After playing his heart and soul out in Super Bowl XLIX, Earl Thomas could do nothing but sit at his locker in University of Phoenix Stadium; crestfallen after his Seattle Seahawks fell just inches short of repeating as world champions.

The game was an instant classic, one the Hawks looked destined to win after driving down to the one-yard line of the New England Patriots in the final 30 seconds. But before Seattle could push those final feet, New England rookie corner Malcolm Butler snatched the victory away, intercepting a Russell Wilson pass at the goal line to send Seattle home in a 28-24 defeat.

0202_ET1

After seeing his team come so close, only to fall short, ET III was inconsolable and heartbroken.

“(Richard) Sherman and Earl Thomas sat together, and it was as quiet as Sherman has ever been. Sherman was distraught, of course, but he spent his time trying to console Thomas, who expects victory and takes defeat harder than anyone else on that team,” wrote Doug Farrar of Sports Illustrated. “Thomas sat on a small stool, bent over at the waist, as if the loss had assaulted his very being. He shook his head over and over, inconsolable. Eventually, an attendant came over to cut off Thomas’ jersey, Sherman walked away, and the moment was broken.”

Two weeks prior, the Hawks had come out on the other side of a classic NFC Championship victory over the Green Bay Packers. In that contest, ET suffered a separated shoulder, but came through with a gutsy nine-tackle performance against the Patriots in Glendale, Ariz.

0202_ET2

Meanwhile, the Legion of Boom’s top cover man, Richard Sherman, played with torn ligaments in his elbow. Kam Chancellor also tweaked his knee in practice in the lead-up to the big game—and the Seattle defense’s injury issues didn’t stop there. On a first-quarter interception of Tom Brady, corner Jeremy Lane suffered a gruesome arm injury. Then in the third, linebacker Cliff Avril left with a concussion, leaving the Seattle D battered and shorthanded.

“They were two big injuries to core guys for us, but we ran the same plays,” Sherman said. “We executed, even though some mistakes were made at the end. We were able to overcome some of those injuries and give ourselves a chance. I think we had a chance to win the game.”

Indeed, the defense appeared to do just enough to give the offense a chance to seal the win late. They intercepted Brady twice and held the Pats to just 2.7 yards per carry and 57 total rushing yards.

Ultimately, the game came down to one final Seahawks drive, when Wilson and the offense took the field with 2:02 remaining, a four-point deficit and 80 yards to go. Seattle was clipping immediately, as Wilson found Marshawn Lynch on a 31-yard reception to bring the ball to midfield on the first play of the drive.

Not long after, the football gods gave the Hawks some help, when Jermaine Kearse made a miraculous reception, as the ball literally fell into his lap as he lay on the turf. The reception made it 1st-and-goal on the five. A Lynch run then made it 2nd-and-1 with 26 seconds left, where Seattle head coach Pete Carroll made the strategic call to throw for six, rather than immediately hand to Lynch again.

Undrafted rookie Malcolm Butler jumped in front of Ricardo Lockette on the goal line and snagged Wilson’s pass out of the air, clinching the championship for New England.

Carroll shouldered the blame for both the final play call and the loss, clarifying that he made the call and not Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell.

“It’s really what happened on this one sequence that we would have won the game, we have everything in mind, how we’re going to do it, we’re going to leave them no time, and we had our plays to do it,” Carroll said after the game. “We sent in our personnel, they sent in goal-line, it’s not the right matchup for us to run the football, so on second down we throw the ball really to kind of waste that play. If we score we do, if we don’t, then we’ll run it in on third and fourth down. Really, with no second thoughts or no hesitation in that at all. And unfortunately, with the play that we tried to execute, the guy makes a great play and jumps in front of the route and makes an incredible play that nobody would ever think he could do. And unfortunately that changes the whole outcome.”

“They’re on the precipice of winning another championship, and unfortunately, the play goes the other way. There’s really nobody to blame but me, and I told them that clearly. And I don’t want them to think anything other than that. They busted their tails and did everything they needed to do to put us in position, and unfortunately it didn’t work out. A very, very hard lesson. I hate to learn the hard way, but there’s no other way to look at it right now. Unfortunately that’s what happens.”

Defensive end Michael Bennett echoed Carroll’s thoughts, praising Butler for simply anticipating the route and making a clutch play. He also assured that this Seattle squad will only grow stronger in this defeat.

