New England Patriots: Ranking the Patriots Super Bowls
#1 Super Bowl XLIX New England Patriots 28 Seattle Seahawks 21
The Patriots most recent Super Bowl victory will likely go down as one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played. It featured everything, from stout defenses, to big plays, a record breaking comeback, and a fantastic finish.
With quarterback Tom Brady facing heavy backlash over the just-budding Deflategate scandal, the Patriots faced one of the greatest defenses in modern history and the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
With the Patriots trailing 24-14 going into the fourth quarter, and with Brady having thrown two interceptions to that point, the Patriots quarterback would go on to have one of the greatest fourth quarter performances of his career and cement his spot among the game’s all time greats.
Completing 13-15 fourth quarter passes for 2 TDs and 0 INTs, Brady’s Patriots overcame the largest fourth quarter deficit to win a Super Bowl in history.
But Brady’s heroics were almost made moot when the Seahawks drove down to the Patriots one yard line of their final drives. Coupled with a ridiculous bobbling catch by receiver Jermaine Kearse over then undrafted rookie Malcolm Butler, the Seahawks looked primed to repeat as champions.
But Butler, having studied film on the Seahawks and knowing their prevalence for running pick plays near the goal line, anticipated the play and on 2nd and goal from the one, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw an ill-advised pass which was picked off by Butler to seal the victory.
Game Watchability: 5
Game Importance: 5
Game Legacy: 5
Total: 15, Yes, this game is technically tied with Super Bowl XLII, but we’ll give XLIX the edge due to the fact that this game, above all of the others, meant so much to the Patriots organization and fanbase.
Having gone ten years between titles and having to deal with Spygate and Deflategate, the Patriots were able to withstand all of the scrutiny and came through with one of their finest performances at their most critical hour. People will remember Butler’s goal line interception for generations and it will forever be talked about as one of the most scrutinized play calls in Super Bowl history.
Two years later, the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl while the Seahawks are trying to regain the dominant form they had from 2013-14.
Fun Fact(s): Super Bowl XLIX is the most watched TV program in US history, surpassing the previous high set by the game the year before. It was watched by an average of 114.4 million people and it peaked to over 120 million during the halftime show and New England’s fourth quarter comeback.