Tom Brady is the Super Bowl XLIX MVP, but little known cornerback Malcom Butler is the Super Bowl hero for the New England Patriots.
Butler read slant and stepped up to intercept Russell Wilson’s attempt to Ricardo Lockette at the goal line and the Patriots ran off the final seconds for their fourth Super Bowl victory.
Seattle appeared destined for a Super Bowl repeat, but Tom Brady took New England 64 yards on 10 plays to give the Patriots (15-4) a four-point lead on his 3-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman with 2:02 left to play.
Then Russell Wilson took over, just like he did two weeks earlier against the Green Bay Packers. He found Marshawn Lynch on a wheel route for 31-yards down the left sideline to the New England 49 yard line.
Three plays later, Wilson found Lockette for 11 yards and a first down, then Jermaine Kearse tipped a pass to himself while lying on his back and the Seahawks had the ball first and goal at the New England 5 yard line.
With 1:06 left, Wilson gave the ball to Lynch who pounded his way down to the 1 and with second and goal coming up, it would appear to be a matter of one or two more run plays to Lynch and it’s ballgame.
But the Seahawks decided with New England’s goal-line defense on the field, to throw once, or that is at least what Pete Carroll was trying to sell to the media after the game. They wanted to waste a play and eventually, if necessary, get back to Lynch on 3rd and 4th down if need be.
They never made it that far. Wilson’s interception ended Seattle’s hopes. New England didn’t bother to use timeouts. They were simply saying they were going to either stop Seattle or lose the game.
Wilson played well and finished with a 110.6 QB rating. If Seattle scores the touchdown at the end, we may be talking about him being the Super Bowl MVP. Or, it could have been wide receiver Chris Matthews who not only caught his first pass of the season, but scored a touchdown and finished with more than 100-yards receiving.
Brady finished with 328 yards passing and four touchdowns. He completed a Super Bowl-record 37 passes and finished with a passer rating of 101.1. He and coach Bill Belichick improved to 4-2 in Super Bowls. The four Super Bowl victories for Brady ties him with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for the most by a quarterback.