Patriots pick off a victory in the Super Bowl

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The New England Patriots experienced the agony before, and they were one yard away from living it again. They've been on the field in the Super Bowl when the opponent makes the magical drive and the improbable catch, when the legacies of quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick were interrupted by last-minute defeats.

Except on Sunday, all the magic that brought the Seattle Seahawks one yard away from the Super Bowl vanished when Russell Wilson threw a pass that landed in the hands of Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler, a stunning and memorable end to the Patriots' 28-24 win over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.

A dazzling catch by Jermaine Kearse that will go into Super Bowl lore was overshadowed by the Seahawks' decision not to run the ball at the goal line and the interception that decided the game with 20 seconds remaining in front of 70,288 at University of Phoenix Stadium.

"We've been on the other end of this twice now and being ahead late and not being able to make the plays to win," Brady said. "This time, we made the play to win."

After a 10-year wait, Belichick and Brady are again champions. The Patriots scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to take the lead, and Butler's interception sealed the win. It was the fourth time Belichick and Brady earned the Lombardi Trophy.

Brady was named MVP. He threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, including a 3-yard score to Julian Edelman that proved to be the game-winner with 2 minutes, 2 seconds remaining.

The Seahawks reached the red zone with slightly more than one minute left in the game when Wilson sailed a deep pass to Kearse, who had the ball deflect off his hands, his legs, and his hands again before he pulled it in to his body. Marshawn Lynch then ran 4 yards to the 1-yard line, where the Seahawks were just a few feet from the lead. That's when Butler, an undrafted rookie from West Alabama, stepped in front of Wilson's slant to Ricardo Lockette.

"I just knew the route, and I beat them," said Butler, whose first thought after the interception was, "I just won us the Super Bowl."

Yet the play will be remembered as much for the Seahawks' decision to pass the ball as it will Butler's interception.

The Seahawks saw that the Patriots were in goal line defense, almost expecting a run. The personnel favored a passing play, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll reasoned.

"It's not the right matchup for us to run the football, so on second down, we throw the ball really to kind of waste that play," Carroll said. "If we score we do, if we don't, then we'll run it on third and fourth down. No second thoughts or no hesitation in that at all."

In the Patriots locker room after the game, they said they had prepared for that play during the past two weeks. Butler even admitted he was beaten on it in practice. On Sunday, he jumped the route.

"I put the blame on me," Wilson said. "I'm the one who threw it."

The Patriots came rushing onto the field. There was a fight when the Patriots tried running out the clock, but that did not spoil one of the great Super Bowls.

By the time the game started, the footballs were properly inflated, Lynch's disregard for interviews was irrelevant, and what was left were the NFL's two best teams playing a Super Bowl that will rank among the best of the 49 to date.

"The game couldn't have been any closer than what it was," Belichick said. "They're a great football team that is with a yard or so, or a few seconds – however you want to look at it – of winning a second title."

The teams remained scoreless through the first quarter for the first time in a Super Bowl since the Patriots beat the Eagles 10 years ago. The Patriots approached the end zone at one point, but Brady threw a costly interception from the Seattle 10-yard line right into the hands of cornerback Jeremy Lane, who left the game with an arm injury.

On the Patriots' next possession, they picked on Lane's replacement. Tharold Simon was targeted on two passes, including an 11-yard touchdown by Brandon LaFell to break the scoring drought with 9:47 left in the half.

The Seahawks' offense stagnated until a worldwide audience was introduced to Chris Matthews. Seattle's search for wide receivers brought them to Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League, where they scouted 6-foot-5, 218-pound receiver. Matthews worked at Foot Locker as recently as last offseason, but he became an overnight sensation on Sunday with four catches for 109 yards and one touchdown.

Matthews was not targeted on a single pass until the Super Bowl, when he extended for a deep pass from Wilson down the sideline for a 44-yard gain. That set up Lynch's 3-yard touchdown run to tie the game.

After the Patriots took a 14-7 lead, Matthews also used his big frame to get position over Eastern High School product Logan Ryan for an 11-yard touchdown to tie the game before Katy Perry came onto the field for the halftime performance.

"This is huge for me right now, just being able to finish the game and do what I did," Matthews said. "I didn't have a perfect game. I messed up on a couple routes. Who knows, maybe if I hadn't messed up on a couple routes and been in the right place at the right, we probably wouldn't have been in that situation."

The Seahawks opened the second half with a field goal, and the Patriots could not shift momentum. On a third down from the Patriots' 32-yard line, Brady tried finding Rob Gronkowski across the middle. Middle linebacker Bobby Wagner stepped in front of the pass to snare Brady's second interception of the evening.

The Seahawks responded by marching 50 yards for a 10-point lead. Wilson scrambled 15 yards for the big play of the drive, and he later found Doug Baldwin for a 3-yard touchdown. Baldwin celebrated by pretending to defecate a football, which netted a 15-yard penalty and social media popularity.

That was the last time Seattle scored. With Seahawks pass rusher Cliff Avril out because of a concussion, the Patriots cut their deficit to three points with a touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter.

New England forced a three-and-out, setting up the go-ahead drive. Brady completed all eight pass attempts to lead the Patriots 64 yards on 10 plays, with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Edelman that gave the Patriots the edge and completed what will contend for one of the signature drives of Brady's storied career.

"I didn't think about that," Brady said. "We blocked great, we made great catches. …There's never one player."

But that moment could have been forgotten when the ghost of David Tyree past seemed to reappear. The Seahawks drove one yard away from spoiling New England's championship. Except the Seahawks called a pass, Butler intercepted Wilson, and the Patriots could celebrate a Super Bowl for the first time in a decade.