GLENDALE, Ariz. — It's one of the mottos of Pete Carroll's program. The word "Finish" is everywhere when it comes to the Seattle Seahawks, always with the idea of being the better team at the end of the game.
For a change, Seattle's record-setting defense wilted in the fourth quarter. Instead of finishing, they faded before Tom Brady and New England's rally.
"I think I'm going to go lock myself in my room for about two weeks. This one hurt because we had it," Seattle linebacker Bruce Irvin said. "We had it."
Staked to a 10-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter, the best defense in the NFL could not deliver a second straight Super Bowl title for the Seahawks.
"One of the things we take great pride in is playing until the finish. We had the lead and for them to come back on us, that's hard to accept," Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said. "I have to tip my hat to them and the execution they had at the end."
All the attention will be placed on the decision to have Russell Wilson throw from the 1-yard line in the closing seconds, resulting in Malcolm Butler's clinching interception for New England.
"I hate feeling like I'm the one who lost it," Wilson told reporters after the game.
But that moment became possible because Brady put together two lengthy fourth-quarter touchdown drives against a Seattle defense that late in the regular season didn't allow a fourth-quarter point in six straight games.
Seattle had the best pass defense, best total defense and best scoring defense in the NFL. The Seahawks had allowed less than 10 points per game during their eight-game win streak entering the Super Bowl.
Failing in the fourth quarter was a crushing turn for a unit that had been praised for being the best of this era of the NFL. All-Pro safety Earl Thomas sat silent at his locker for more than 10 minutes in an oddly quiet locker room.
New England was just the fifth team in the past three seasons — a span of 56 games — to score at least 14 points in the fourth quarter against Seattle.
"We've got to be fundamentally sound. We're a very good fundamentally sound team but when you're not fundamentally sound things happen," Kam Chancellor said. "Things happen and a great quarterback like Tom Brady, he'll find it. He'll definitely find it. We've got to be fundamentally sound."
This wasn't the elite Seattle defense of late in the season on Sunday. Thomas and Sherman both played with injuries suffered in the NFC championship game. Chancellor injured his knee in practice on Friday and had to go through a pregame workout just to be cleared.
Then the Seahawks suffered two major losses during the game. Nickel cornerback Jeremy Lane broke his wrist after intercepting Brady in the first quarter, causing a shift in the secondary. Backup cornerback Tharold Simon was suddenly thrust into action and struggled.
Defensive end Cliff Avril suffered a concussion in the second half and Seattle's pass rush was unable to get at Brady in the fourth quarter. Brady was 13 for 15 passing in the final quarter and the Patriots had 123 yards of offense.
"Those were two big injuries to core guys for us, but we ran the same plays," Sherman said. "We executed, even though some mistakes were made at the end. When you lose two starters it's going to be tough for your defense."
The Seahawks fell to 2-6 over the past two seasons when allowing 24 or more points. Five of their six losses this season, including Sunday night, came when giving up 24 or more.
The question afterward was whether Seattle could use this loss the same way it used its 2012 playoff loss to Atlanta, which was the catalyst for the Seahawks title a year ago.
Bobby Wagner wasn't interested.
"I would rather learn from winning than learn from losing," he said.
GAME NOTES:
7:07 p.m. -- New England Patriots win Super Bowl XLIX with a final score of 28-24.
7:04 p.m. -- Bruce Irvin is ejected from the game after a personal foul. Clock was stopped at 18 seconds.
7:00 p.m. -- The Patriots intercepted the Seahawks' ball with seconds left on the clock.
6:50 p.m. -- Marshawn Lynch with a 31-yard gain -- just after the two-minute warning.
6:47 p.m. -- The Patriots scored a touchdown with 2:02 left in the game. The score was 28-24.
6:45 p.m. -- The Seahawks held the lead with 2:52 left on the clock, but the Patriots were in threatening territory.
6:38 p.m. -- With 6:52 left in the game, the Seahawks held their lead by 10 points.
6:27 p.m. -- Patriots score a touchdown, taking the score to 24-21 -- with a 68-yard drive in nine plays.
6:10 p.m. -- At the end of the third quarter, the Seahawks remained in the lead -- 24-14.
5:54 p.m. -- Cliff Avril was being evaluated for a concussion. His return to the game was questionable.
5:53 p.m. -- The Seahawks scored another touchdown -- caught by Doug Baldwin -- taking the score to 24-14.
5:47 p.m. -- Bobby Wagner intercepted a Tom Brady pass.
5:37 p.m. -- At the start of the third quarter, the Seahawks took the lead for the first time, after a field goal by Hauschka, making the score -- 17-14.
5:16 p.m. -- Katy Perry performed an extravagant halftime show.
5:08 p.m. -- The Seahawks were to get the ball -- to start the second half.
4:58 p.m. -- The Seahawks' Chris Matthews scored a second touchdown and brought the score back to a tie with two seconds left in the second quarter -- 14-14.
4:57 p.m. -- With six seconds left on the clock in the second quarter, the Seahawks were trailing behind the Patriots 14-7.
4:47 p.m. -- Patriots scored a touchdown. 'Brady lofts one up and into Gronk's breadbasket,' tweeted the Seahawks.
4:42 p.m. -- Seahawks and Patriots were tied at the two-minute warning during the second quarter, 7-7.
4:33 p.m. -- Marshawn Lynch scored a touchdown from three yards out. The Seahawks tied up the game 7-7.
4:19 p.m. -- Chandler Jones caught up to Wilson on a scramble for the sack.
The New England Patriots scored first, and were up 7-0 with 9:47 left in the first half.
The Seahawks began the 2nd quarter -- 2nd and 12 at their 23.
The Seahawks tweeted that Jeremy Lane had sustained an arm injury, and that his return to the game was doubtful.
At the end of the first quarter, the Seahawks and Patriots were tied 0 - 0.
3:53 p.m. -- Jeremy Lane intercepted a Tom Brady pass.
3:35 p.m. -- Jeron Johnson was called for running into the kicker. The Patriots declined the penalty, and the Seahawks were to start from their 16.
3:20 p.m. -- John Legend played the piano and sang 'America the Beautiful' -- before the game. Idina Menzel, a star of 'Frozen,' sang a beautiful rendition of the national anthem.
The Seattle Seahawks won the coin toss at the beginning of the game, with tails -- and deferred to the 2nd half. New England was to receive from the Seahawks’ end zone.
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KIRO
