Top Super Bowl Highlights That Went Down In History

The 2014 NFL season is officially over with the New England Patriots defeating the Seattle Seahawks 28-24, to win their fourth Super Bowl under Bill Belichick, denying Seattle the opportunity to become the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the Patriots did it in 2004 and 2005.

Just like many people predicted, it was a tightly contested matchup, the Patriots were the first team with an opportunity to score in the first quarter, but Tom Brady threw a pass that was intercepted in the red zone by Jeremy Lane, who was injured while trying to return the interception, and missed the rest of the game.

Despite the early interception, the Patriots controlled the game for most of the first half, especially on defense, they finally scored their first touchdown six minutes into the 2nd quarter, at that point, their defense had held the Seattle offense to 22 yards, but the Seahawks finally got a touchdown with two minutes left in the first half, tying the game. On the ensuing drive, Tom Brady led another touchdown drive, that gave the Patriots a 14-7 lead, with 31 seconds left in the half, but Seattle went 80 yards in 29 seconds, to tie the game at 14, going into the half.

The momentum in the game seemed to switch to the Seahawks in the 3rd quarter, the Patriots couldn't figure out how to stop Chris Matthews, who had a big game for Seattle on Sunday, and finished with 4 catches, 109 yards, and 1 touchdown. Marshawn Lynch ran the ball well for the Seahawks in the quarter, and Tom Brady threw another interception, which Seattle took advantage of, scoring 10 points in the quarter, while shutting out the Patriots.

For most of the 4th quarter, it looked like the Seahawks were on their way to winning their second straight Super Bowl, because they had a 10 point lead, and their defense was causing problems for Tom Brady. On their second drive of the quarter, the Patriots got a big play from Julian Edelman, who caught a 21 yard pass on 3rd and 14, the Patriots also had a 15 yard penalty against Earl Thomas on the drive, which put them in Seattle territory, and managed to score a touchdown, when Brady found Danny Amendola in the end zone for a 4 yard strike.

The Patriots forced the Seahawks to go three and out on the next drive, and marched down the field again and scored another touchdown, this time, Brady found Edelman in the end zone for a 3 yard score, the only problem was that there was 2:02 left on the clock, which was enough time for Seattle to score. 

When Seattle got the ball back, they immediately went to work, and Russell Wilson hit Marshawn Lynch on the sidelines on a 21 yard pass, right before the 2 minute warning. After the timeout, the Seahawks looked like they were about to win another game in the final seconds, when Russell Wilson threw a deep pass to Jermaine Kearse, which was deflected, but he was able to juggle it and get the reception, because the ball never touched the ground, giving the Seahawks 1st and 5 on the Patriots 5 yard line.

On the first play, the Seahawks gave the ball to Lynch, who ran for four yards before being stopped at the one yard line, the next play would be what cost the Seahawks the Super Bowl, because they decided to throw the ball on a quick slant, which ended up getting intercepted by rookie Malcolm Butler, sealing the win for New England.

The Patriots ended a bizarre season in which they were considered over the hill after falling to 2-2 in September, with their fourth Super Bowl victory, and have solidified themselves as one of the greatest franchises in NFL history. They will be going into next season as the favorite to win the Super Bowl.

Seattle will also be considered a favorite to win it next year, but history hasn't been kind to teams that lose the Super Bowl, when it comes to making it back to the game. The Seahawks coaches will also have all offseason to second guess their play call on that final play, because Lynch was having a great game, finishing with 102 yards and 1 touchdown on 24 carries, and had rushed for four yards on the previous play.