Super Bowl Reaction

Three words: What. A. Game. Everything about this game made up for last year's blowout. From opening kickoff to the halftime show to the crazy ending, everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting to see what would happen next. It's hard to pick a great play or player that defined this game, so I will discuss the top 3 players, plays, and tactics of the game.

Top 3 players of the game:

1. WR Chris Matthews: Who? He's the receiver that wears #13 and made some big catches last night. Of these catches, Matthews had 2 that were spectacular catches for over 25 yards. To think at this time last year, Matthews was working at a Foot Locker. He was called onto the Seahawks for the off-season and played in the preseason. He was then signed to the practice squad on August 31, 2014. After the decimation of the receiving core, Seattle signed him to the 53-man roster in week 14 of the regular season. To imagine that this undrafted player from 2011 would make his first catch and touchdown in the Super Bowl is incredible! Matthews would finish the night with 4 catches for 109 yards and 1 TD, leading in receiving for the Seahawks.

2. SS Malcolm Butler: Again. Who? I think we know his new nickname will be "The Man that Won Super Bowl 49." This is the no-name safety that made his first pick of his professional career on the biggest stage of them all. This rookie would only be responsible for 3 tackles up until the last offensive play for Seattle. Perfectly jumping the route of WR Ricardo Lockette, Butler would make the game saving grab on the 1 yard line with only seconds to go in the game. Even though he had not done much in the game until that point, Patriot fans everywhere will now know the name of a rookie that won them their 4th Super Bowl in 13 years.

3. QB Tom Brady: This man needs no introduction. One of the best, if not THE best, to play the game. Now the owner of 4 Super Bowl rings and 3 Super Bowl MVP trophies, Brady would do what most teams would not be able to do against Seattle: score in the 4th quarter. After being down 10 points at the end of the 3rd quarter, most Seattle fans would think that it was over. But on the other hand, you are playing Tom Brady. Up until that point, Brady had only led 8 game winning drives in his career. Seeing that stat, some people would think, "That's not a lot. I thought he was better." He is, because Brady plays so well in the first 3 quarters, he does not have to lead a game winning drive with 2 minutes left. With scoring 2 TDs in the last 7 minutes, Tom Brady may have just cemented his legacy as one of the greatest QBs of all time. Brady would end the night with 328 yards, 4 TDs, and 2 Ints.

Top 3 Plays:

1. Kearse Kick: With seconds left in the 4th quarter, WR Jermaine Kearse would make what would seem to be another impossible catch that would cost the Pats their 3rd straight Super Bowl. With Russell Wilson lobbing the ball up, most people thought this would result in an interception. With Kearse and Butler both going for the ball, they would knock the ball in a way that it would spin. After going off of Kearse's knee and his hand, Kearse would get 2 hands back on the ball for the catch. Then, having not being touched, Kearse would get up and attempt to run in for the go-ahead TD, only to be forced out at the 5. This was one of the plays of the game.

2. Butler Ends It: With 26 seconds left in the game on New England's 1, it looked like all would be over for the Pats. Fully expecting that the ball would be handed off to Marshawn Lynch, it looked as though the Pats would set up for the blitz. What the Seahawks failed to notice was that the receivers were still in Man-on-man coverage. When Wilson got the snap, he knew exactly where he was throwing it. WR Lockette would run a slant route with Kearse blocking what was thought to be the Man coverage on Lockette. When this happened, SS Butler would step-up, jump the route, and save the day for the Pats on the goal line. In my few short years of watching football, this goes in my Top 10 of most clutch plays ever.

3. Gronk Smash: In his first Super Bowl with the Pats, and after years of being ruled out due to injury, TE Rob Gronkowski finally got to show us why he is the man. Not only converting several 3rd and long situations for the Pats, Gronk would also receive the longest TD pass of the night for 22 yards. A perfect lob was thrown to the right side of the end zone, with Gronk being covered by LB Kam Chancellor. Brady placed the ball perfectly for Gronk to catch it and never let go. That is, until his celebration. With a thunderous roar, Gronk would spike the football into the ground, establishing his dominance on offense (and possibly deflating the ball).

Top 3 Tactics:

Patriots' Slants: If you watched the game, you could see that Brady was on point with his receivers for most of the night and would not let either interception bother him. The plays were simple, STAY AWAY FROM SHERMAN. Granted, this is the motto for most teams going to play Seattle, but it was a smart move. Richard Sherman is usually seen covering the outside receiver on a pass. How did the Pats respond? Throw the ball in the middle of the field. This worked best on slant routes. At least 3 times, the Patriots would run a passing play where the slot receiver would run a slant route left to right while the other receivers would run deep cuts or streaks. Every time the Pats ran this, the Seahawks got burned for at least a 10 yard gain by either Edelman or LeFell. Attention all NFL Teams, you now know where to put the ball against the Legion of Boom!

Containing Lynch: Even though Lynch finished the game with 24 carries for 102 yards and a TD, Lynch was not able to be his Beastmode self as we have come to recognize. Lynch's longest run was for 15, and he wasn't touched before he went down. The Patriots were able to actually get hands on Lynch and not allow him to break away. By keeping Lynch to small yardage carries, the Pats were able to control the game and force Wilson to beat them with his arm.

Red Zone Seattle plays: Ok, everyone has heard about what the goal line calls were going to be for Seattle. Pete Carroll said it would be "run, pass, run, run." Every Seahawk fan thinks that the throw was the worst call ever in Super Bowl history. Heck! Even HOF Emmitt Smith said it was on twitter: https://twitter.com/EmmittSmith22/status/562084396753121281. But here's the thing, I agree with the call. Yes, Seattle has one of the best RBs in the league and a TO with 26 seconds left on 2nd and Goal from the 1, but everyone knows you're probably gonna hand it off to Lynch. Therefore, throw it! If you look at the play in slow motion, you can actually see that WR Lockette is wide open for a good amount of time. To me, it was not a bad play call by the Seattle coaching staff or bad play execution by the players, it was a great defensive play by a no-name safety.

Well, the NFL season is now in the books. There were some great stories this year to fuel the fire. Odell Beckham Jr's catching ability, Rodgers telling every to relax, the merry-go-round of Cardinals QBs, no KC receivers caught a TD this year, the Cowboys offensive line being their saving grace and DeMarco Murray's best asset. We could talk for days about how great this season was, but alas, it is over. Now we move into free agency. Where will stars like Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, and Mark Ingram end up? I guess we will have to see.

This Wednesday, I will discuss the Top ACC Matchups for this upcoming season.