Super Bowl 49 Halftime Report: Seahawks 14, Patriots 14
The Seattle Seahawks began Super Bowl XLIX in an uncomfortably familiar fashion, refusing to complete passes and falling behind early. Russell Wilson looked less-than-stellar and the secondary looked unusually permeable. But the first half ended in a comfortably familiar fashion: an incredible race against the clock that culminated with a much-needed touchdown.
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Tom Brady has been excellent thus far, completing 20 of his 27 passes and picking up 177 yards. He’s got two touchdowns and an interception. Speaking of that interception… Jeremy Lane is out of the game with a broken wrist. He sustained the injury after picking Brady off in the red zone. At first it looked like nothing, but replay shows Lane’s arm twisting in a really disgusting fashion. Ugh. Feel better, Jeremy.
Russell Wilson took his precious time before finally firing off a pass, and as of this writing is 4 for 7 for 84 yards. He’s got 24 yards on the ground, too, and overall his half hasn’t been nearly as bad as it seemed destined to be early on. Has he taken over the game? No. Will he? Still up in the air.
So who’s the early MVP frontrunner? Who’s been driving the Seahawks’ offense all day? Why, that would be Chris Matthews, of course, just like you thought it’d be. Matthews had his first career reception today, a 44-yard catch to rejuvinate the ‘Hawks offense. But that’s not all. He’s got a TD, too.
After Brady found Rob Gronkowski with 31 seconds left in the half I let out an audible groan. So did you. So did everyone this side of Boston. But that was when the Seahawks came alive, rattling off an extra-fast 80 yard drive all the way to the end zone. With six seconds to play, the two sides traded time outs while Pete Carroll scrambled to figure out what the hell to do. Turns out he stuck to his identity and went with his offense instead of the field goal unit. With barely any time to make a play, Carroll trusted Wilson to get the ball and fire away.
And fire away he did, unleashing a lightning-quick touchdown toss right to – you guessed it – Chris Matthews! Matthews was open in the endzone for his second career reception, which also so happened to be the game-tying score to close out the first half of the Super Bowl. Matthews stood there, arms wide, as if he was the only person in America who could believe what he’d just done. The extra point was good, the teams left the field, and Katy Perry took their place. Seahawks 14, Patriots 14.
Tharold Simon isn’t directly responsible for the Patriots’ first touchdown, but boy oh boy is Brady ever going after him. Simon, who came in after Lane’s injury, has been consistently slow to catch up, and the Patriots have exploited that. Nothing they haven’t been able to overcome, of course, but Simon’s got one good play to go along with a handful of rough ones. The Patriots know that’s where Seattle’s defense is the weakest, and so far they’ve taken advantage.
Fun first half. Let’s hope the Seahawks’ play in the second half is a little more like the last thirty seconds and a little less like the other 29:30. Go ‘Hawks!