The question of who – either the Seahawks or Patriots – would win the Super Bowl was solved at last on February 1. A few weeks before, predictions took over the media and kept increasing over the last few days before the much anticipated match arrived.
Some Ridge students, like Juan Paez ‘17, asserted before the Super Bowl that “the Patriots have Tom Brady, who is arguably the best quarterback in the league” and added that “they have a lot of incentive to win the Super Bowl because they’ve lost the last two”; this time, “they really want to win.” In addition to the frequent predictions, the media stated that whoever scores first usually wins, especially in the case of the Patriots.
In contrast, the Seahawks are not as dependent on scoring first.
For Seattle supporters, the team’s success can be attributed to their extraordinary defense. Evan Zollenberg ‘17 claimed the Seattle Seahawks would “win because of their superior defense and superior running game.”
The media had predicted that this Super Bowl would be close and that Russell Wilson, considered by many to be the second best quarterback in the NFL, would rebound and would want to outshine Tom Brady.
But when the day of the contest arrived, Tom Brady and extraordinary defense player Malcolm Butler, who intercepted Seattle’s possible touchdown which would have meant Seattle’s victory, earned their team yet another Super Bowl title. After two lost Super Bowls, the Patriots managed to win by a tight score of just 4 points over their opponents.
Many fans are still caught up with the play called by quarterback Russell Wilson of the Seahawks in the last minutes of the game, who later took the blame, stating, “I’m the one who threw [the ball].”
No doubt he and the rest of his team will be haunted by the hypothetical final touchdown that could have been the deciding factor in providing a second straight year of glory for the Seahawks and instead resulted in is possibly the most heart-wrenching loss in Super Bowl history.