Gut-wrenching pick drops Seahawks in Super Bowl loss

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Seattle came up three feet away from back-to-back Super Bowl championships.

Wait. That’s not quite right. The Seahawks actually got the ball into the end zone. The problem was that the ball ended up in Malcolm Butler’s hands instead of Ricardo Lockette’s, which meant that a game-winning touchdown became a game-clinching interception.

Related: Athletes, 710 ESPN Seattle personalities react to Hawks’ pick

Two plays, one scrum of a fight and several personal fouls later the Seahawks were left chewing on a 28-24 loss that’s going to be real difficult to swallow given that Seattle’s only turnover of the game came on second down with 1 yard separating Seattle from a go-ahead touchdown at University of Phoenix Stadium.

The finish has never been the problem. Not for this Seahawks’ team.

And that’s made the conclusion to the Super Bowl so very bitter. The Seahawks were 15 minutes from standing back-to-back atop the league. One quarter from becoming the first team in 10 years to repeat as Super Bowl champion. Fifteen minutes that will now cause any Seahawks’ fan to wince as Tom Brady led the Patriots to a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull out the Super Bowl victory.

His 3-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman with 2 minutes, 2 seconds left was his fourth touchdown pass of the game, all to different receivers, as Seattle became part of history all right, as the opponent that Brady beat for his fourth Super Bowl ring, matching Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for most in NFL history.

Take a deep breath, Seattle. This one is going to hurt. For a long time.

Not just because the Seahawks lost to the Patriots, but how they lost. They lost after grabbing hold of the game by both hands in the third quarter, seizing control. They outgained New England 150-26 in the third quarter, building a double-digit lead with a field-goal drive to start the half and then scoring a touchdown after Bobby Wagner picked off Tom Brady, Seattle’s second interception of the game.

A game that was tied 14-14 at halftime was starting to look like a blowout, and even after the Patriots took the lead, the Seahawks came roaring back. A 31-yard completion to Marshawn Lynch. An 11-yard pass to Ricardo Lockette on third down. And finally – incredibly – Jermaine Kearse catching a ball while flat on his back that put Seattle 5 yards away from the touchdown that would allow them to go back to back.

But after handing the ball to Lynch on first-and-goal, the Seahawks attempted a short pass on second down. Butler drove on the ball, picked it off and will leave everyone wondering if one more carry to Lynch would have put the team over the top.

And given the way Seattle roared through to the finish of everything from the regular season to the NFC Championship, it was only fitting that Seattle was on the brink of a comeback victory for the ages.

If last year’s Super Bowl felt almost inevitable, this one was 2 yards away from being incredible. As recently as November, this team had an uphill climb just to reach the playoffs. As recently as two weeks, the Seahawks were staring down a 12-point deficit with 5 minutes left in the NFC Championship Game with a 3.9 percent chance of winning.

After all that, being tied 14-14 at halftime wasn’t all that bad for Seattle. Tom Brady completed 20 passes in the first half while Russell Wilson played 24 minutes before he completed a pass.

The Patriots gained more yards in the first half than four of Seattle’s final six regular-season opponents gained all game while Seattle’s first three possessions resulted in exactly one first down.

Yet the two teams were tied at halftime thanks to the unlikeliest of Seahawks: Chris Matthews. The guy who had never caught a pass in the NFL before Sunday caught a 45-yard pass to set up Seattle’s first touchdown and then grabbed a 10-yard touchdown with 2 seconds left in the first half.

That capped a second quarter in which the two teams exchanged haymakers. The Patriots gained 147 yards and scored 14 points off touchdown passes to Brandon LaFell and Rob Gronkowski. The Seahawks, however, gained 150 yards and scored 14 points.

The Patriots’ success was a testament to Brady, who completed 20 of 27 passes and threw a pair of perfect touchdown passes. He was intercepted once, though, picked off on third down with the Patriots holding the ball at the Seattle 10.

Meanwhile, Seattle took a while to get going. Their first three possessions gained 22 yards. Their next two covered 150 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown drive that consumed all of 29 seconds.

It was remarkable, actually. The Seahawks handed to Robert Turbin on a first-half draw that is the football equivalent of a concession speech. Except Turbin gained 19 yards to jump start a drive that featured a 23-yard pass to Ricardo Lockette and a face-mask penalty against New England and setting up the 10-yard scoring pass to Matthews.

The Patriots were more methodical, their second possession consisting of 13 plays and reaching as far as the Seattle 10. It was third and 6 from the Seattle 10 when Tom Brady threw a pass that could’ve only been intended for cornerback Jeremy Lane, who was standing by himself in the end zone without a New England player near him.

Lane was injured when he was knocked out of bounds on the return, something that would prove important. Seattle used Tharold Simon in the nickel defense, sliding Byron Maxwell inside. Brady went right at Simon, first completing a crossing route to Julian Edelman for 23 yards and then throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass on a slant to culminate a nine-play, 65-yard drive.

Meanwhile, Seattle’s first three possessions produced a total of 22 yards and exactly one first down. In fact, Seattle’s first 15 plays produced a total of 42 yards. The 16th play, though, was a 44-yard completion to Matthews, the first NFL reception of his career. Three plays later, Marshawn Lynch scored on a 3-yard run so rugged he looked steel-toed, three Patriot defenders insufficient to keep him out of the end zone.

Related: Athletes, 710 ESPN Seattle personalities react to Hawks’ pick

Related

Macdonald praises Jalen Milroe’s ‘tremendous’ work in practiceStacy Rost: 2 numbers that matter for Seahawks vs RaidersFAA’s nationwide ground stop throws sports weekend into chaosUW-Michigan State kickoff time pushed back after travel delaysFormer M’s 1B Jake Bauers inks big contract with Red SoxSeattle NBA expansion bid increasingly serious and aggressive, per report