“It’s just one of those things where that guy made a great play,” Bennett said. “People keep forgetting that that guy jumped that route faster than he threw it. It sucks to lose like that. But I know one thing that’s going to happen. Everybody’s going to stick together and try to come back and never feel that feeling again.”

0202_et4

Bennett and the Seattle defensive front came through with a great performance, effectively silencing LeGarrette Blount and the New England ground game, forcing Brady to take to the skies.

He drove the Pats all the way to the Seattle 10 before Lane made a fantastic pick, but the play that was outstanding for the Hawks at the time hurt them in the long run. After being held scoreless in the first quarter, the Pats scored 14 points in the second: both touchdowns through the air.

While Brady heated up against the battered Seahawks defense, Wilson struggled for the Seattle offense early until he began to involve Chris Matthews—the receiver who recovered the crucial onside kick for the Hawks against Green Bay. Before the Super Bowl, he had never even been targeted with a pass in the NFL.

The rookie out of Kentucky hauled in a 44-yard reception to set up Seattle’s first touchdown, a run by Lynch, before coming through with a score of his own. Wilson put together a highly impressive five-play, 80-yard drive in the final 31 seconds of the first half, using big runs and a facemask penalty to set the stage for an 11-yard touchdown reception by Matthews that tied the game at 14 going into the locker room.

0202_ET5

After two quarters, the scoreboard didn’t quite reflect how the game looked on paper. Brady completed 20 of his 27 first-half attempts for 177 yards, two touchdowns and one interception without being sacked; Wilson completed four of just seven throws for 87 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions, but he was sacked twice.

Still, the Hawks had the Pats right where they wanted them, and they came out in the third quarter determined to take over the game. Wilson hooked up with Matthews on another massive reception, setting up an easy field goal for Steven Hauschka at the end of Seattle’s 72-yard drive.

0202_ET8

On the New England drive that followed, Earl and Co. wanted to show that, no matter what injuries slowed them, they had the grit to do the job.

On the Patriots’ third play of the second half, Brady found his All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski on a 3rd-and-6 for a seven-yard gain, a well-designed play that got the ball into the star tight end’s hands in the perfect spot. Though No. 29 could do nothing to stop the completion, he came in and rocked Gronk with a crushing hit, showing no signs of the separated shoulder and sending the 6’6”, 265-pound tight end stumbling out of bounds.

0202_ET6

Brady targeted his tight end twice on the next series: The first fell incomplete, and the second was intercepted by Bobby Wagner. Unfortunately, on this pick, the Hawks were once again bit by the injury bug, as Avril left with a concussion.

On the bright side, the defensive stop set up the touchdown that put Seattle up by 10 going into the fourth quarter.

Against an injury-torn Seattle defense, Brady showed in the fourth quarter why he is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, leading back-to-back touchdown drives to make it 28-24 with just 2:02 left on the clock.

0202_ET7

On Seattle’s final drive, Wilson came right back with his answer. After hitting Lynch up the sideline for a 31-yard gain, he found Lockette for an 11-yard gain to convert a third down. Next came the incredible reception by Kearse that seemed destined to be cemented in Super Bowl lore.

Unfortunately, one New England corner made the play that ended Seattle’s dreams of a repeat at the goal line. After the game, Wilson looked devastated, but like Carroll, he shouldered the blame for the final play.

“We’re such a young team. We have so much talent, so many guys that can make plays and be solid, so I definitely think something can be learned from it,” Wilson said. “I’ve lost some close games in my career, just college and the NFL, and I’ve also won a lot of close ones, too. That’s what we can be focused on. Keep focusing on persevering. Keep focusing on guys you have around you, and keep focusing on caring about those guys and working, and just continuing to fight.”

RELATED LINKS

  • Goal-line interception gives Patriots Super Bowl victory (ESPN, February 1, 2015)
  • In fight between two worth champs, Seahawks D is left with what-ifs (Sports Illustrated, February 2, 2015)
  • Earl Thomas fans gather to watch the Super Bowl (Beaumont Enterprise, February 1, 2015)
  • Earl Thomas: 5 things you need to know (Heavy.com, February 1, 2015)
  • Is Earl Thomas the Seahawks MVP? (USA Today, January 31, 2015)
  • Earl Thomas was originally not fan of “LOB” (Larry Brown Sports, February 1, 2015)