1st Quarter
What happened: Seahawks 0, Patriots 0. The Patriots got the ball first, and the possession lasted six plays before they had to punt as Tom Brady threw low to Shane Vereen on third-and-6. But the Seahawks went three-and-out as Marshawn Lynch was stopped for no gain on third-and-2. The Patriots then drove to the Seahawks' 10, but Jeremy Lane intercepted Brady's third-and-6 pass at the goal line – Lane's first career interception. Lane injured his left arm on the return and was taken to the locker room.
Player of the quarter: K.J. Wright. The Seahawks' strong-side linebacker had five solo tackles on plays where the Patriots gained 20 yards.
Play of the quarter: Lane's pick. It stopped a Patriots' drive that had had covered 58 yards in 13 plays and lasted 7:41. Also on the play, Michael Bennett hit Brady just after he released the ball and the Patriots' QB was slow to get up.
Number to note: 12, on both sides. The Seahawks' 12s were in full roar, even with the roof open. But Brady, No. 12, was 9 of 10 for 48 yards before throwing the pick to end a drive that should have resulted in points.
2nd Quarter
What happened: Seahawks 14, Patriots 14. With Jeremy Lane out, Byron Maxwell slide inside to be the nickel back and was replaced on the right side by Tharold Simon. And Tom Brady exploited the switch. On the Patriots' nine-play, 65-yard drive to the game's first score, he went to Julian Edelman – against Simon – for a 23-yard completion on third-and-9. With Simon on Brandon LaFell, Brady passed to LaFell for the 11-yard TD that made it 7-0 with 9:47 to play. The Seahawks went three-and-out as Chandler Jones sacked Russell Wilson on first down and Logan Ryan broke up Wilson's third-pass to Jermaine Kearse. But Jon Ryan got off a 61-yard punt and the Patriots' started their next possession at the New England 29. After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Seahawks drove 70 yards in eight plays to tie the game on Marshawn Lynch's 3-yard TD run with 2:16 left in the half. The big play was Wilson's 44-yard pass to Chris Matthews to the Patriots' 11. Wilson was 2 of 2 for 50 yards, while Lynch carried six times for 25 yards. But the Patriots, who scored a league-high 66 points in the final two minutes of the half during the regular season, drove 80 yards in eight plays to Brady's 22-yard TD pass to Rob Gronkowski to make it 14-7 with 31 second left. Brady was 5 of 6 for 54 yards. But, the Seahawks then drove 80 yards in five plays to Wilson's 11-yard TD pass to Matthews with 2 seconds to play. The drive started with a 22-yard run by Robert Turbin and Wilson also passed for 23 yards to Ricardo Lockette.
Players of the quarter: Lynch, Brady and Matthews. Lynch went Beast Mode on his scoring run, ramming through a trio of Patriots – Darrelle Revis, Rob Ninkovich and Jamie Collins – to get into the end zone for his ninth postseason touchdown. But Brady came right back to throw his 11th Super Bowl TD pass to tie Joe Montana's record. And the who's-he player in this group, Matthews, caught two passes for 55 yards and a TD.
Play of the quarter: Wilson's 44-yard pass to Matthews to setup the Seahawks' game-tying touchdown. It came against Kyle Arrington, who grabbed Matthews' jersey but could not deter the 6-5 CFL refugee from making the grab. Honorable mention, of course, the TD catches by Gronk and Matthews in the final 31 seconds.
Number to note: 3. It is Wilson's uniform number and the lost digit in Matthews' number (13). But this also was the third Super Bowl to be tied at halftime.
Third quarter
What happened: Seahawks 24, Patriots 14. The Seahawks got the ball to open the second half and drove 72 yards in seven plays to a 27-yard field goal by Steven Hauschka that made it 17-14 with 11:09 left in the quarter. The big play was Wilson's 45-yard pass to – you guessed it – Chris Matthews who went over Kyle Arrington to make the catch. Marshawn Lynch carried four times for 25 yards, but was stopped for no gain on third-and-1 to prompt the field goal. The Seahawks got the ball back when Bobby Wagner intercepted Tom Brady's third-and-9 pass to Rob Gronkowski. And the offense cashed in, as Wilson passed to Doug Baldwin for a 3-yard TD to cap a six-play, 50-yard drive with 4:54 left in the half. Lynch carried three times for 17 yards, while Wilson was 2 of 2 for 12 yards and ran once for 15 yards. It was the Seahawks' fourth consecutive scoring possession. And they got the ball right back as the defense forced a three-and-out. Wilson completed a 25-yard pass to Ricardo Lockette on the first play, but his pass to Jermaine Kearse on third-and-2 was broken up by Malcolm Butler.
Player of the quarter: Wilson. He ran. He passed. And after three quarters he had completed 9 of 13 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns, for a 151.4 passer rating, and run three times for 39 yards.
Play of the quarter: Wagner's interception. It not only prevented the Patriots from picking up a drive-sustaining first down, it set up Wilson's TD pass to Baldwin that made it 24-14. And the fact that Wagner picked a pass intended for Gronk only earned style points.
Numbers to note: 10 and 0. Points for the Seahawks, and Patriots, in the quarter.
Fourth quarter
What happened: Patriots 28, Seahawks 24. The quarter opened with the defense forcing another three-and-out as Kam Chancellor stopped LeGarrette Blount for 1-yard loss on third-and-1. But the Seahawks then went three-and-out as Russell Wilson was sacked on third-and-7. The Patriots then drove 68 yards in eight plays to Tom Brady's Super Bowl-record 12th career TD pass – a 4-yarder to Danny Amendola – to cut the Seahawks' lead to 24-21 with 7:55 left. Brady was 5 of 7 to four different receivers for 60 yards, including a pair of 21-yarders to Julian Edelman. The Seahawks then went three-and-out for the second consecutive possession as Wilson threw long to Marshawn Lynch on third-and-5 after Ricardo Lockette was tripped on the first-down incompletion but no penalty was called. The Patriots then drove 64 yards in 10 plays to take a 28-24 lead on Brady's fourth TD pass of the game – this one a 3-yarder to Edelman against Tharold Simon. Brady was 8 of 8 for 62 yards. But the Seahawks weren't done. They drove to the Patriots' 1, only to have Malcolm Butler intercept Wilson's slant to Ricardo Lockette with 20 seconds left.
Player of the quarter: Brady, of course. As Wilson did in the NFC title game, the Patriots' QB willed his team to victory with a vintage passing performance against the league's best defense. He threw long. He threw short. He threw two TD passes. He was 13 of 15 in the quarter.
Play of the quarter: The game-winning TD pass, as Edelman separated from Simon and was wide open in the end zone. But beyond-honorable mention to the play where Wilson's pass was tipped by Butler, only to have it go off Jermaine Kearse's leg and hand while he was on the ground before he controlled it at the Patriots' 5.
Number to note: 1. Yards between the Seahawks and a possible second consecutive Super Bowl title.
