The Ironic End To The Tantalizing Rematch
- Nov 14, 2016
- 4 min read
This Sunday's prime time matchup between the New England Patriots, and the Seattle Seahawks may as well be America's early Super Bowl preview. What was expected by many to be more of a one sided game turned into an extremely edgy shoot out between two red hot offenses.
The Patriots capped the opening possession with a 10 play 75 yard touch down drive doing what they do best; capitalizing on the short passing game to get their pass catchers in space and getting Rob Gronkowski involved in the middle of the field. Seattle's vaunted defense looked all out of sorts allowing a rumbling Gronkowski reception for 22 yards and racking up a defensive pass interference penalty to set up for a Legarette Blount touchdown run.
The first offensive drive Seattle had ended with a field goal, and seeing that the Patriot defense seemed to have a "bend but not break" mentality, it lit the spark of hope in me as a Patriot fan that we could potentially limit the Seattle offense with all of their problems and pull out for the win by continuing to get into the end zone. I couldn't have been more wrong, as Tom Brady decided to throw his first interception of the season shortly after.
After the Patriots got the ball back, their next possession ended in a 3 and out. After another Seahawk field goal and another 3 and out by the Patriots, it was staring to look like a typical Seahawk defensive slog fest and I was just praying that the Patriots would just figure out how to stop the run. Then for some reason, it happened. The Russell Wilson that football fans are used to seeing; the one that runs all around the field extending plays and throwing with pinpoint accuracy, that guy decided to come out and pick apart the Patriot defense. Seattle would end the half with not one, but TWO Doug Baldwin touch down grabs, while Brady and the Patriots would try to keep the game close with another Blount touchdown.
During the first half I wasn't sure if the Patriots were on defense or if Belichick secretly snuck all of the Brown's defensive players on the field, since guys like George Fant and Gary Gilliam were giving Russell Wilson great pass protection and C.J Prosise was running all over the Patriot front 7. I mean come on. George Fant? What is a George Fant? George Fant was playing basketball for Western Kentucky this time last year, and the Patriots couldn't generate pressure on a 1 on 1 matchup between him and a defensive end? Is it time to call the Chandler Jones trade a flop? The Patriots defensive woes continued on throughout the rest of the game as Russell Wilson continued to pick them apart. What surprised me most was that the Seahawk line was consistently blowing off the ball and overpowering the Patriot front 7 in the run game.
Tom Brady and the rest of the Patriot offense for how poorly the defense played, turned on the switch and kept them in what turned into a second half shoot out. After a concussion scare in the first half with Gronk, Martellus Bennett got more involved in the offense and made the Seahawks pay, as well as a dose of Brady's favorite receiver: Julian Edelman. It looked as though for a point that New England offense could score toe to toe with Seattle. New England was well positioned to run the clock down and score in the 4th quarter down 1 at 24-25. Or so I thought. A costly Julian Edelman fumble ended in a 3rd Doug Baldwin touch down, but the Seahawks decided to go for 2 and failed leaving the door open for overtime making it 31-24 with 4:24 left on the clock.
The Patriot offense drove all the way down the field making it 1st and goal on the Seattle 2 yard line with 43 seconds left on the clock. Sound familiar? Basically the situation the Seahawks were in during Super Bowl 49. New England decided to run the football in 3 times on the goal line. 3 times they were denied. Facing a fourth down and goal, they decided to throw and fade to Rob Gronkowski. How did it end? Incomplete, game over. The endless memes, and flack the Patriots got for not running the football in, is ironic since they lost in the same fashion Seattle did in Super Bowl 49. It was a defendable call though, as the Patriots had been stuffed 3 straight times and the Gronkowski fade is the most lethal weapon in all of football. It's just he didn't catch it, and Blount could've ran it in cough, cough.
The Seahawks pulled out a hard earned win and they deserved it. They played like the better team all night, limiting a vengeance seeking cyborg people call Tom Brady to no touchdowns and one interception. The Seahawks seem primed for their yearly 2nd half run, while the Patriots should have gotten what should be a wake up call. Although there seem to be no teams that can challenge their AFC supremacy, their defense played like shit all night, and they should not be happy. Having a porous defense will not win the franchise a 5th Super Bowl, so I hope Belichick can rally the troops and fix this problem because the talent is there.
Malcom Butler(21) grabs the game winning interception on a goal line pass.
Comments