st down while up three and had to kick the ball back to the Patriots. It burned them as they Patriots scored with just over two minutes remaining to retake the lead.

Next: The Ugly

Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Recording artist Katy Perry performs during the half time show in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

The Ugly

1) Seattle throws instead of runs on the goal line and the New England Patriots are World Champions – The Seahawks had an amazing drive with two minutes left to get down to the 2 yard line after an other worldly grab by Jermaine Kearse but instead of running the ball with 20 seconds left and a timeout they throw a slant route that is intercepted and they lose the Super Bowl. The New England Patriots are the champions and there is no more ugly sentence to write.

2) The Halftime Show – While the CGI was pretty impressive, Katy Perry was clearly lip-synching and I am no fashionista but that had to be least flattering dress I’ve ever seen a woman wear. All of the flashing lights and explosions almost gave me another seizure. The second number with the dancing sharks was more hilarious than anything. I’ve never done drugs but I imagine that’s what it would look like if I took psychedelics. If you’ve ever read my work you know I’m not usually snarky but much like previous halftime shows this one failed. I’m not gonna touch that number with Missy Elliot with a hundred foot pole. The last song saw Katy Perry hoisted up on a remodel of NBC’s “The More You Know” campaign.

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