page_title: Super Bowl XLIX
section_title: Second half
hierarchical_section_title: Super Bowl XLIX / Game summary / Second half
caption_attribution_description: English: Malcolm Butler, a player on the National Footbal League.
context_page_description: Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League for the 2014 season. The American Football Conference champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Conference champion and defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks 28–24 to earn their fourth Super Bowl title and their first since Super Bowl XXXIX 10 years earlier. The game was played on February 1, 2015, at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. It was the second time the stadium has hosted a Super Bowl, and the third one held in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
  With the loss, the Seahawks became the fourth defending Super Bowl champions to lose in the following year's title game, after the 1978 Dallas Cowboys, 1983 Washington Redskins and the 1997 Green Bay Packers. After finishing the previous season by defeating the Denver Broncos, 43–8, in Super Bowl XLVIII, Seattle completed the 2014 regular season with a 12–4 record. The Patriots, who also posted a 12–4 record, joined the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers as one of the three teams to have made eight appearances in the Super Bowl.
context_section_description: Seattle took the second half kickoff and drove 72 yards to the Patriots eight-yard line, featuring a 15-yard run by Lynch and a 45-yard reception by Matthews. After Lynch was stopped on third-and-one in the red zone, Steven Hauschka finished the drive with a 27-yard field goal, giving Seattle their first lead of the game at 17–14. On New England's next possession, linebacker Bobby Wagner's interception of a Brady pass and six-yard return gave the Seahawks the ball at midfield. Just as with their last interception, Seattle lost a key defensive player due to injury. Defensive end Cliff Avril lay on the field motionless. After finally getting to his feet, he entered concussion protocol and did not re-enter the game. Seattle's pass rush, particularly Bennett inside and Avril outside, had hurried Brady into several drive-ending incompletions as well as the first interception. "At times that night in the desert Bennett and Avril controlled the line of scrimmage almost by themselves." With Avril out, the Patriots were able to double-team Bennett and give Brady more time in the pocket.
  Following Wagner's interception, Seattle's offense took advantage of the turnover, driving 50 yards in six plays and scoring on Wilson's three-yard touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin, who was penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct for an improper end-zone celebration. This made the score 24–14, and it would remain this way going into the fourth quarter. Until this game, no team in Super Bowl history had come back to win after facing a fourth-quarter deficit of more than seven points.
  With 12:10 left in the game, New England mounted a 68-yard drive to cut their deficit to 24–21 on Brady's four-yard touchdown toss to Amendola. The drive included two 21-yard completions from Brady to Edelman, the first one converting a third-and-14 in what was described by Bleacher Report as "the NFL's worst nightmare." Edelman was clearly concussed by Chancellor's helmet-to-helmet hit "suffering an apparent brain injury, staggering around on the field in plain view of the biggest television audience ever, per Deadline.com, and receiving no treatment." Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reported that "a medical observer was overheard radioing someone a second time saying Edelman needed to be examined." "I thought he was going to go to sleep the way he was running," fellow Patriots receiver Brandon LaFell told Matt Pentz of The Seattle Times. Nevertheless, Edelman remained in the game and eventually caught the game-winning touchdown pass.
  Following a three-and-out for Seattle, New England got the ball back on their own 32 at the 6:52 mark. Brady started off the possession with two completions to running back Shane Vereen for 13 total yards, and followed it up with a nine-yard pass to Edelman. Following a penalty against New England, Gronkowski caught a pair of passes that moved the team up 33 yards to the Seattle 19. Over the next three plays, Vereen rushed for seven yards, Brady passed to LaFell for seven more, and Blount ran the ball two yards to the three-yard line. Finally, with 2:02 left in the game, Brady gave his team a 28–24 lead with a three-yard touchdown toss to Edelman.
  After a touchback gave Seattle the ball on their 20, Wilson started off the Seahawks drive with a 31-yard completion to Lynch. Then after two incompletions, he picked up another first down with an 11-yard pass to Lockette. The following play gave Seattle an opportunity to win the game. Wilson threw a deep pass down the right sideline to Kearse, who was covered by rookie reserve cornerback Malcolm Butler. Both players dove through the air for the ball, and Butler managed to deflect it with one hand, but the pass fell right into the hands of Kearse, who tipped it to himself and caught the ball while he was lying on his back. Butler managed to recognize the catch and recover in time to shove Kearse out of bounds as he got up, preventing a Seattle touchdown, but the play netted 33 yards and gave the Seahawks a first down at the Patriots five-yard line with 1:05 left in regulation. Annou
caption: Malcolm Butler, seen here in 2015, made the game clinching interception
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