Patriots: Was Malcolm Butler pick most important play in NFL history?

The New England Patriots changed every moment of the last six years of NFL history when they defeated the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.

Without a Patriots win in Super Bowl XLIX, there would be no 28-3.

There would be no over-the-shoulder Gronk catch, no Gilmore-Goff pick in the end zone. There would be no, “We’re still here!”, but only, “We were there.”

That fateful Super Bowl Sunday in Feb. 2015 turned out not to be just an iconic moment in Patriots history. It was the night that a Pats dynasty was reborn, and marked the abrupt end of a Seahawks’ bid to usurp New England as the kings of an entire decade of football.

One well-placed Malcolm Butler later, and the Pats were on the warpath to extending their dynastic expiration date another several years. It’s not only possible, but relatively likely, that this singular pick was the most impactful play in NFL history.

Recall, at the time, that the Patriots were widely regarded as snake-bitten. No, seriously.

Though Tom Brady’s Patriots were known as a dynasty because of their three titles in four years at the start of his career, the carnage that followed included a ridiculous streak of AFC East titles (save for Matt Cassell’s unfortunate cameo) and an absurd sequence of bad bounces and breaks on the biggest stage.

And seconds prior to Malcolm Butler’s appearance, a sullen Pats sideline had been burdened by another one: the juggling, sprawling, nearly-ignored Jermaine Kearse catch.

In that moment, with Kearse on the ground, realizing his bounty, and being forced out of bounds at the very last second, the Seattle Seahawks were the dynasty. The Patriots were yesterday’s news, about to complete 10 years without a ring to cap their dominance, felled once again by the devil’s bounce. Russell Wilson was 26; Tom Brady was 37. Seattle’s stout and hard-hitting defense echoed the Patriots’ early core of Bruschi, Vrabel and McGinest. New England had solved that unit, coming back from 10 points down, but it now wouldn’t matter.

The Seahawks were Katy Perry. The Patriots were Left Shark.

It’s difficult to conceive of now, but the Patriots had become another footnote in Seattle’s story, with just a minute left in that contest.

Instead, Brian Flores barked out, “Go Malcolm!” and New England displayed the fruits of their intensive practice labor, snuffing out a Pete Carroll malfunction before it ever happened. And after that, Seattle’s defense was never quite as strong. The ‘Hawks failed to draft and develop offensive line help. They also forgot how to place their quarterback in a position of strength in the resulting big games, always appearing in the postseason as middling-to-great contenders, but never possessing enough firepower on both sides of the ball to ensure dominance.

And the Patriots? Well, they finished the decade the way they’d started the previous one: as undisputed playoff gods, and the most trusted NFL team in a big spot. Every bit of momentum they exerted and reputational intrigue they possessed for the past five seasons came, in part, because they were able to snatch Seattle’s chain at the clearest pivot point, perhaps, in NFL history.

One dynasty began anew that night in Glendale, and inexplicably, it wasn’t Seattle’s. And the Patriots deserve even more credit than they get for rewriting a decade of history on the fly.

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