After last year’s fiasco of a Super Bowl, most of America (me included) hoped for a much closer, much more competitive game on Sunday.
Thankfully the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots obliged. And while the 28-24 ending wasn’t what many were expecting, I tend to believe we’ll all be happier for it.
Now, we can all second guess Seattle head coach Pete Carroll’s decision to throw the ball at the one yard line with less than 30 seconds left.
Heck, I still do. It was a bad choice, and a worse decision to follow through. Of course, I say that as Marshawn Lynch was on my fantasy team this year.
Memo to Carroll: if you’re going to have Lynch on the field during that play, at least utilize him more than a decoy. The dude didn’t average almost 16 fantasy points this season to just be a bystander.
Alas, as Kurt Vonnegut says, “So it goes.”
But as such, I think a tremendous amount of credit must go to Lynch as well.
As a person in the media, Lynch’s recent use of one word answers during postgame press conferences was more than tiresome. Hell, it was a little loathsome, to be frank. We in the media have job to do, too.
But I commend him for stepping up and quickly jumping to his team’s side after Sunday’s game. As a high profile running back, Lynch could have felt obligated to pound his chest and claim he should have gotten the ball. Most of us armchair quarterbacks probably would have done the same.
And yet, he was one of few that didn’t’ throw Carroll, quarterback Russell Wilson or anyone else under the bus. For as much grief as the media gives him, it was Lynch that gave one of the more provocative statements after Sunday’s stunning finale.
“We play football, it’s a team sport,” he said.
Bravo, Beast Mode. Please keep doing what you do. And please come back.
For as much admonishment we’ll give to Seattle, we also must give credit to the New England Patriots.
Yeah, it’s a rather deflating feeling to admit. They have an “evil empire” feel about them. Think Star Wars and Emperor Palpatine. It’s hard to root for them.
This comes well before the recent controversy they kicked up before Super Bowl XLIX even began.
But on the bright side, at least we know the physics behind losing a few pounds per square inch in a football and how it could affect a game. Shout out to Neill de Grasse Tyson and Bill Nye, the Science Guy.
Yet, for as much grief as they get, the Patriots continue to win. They do so, even when the chips are stacked against them.
It’s hard to explain how stunning it was to see Tom Brady lead the Patriots to score Sunday’s eventual game winning touchdown.
All evening long, NBC kept keeping the viewing public up to date on Brady’s progress toward breaking Joe Montana’s Super Bowl touchdown record.
I daresay we witnessed the Joe Montana of our generation orchestrate one of the best drives in Super Bowl history.
And let’s not be shy with the stats. For Brady to amass 350 yards on 37 of 50 passes against Seattle’s “Legion of Boom” defense is incredibly impressive.
Not many quarterbacks can, or will, boast such a stat line. Well worth a third Super Bowl MVP honor.
At least, that’s the case for now. Let’s see how “Deflategate” rolls over before we pass judgment.
Still, Sunday’s game may have been one of the more enjoyable Super Bowl’s in recent memory. It’s been a while since a Super Bowl had me on the edge of my seat. And that’s sans the plethora of over-the-top commercials.
On a side note: Wag of the finger to Nationwide to infer a drowning child to get their point across.
But amid the questionable commercials and dancing sharks at halftime, at least the game was exciting, full of drama and had some controversy.
Isn’t that what we want in sports?
Let’s hope Super Bowl L (50) lives up to the hype its predecessor set.
