As a Pats fan going all the way back to the 60s when they were in the AFL and played in Fenway Park (I grew up with a Boston Patriots poster tacked to my bedroom wall), I felt I needed to weigh in and say that I do not share interesteddad’s lack of sympathy for the Seahawks and their fans.
I do share his anger at the absurdity that was deflategate, particularly all the talking heads - including respected former quarterbacks - who were quite happy to pronounce Tom Brady a bald-faced liar based on no evidence and despite the fact that he is one of the classiest players in the game. I love Belichick too, but I get the hate for him outside of New England - he’s dour, a little arrogant, and while Spygate was and still is completely overblown, he did break the rules by filming from an unapproved location. Brady on the other hand has never done anything to deserve even remotely the totally unfounded accusations of liar and cheater that have been heaped on him over the last couple of weeks
That said, I can feel the Seahawks fans’ pain, because I’ve felt it after the last two Patriots-Giants Super Bowls - both games that the Patriots could have (and perhaps should have) won. But they didn’t, because the other team made the key play. In this case, the Patriots made the key play (after what seemed like deja vu all over again with Kearse’s ridiculous catch) and it feels sweet. But I know how bitter it feels on the other side. Even Bob Kraft, the Patriots’ owner, said in the post-game interviews that he felt for the Seahawks and their fans. The Seahawks played an amazing game, all the way to the end, and lost because of one mistake on their part/one great play by an undrafted rookie on the Patriots’ part.
So I would say congratulations to both teams. How about a rematch next year?
I am not a NE fan. I rooted for NE because of the deflategate. I saw a biased pregame coverage on NBC.
I could have rooted for the Seahawks if they did not change their jersey to the ugly dark blue or nearly black. I used to like Seahawks with lighter blue and white. Seahawks live together with water.
I was rooting for the Seahawks. Just not a Patriots fan. While I can understand the tired of the deflategate controversy, it certainly shouldn’t have put aside! But I have to say between that and the behavior of the Seahawk player near the end of the game with the brawl - and the one Patriot who seemed to be physically not well after being hit but they still had him playing (even though he could barely run!) left a REALLY bad taste in my mouth for football in general.
And I’m giving the half time show a THUMBS UP! Really enjoyed it! Don’t care if Katy Perry lip synched - so much going on on that stage with theatrics. It was visually appealing. Decently family friendly. A little bit of everything - pop songs from Perry, rock from Lenny, and Missy Elliott - I thought it was among the best half time shows I’ve seen.
Which player was that? I don’t remember any Patriot injuries, although the Seahawks lost several players.
There’s a report this morning that Sherman has torn elbow ligaments and may need Tommy John surgery. Ouch.
The guy who got ejected, Bruce Irvin, will almost certainly be fined, and there might be some other fines handed out. I doubt there will be any suspensions.
As an NE fan, if Seattle had won, we would have been sad but not angry or ungracious about Seattle. Most games turn on a few plays and they can happen in a row, like basically what happened with the Kearse and Butler.
I will insist the play was not a bad one. They had 1 time out and 3 plays. NE had 8 big guys and 3 cornerbacks on the field - no safeties, just 3 corners. The smart play would be to pass. If it doesn’t work, the clock is stopped and you can run on 3rd and then call time out if you don’t make it and that gives you 4th down. That was good clock management. This is another case where people look at the result and skip all the rest: it wasn’t that they didn’t give the ball to Lynch but that they had 3 downs and 1 time out. Let’s say they run Lynch on 2nd down and get stopped. They have to call time out. That creates a potential circus at the end where they might be running around trying to get the last play off. Pete coached to avoid that, as he should.
I was disappointed the coordinator said the receiver could have fought more. That’s bull. He should watch the play: Butler exploded on the ball and knocked the receiver over.
I also note Seattle took advantage of the same issue NE had all year, meaning deep and middle deep sideline routes. It’s impossible to look at safety play without the all 22 film but NE’s safeties have been a step late getting to those balls all year. We saw that again with the Kearse play: not only did Harmon not dive on Kearse to prevent the catch but he was a step or 2 late, which is nuts considering it was such a long pass.
NE’s comeback was the 1st ever from 10 or more points in the 2nd half of a Super Bowl. Behind by 10 or more points at the start of the 4thQ were 0-29 in Super Bowls. Until last night.
