New England Patriots win their fourth NFL Super Bowl
Xinhua, February 2, 2015 Adjust font size:
The New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 to win the 49th Super Bowl on Sunday.
The Patriots rallied back from 14-24 down after three quarters to snatch two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and collected their fourth Super Bowl out of eight attempts.
The Seahawks lost the title match in a dramatic way. They were just one yard away from their fourth touchdown but a pass from quarterback Russell Wilson was intercepted and the Seahawks failed to defend the title.
Tom Brady's fourth touchdown pass was a 3-yarder to Julian Edelman with 2:02 left in the fourth quarter, giving the New England Patriots a 28-24 lead over the Seattle Seahawks.
A goal line interception of a pass from Seattle quarterback Wilson secured the victory for the Patriots with 20 seconds left.
Quarterback Tom Brady of the winning New England Patriots was named the most valuable player of the Super Bowl.
Down 10 to start the fourth, Brady rallied the Patriots with a 5-yard TD pass Danny Amendola in the back of the end zone and another one to Edelman.
With the Seahawks leading 24-14, the Patriots' defense held as Rob Ninkovich sacked Russell Wilson to force a punt. After Brady was sacked on the first play, he drove the offense 76 yards to get New England within a field goal. Brady's scoring strike to Amendola gave him a Super Bowl record 11 TD passes. Brady also set a Super Bowl record with 37 completions.
Brady led the Patriots 64 yards on 10 plays for the go-ahead score as New England inched closer to their fourth Super Bowl title.
After Katy Perry's colorful halftime performance, the Seahawks came out firing.
Wilson threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin after Brady's second interception of the game and the Seahawks took a 24-14 lead over the Patriots going into the fourth.
Unknown receiver Chris Matthews had a breakout game in the first three quarters, making his first four career catches for 109 yards. Matthews played in just three games before he made the crucial onside kick recovery in the NFC title game against Green Bay.
On the ensuing possession by New England, All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner stepped in front of Brady's pass to Rob Gronkowski and returned 6 yards to the Patriots 34. Wilson had a 15-yard run and Lynch ran 14 yards before the TD pass to Baldwin, who drew an unsportsmanlike penalty for his celebration.
Brady, the first quarterback to start six Super Bowls, had only two interceptions in his first five. He threw his first pick in the end zone in the first quarter.
In the 12th matchup between No. 1 seeds since 1975 and the second in a row, the Seahawks (14-4) are trying to become the first team to win consecutive Super Bowls since the Patriots (14-4) a decade ago. Seattle routed Denver 43-8 last year.
Brady bounced back after his first pick to throw his NFL record-setting 50th postseason TD pass, an 11-yarder to Brandon LaFell on the next drive. He threw a 22-yarder pass to Gronkowski with 31 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Patriots a 14-7 lead.
But the Seahawks answered quickly. Wilson drove them 80 yards on five plays in only 29 seconds.
Robert Turbin ran 19 yards. Wilson followed with a 17-yard run. Wilson then connected with Ricardo Lockette for 23 yards and a facemask penalty away from the ball tacked on 10 yards.
Instead of kicking a field goal, the Seahawks ran one more play with 6 seconds remaining. Matthews beat Logan Ryan to make the catch.
The Patriots tied Dallas and Pittsburgh for most Super Bowl appearances with eight. They become the sixth franchise to win at least four. Brady and coach Bill Belichick, the only coach-QB combo to reach six together, led the Patriots to three Super Bowl titles from 2001-04, but lost twice to the New York Giants in 2008 and 2011. Endi