Field Gulls
Yup, it still sucks!
This will be a weekly article series throughout the season looking back on what happened for the Seattle Seahawks 40, 30, 20, and 10 years ago this week.
The title says it all, so let’s get this over with.
Well, I always knew this day would come as we couldn’t avoid it forever. Up until this point, I’ve never rewatched Super Bowl 49 against the New England Patriots nor even looked at a box score. Just thinking about this game and the eventual ramifications still makes me sick to my stomach to this day. Maybe this will be therapeutic?
Doubtful, but here we go anyway.
One thing I want to point out is how injured the Seattle Seahawks secondary was before the game even kicked off. Earl Thomas had dislocated his shoulder and was playing with a harness. Richard Sherman damaged elbow ligaments in the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers. Then, just two days before Super Bowl 49, Kam Chancellor was injured in the second-to-last play of practice, sustaining a torn MCL and deep bone bruise in his knee. Three quarters of the Legion of Boom was severely compromised.
And it would get even worse early on in the contest at University of Phoenix Stadium, a harbinger of things to come at that venue. The Patriots got the ball first and gained a few yards before punting to the Seahawks who went 3-and-out. New England had the ball again and drove down to the SEA 6 before Tom Brady was picked off by Jeremy Lane on the goal line. Lane, Seattle’s excellent nickel corner, was injured on the return both tearing his ACL and breaking his wrist. There goes a key member of the secondary along with the host of injuries that the others were playing through.
Seattle managed a first down before punting back to the Patriots who marched down the field, finishing with an 11-yard TD pass from Tom Brady to Brandon LaFell for the 7-0 lead about 5 minutes into the 2nd Quarter. Both teams went 3-and-out on their next drives, as Seattle took over on offense at their own 30. They were still sputtering a bit, garnering only short gains until Russell Wilson found Chris Matthews for a 44-yard gain. That gave the offense the spark they needed and 3 plays later, Marshawn Lynch rumbled into the end zone from 3 yards out to tie the game at 7-7. Tom Brady wasn’t fazed, however, and he led another scoring drive culminating in a 22-yard TD pass to Rob Gronkowski for the 14-7 lead. Seattle got the ball back with 36 seconds left before halftime. Maybe they would play for...
