CHAMPIONS: New England Patriots Win Super Bowl XLIX

Call it a display of vintage New England Patriots postseason football.

Despite a 10-point deficit going into the fourth quarter, the New England Patriots are Super Bowl Champions after a 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

The Seahawks, the defending champions, were denied a chance to become back-to-back champions and would have been the first to do so since the 2003-04 Patriots. Instead, Seattle became the first defending champion to lose the following Super Bowl since the Green Bay Packers lost Super Bowl XXXII to the Denver Broncos.

Tom Brady went 37-50 for 328 yards and four touchdown in a performance that earned him the game’s MVP honors.

Julian Edelman caught nine receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown as the Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in Glendale. Leading the team on the Patriots’ final drive of the game, it was a 3-yard touchdown pass to Edelman with 2:02 left that put New England up by four.

Before becoming champions, the Patriots did have to survive a final attack from the Seattle offense. With the Seahawks having a final chance to win, undrafted rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler singlehandedly experienced the emotional highs and lows of the final drive, being involved in two of the biggest plays of the game.

With the Seahawks facing a first and 10 at the New England 38, Jermaine Kearse originally appeared to have missed a pass from Russell Wilson (12-21, 247 yards, 2 TDs) with Butler guarding him but multiple improbable bobbles later, the Seahawks had a first down at the six-yard line.

On the next play, Lynch’s run brought the Seahawks to the one with less than a minute to play. With Wilson looking to throw, it was Butler stepping in front of Ricardo Lockette at the goal line for the game winning interception.

The Patriots and the Seahawks spend the first half matching scores, going into halftime tied 14-14.

New England drew first blood on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Brandon LaFell with 9:47 left in the first quarter, capping off a 9-play, 65-yard drive.

After little scoring for most of the first half, the final three drives of the second quarter saw touchdowns from both teams. A 44-yard pass from Wilson to Chris Matthews (4 receptions, 109 yards) brought the Seahawks down to the Patriots’ 11 and set up a three-yard touchdown run by Marshawn Lynch to tie the game.

The first half would end with both teams matching touchdowns. A 22-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski temporality put the Patriots up 14-7 with 36 seconds remaining in the half but an 11-yard pass to Matthews tied the game seconds away from the break.

The third quarter would be the Seahawks most dominant. Doug Baldwin’s three-yard pass and a Steven Hauschka field goal put Seattle up 24-14 with a quarter to play.

New England’s response was typical of that of a team with a reputation of rallying from behind. A bullet from Brady to Danny Amendola cut the lead to three with eight minutes to play, allowing the game winning drive.

With the win, Tom Brady now stands with Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana as the only quarterbacks to win four Super Bowls and Bill Belichick is the only coach along with Chuck Noll to win the big game four times.

New England improves to 4-4 in the Super Bowl and 4-2 during the Brady/Belichick era.