When Jermaine Kearse caught the ball off of his cleat at the five-yard line it was hard to imagine any possible outcome other than a Seattle Seahawks victory. As Kearse laid there on his back, having just made the most mind-blowingly amazing impossible catch, I sat on my couch in shock. This was how Tom Brady and the New England Patriots were going to lose their third Super Bowl. That was how Brady would once again get his fourth ring snatched from under him.
Patriots fans had to live through the Helmet catch in 2007 and Mario Manningham’s sideline catch in 2010. And now they had to sit in stunned silence as Kearse caught a ball that should never have been caught.
Well, thanks to Malcolm Butler and a tricky goal-line arrangement, Brady now has his fourth, but the 37-year-old quarterback isn’t stopping there.
“No. I’ve got a lot of football left,” Brady said moments after his Super Bowl victory. “It’s hard to play this game, and it takes a big commitment, a lot of sacrifice. For all the players that have played in the past and I’ve looked up to and admired and a lot of the players now who I look up to and admire – it’s a big challenge, and it’s incredible to experience this feeling once, and I’ve been fortunate to play on four really great teams, so I’m really blessed.”
This 2014 Patriots team is one of the best Brady has ever played with from a talent perspective, and what’s scary for the rest of the league is that this team might just be getting started. With the Super Bowl XLIX win, the Patriots became the youngest team ever to win a Super Bowl with an average age of 25.2.
Julian Edelman, Brandon LaFell and Rob Gronkowski build an explosive receiving corps, LeGarrette Blount and Shane Vereen provided the Patriots with a 1-2 punch at the running back position, re-signing Darrelle Revis and Devin McCourty will be the top priority but it really shouldn’t be that hard. And this defense is built on the backs of young players (Jamie Collins, Dont’a Hightower, Chandler Jones) who will only continue to get better.
Much like the Eastern Conference in the NBA, the AFC is ripe for the Patriots picking. The Indianapolis Colts have Andrew Luck but not much else around him, the Denver Broncos just got a brand new head coach in the final minutes of Peyton Manning’s career and the Baltimore Ravens still have bigger steps to take to continuously be in the conversation.
The AFC is wide open for the Patriots to dominate for years to come. And with the amount of young talent on this team, they likely will.
Brady has done everything in his power to win the ever elusive fourth ring, but you know he won’t stop there. This Super Bowl win is amazing, but it could only be a taste of what’s ahead.
Peter Rogers is a New England Patriots writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @petahrahgas, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
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