So when it counted, the Patriots beat the defense that people were trying to claim was the best ever. I have to say this was never true. They aren’t really in the same sentence as the 85 Bears, as some of the Pittsburgh 70’s teams, as the 2001 Ravens (who won with almost no offense at all).
And here’s the difference between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning: a couple of bad plays but Brady on consecutive 4thQ drives went 5 of 7 and then 8 of 8 for 2TDs.
Interesteddad, I wasn’t expecting condolences. Just a modicum of good sportsmanship. Patriot Nation is confirming what I thought about it long before Deflategate ever happened.
NRE, When I said I understand how it feels to have a championship stolen by the refs, I actually wasn’t even thinking about the Seahawks. I was thinking about my Sacramento Kings in the 2002 conference finals (which was the de facto title series that year). BTW, I’m not bitter about last night, or at least not bitter toward the Pats.
Actually I said that it was a great win for the Pats AND a choke on that last play but the choke part doesn’t take away from the win or the great play that the kid made on the ball. With the GB game people on this forum continued to say that it wasn’t actually a win - just a loss for GB.
From an objective stance–no real feelings for either team personally–I thought this was a really well played game overall. Players on both sides made the plays they had to make on defense and on offense–not sure how that could be so all at the same time, but it felt like that.
On the other hand, I think sportsmanship was a little lacking at times. That end was unnecessarily ugly.
The Patriots had worked on defending this same goal line passing play in their last practice before the Super Bowl.
Julian Edelman was the Pats player who looked to be injured during their last drive. However, he didn’t appear to be suffering from a concussion when he wheeled around after the contact, and started running for another ten yards. On the other play when he crawled forward towards the goal line, one announcer thought it might be due to his injured hip.
And as I said before the game started - Brady, unlike Manning, did a great job of getting back up and fighting after every time he got knocked down. I don’t think anyone here knocked Brady or didn’t give him credit for a great game.
Also, I couldn’t figure out why Seattle got flagged for an unsportsmanlike penalty after the Baldwin td (maybe they said on tv but I missed it), and then I read this:
I really wanted to find a reason to root for a particular team here, because I usually enjoy a game more if I feel invested in the outcome. But I couldn’t land on any particular team by game time. I decided I would “root” for a very close and exciting game. Every time SH or Pats scored I cheered, because they were keeping it close. No offense, but last year’s game was extremely boring for probably everyone but SH fans.
Anyway, I got my wish. What a great game, well played by both teams. It was so fun to watch and the ending was quite a surprise. A shame about the brawl, though.
He got up to shower at 4:30, took his Tamiflu and ibuprofen, hydrated and went to sleep in his sister’s bed (she is at school). He had been laying in a pool of sweat - his bed was completely saturated. I’m not home but he goes to been seen at 10am (8:05 here now). They will test for flu to be certain. He said that he didn’t feel quite as bad as last night but was still hot. I didn’t try to make him sit still to get a temp.
May I say the worse piece I’ve read so far about the game is in Slate by Jeremy Stahl. It’s a thin rip job on the NFL that basically says the Patriots should have been without Edelman because he should have been under a concussion protocol, as though in a Super Bowl the NFL’s first priority should be following every rule exactly even if it gives one team an advantage. That’s an absurd statement of form over substance used just to attack the NFL.
And then he says about domestic violence: “in a game featuring two Seahawks defensive starters with previous domestic violence charges and Edelman, who was once arrested for assaulting a woman at a Halloween party”, which is a piece of journalistic lying because anyone who knows about that also knows he was cleared. Not found innocent but cleared, as in this statement by the prosecutor: “The evidence suggests that (Edelman) approached a woman on the dance floor and took her hand briefly. Review of the videotape indicates that the physical contact between the two was fleeting, prosecutors say, and did not meet the elements of any crime,” the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “To constitute indecent assault and battery, physical contact must be intentional; potentially physically harmful or an affront to the victim’s integrity; fundamentally offensive to contemporary moral values; and without justification or excuse. Prosecutors could not prove these elements with the evidence contained in the surveillance imagery, witness statements, and other sources.” It’s character assassination to bring up the arrest when that was the result.
Just a modicum of good sportsmanship. Patriot Nation is confirming what I thought about it long before Deflategate ever happened.