The unlikeliest rivals in NFL history

By: Eric Yin

Published 2020/10/08 at 3:31 pm

The Origins (1976)

SEATTLE – The Seahawks and Patriots. One in the NFC, the other in the AFC. One on the East Coast, the other on the West Coast.  Back in the 1970s when these two teams joined the NFL, no one could have ever predicted just how intertwined these two teams would become. Perhaps it was coincidence, perhaps it was fate: this is the story of one of the NFL’s most unlikely rivalries.

The Seahawk and Patriot logos of the 1970s, when they met for the first time.

While it would be obvious to point to the 2014 Super Bowl as the origins of the rivalry, the roots truly began all the way back in 1977, when the Seahawks and Patriots first took the field against each other. In the NFL, teams are divided into two conferences, AFC and NFC. These conferences are further divided into four divisions. The Seahawks joined the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (yes the same Buc’s that Patriot Legend Tom Brady currently plays for) as expansion teams in 1976. Being new expansion teams, they were placed into divisions, the Seahawks in the NFC West and the Bucs in the AFC West (yes, a Florida team was placed in a West Coast division). After just one year of play, however, the NFL decided that they wanted both expansion teams to have a chance to play every NFL team, so the teams would swap conferences: the Seahawks joining the AFC West and the Buccaneers joining the then NFC Central, which would later go on to become the NFC South. While a seemingly logical decision at first glance, this was probably one of the stupidest decisions in NFL history. The Seahawks would stay in the AFC West from 1977-2002, which amounted to 25 NFL seasons, before ultimately being swapped back again to the NFC West. Regardless of whether the Seahawks were in the AFC or NFC, they would’ve played every single team in this time span, making the first conference swap redundant, and the second conference swap even more hilariously awful. So why is this all this conference swapping relevant to the story? Well, the way NFL scheduling works, AFC teams face other AFC teams more often than NFC teams and vice versa. So if the Seahawks never joined the AFC, they would’ve only faced the Patriots once every four years, hardly enough to qualify them for a rivalry. In another universe where Seattle doesn’t get randomly moved to the AFC, they would’ve only faced each other 11 times from 1976-2020; instead, they faced each other 21 times. The Seahawks and Patriots were never meant to be rivals, they were supposed to be cross conference, one in the NFC one in the AFC, one on the West Coast one on the East Coast: instead, these two teams would go on to become the NFL’s most unlikely rivals.

The NFL is divided into two divisions, the AFC and NFC. The rivalry was only made possible by moving the Seahawks from NFC to AFC.

Fight at the bottom of the dogpile and the Curse of 25 (1977-1988)

While in the present, the Seahawks-Patriots matchup is one of the NFL’s premier rivalries, at the beginning it was about as exciting as a wet noodle fight. Look no further than the 25 years the Seahawks spent in the AFC with the Patriots from 1977-2002. During this stretch, both teams have a sub .500 win rate and almost the exact same value (Seahawks 0.47, Patriots 0.48). In over 50 seasons of combined play between the two teams, they made the playoffs only 15 times, exactly 3 out of 10 seasons you could expect to see one of these two teams in the playoffs. Perhaps more astonishing, is the fact that in 25 years of play, the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots never ONCE made it to the post season together in the same season. The Seahawks would make it in 1983-1984, before moving out of the way wherein the Patriots would make the postseason in 1986-1987. This would then be followed again by the Seahawks making it in 1988-1989 whereas the Patriots were nowhere to be seen. It was almost as if they were allergic to each other. The Seahawks and Patriots were like two starving buzzards fighting for scraps; only one of the two could survive and make the postseason in any given season during this quarter century of play.

Rivalries are typically based around winning teams. People care about the Cowboys vs. Steelers because they are both historically winning franchises. So it is rather surprising that while being some of the worst teams in the league during this 25 year stretch, the Seahawks and Patriots somehow still managed to find ways to make their games interesting. Let’s take their first ever head-to-head matchup as an example. Heading into this game, the Seahawks were 0-3 and the Patriots were 1-2, nothing new here. As usual they were at the bottom of the barrel and this game likely would have close to no impact on any of the regular season standings, or the playoff picture. So why is this game interesting? All because of a certain Seattle Seahawk streak. Up to this point in their brief history, the Seahawks had been defined by one thing: their tenacity. Despite going 2-15 in their first 17 games and riding a 7 game losing streak heading into their first match against the Patriots, the Seahawks had never been shut out of a game. In fact, the Seahawks had only failed to score a touchdown in a single game. It did not matter that they were an expansion team chalk full of rookies, or that they faced one of the hardest strength of schedules in the NFL that year facing some of the best teams in the NFC: the Seahawks always managed to score. So, heading into a Week 4 matchup against the flimsy 1-2 Patriots, it seemed almost certain that the streak would continue, and the rivalry would begin unceremoniously, irrelevant to NFL history. Well, as you have probably guessed already, that streak ended with the Patriots curb stomping them 31-0. History made!

The 25th blow-out of such magnitude, coincidentally also the same number of years the Seattle Seahawks would remain in the AFC.

The Patriots would not only be the first team to blow out the Seahawks, but they would also be the first team to blow out the Seahawks twice. From the day they were founded in 1976 all the way to the end of the 1982 season, the Seahawks played 101 games of football, and had only been shut out 3 times within that time span. The fact that of those 3 shut-outs, two of them came from the same team when the rest of the league was only able to pull it off once, is astonishing in of itself. The fact it was the Patriots, who along with the Seahawks were amongst the worst teams in the 1980’s-2000s, is flabbergasting. This Patriot dominance over the Seahawks would continue for 12 years, with the Patriots sporting a 6-2 record against Seattle. By the 1989 halfway point of the Curse of 25, the Patriots looking like the Seahawks kryptonite, forecasting another 13 years of losing for Seattle. And then, out of nowhere, the Seahawks decided they had enough and wanted to win.

The bottom somehow becomes worse (1989-1993)

Well, win against the Patriots that is. If you thought the Seahawks and Patriots were bad in the first half of the Seahawks 25 year tenure, let me introduce you to the second half. From 1989-1993, the Seahawks and Patriots went 31-80 (0.3875) and 19-80 (0.2375) respectively. They went from being proverbially amongst the worst, to literally being THE two worst teams in the NFL. For the Seahawks, this 5 year stretch is tied for second worst in franchise history, and for the Patriots this 5 year stretch is the worst in franchise history. For one of these two teams to have a historically bad stretch is crazy enough, for both to happen simultaneously to THESE two teams specifically is beyond believe. To make a strange situation even more bizarre, the Seahawks went 5-0 against the Patriots during this time span completely flipping the script on the rivalry. In fact, it wouldn’t be so farfetched to say the ONLY team the Seahawks were good against were the Pats. The only thing keeping the Seahawks heads above water and slightly better, was the fact they were shoving the Patriots down below them. In 1992, the only thing preventing the Seahawks from a 1-15 season, was that they had the Patriots on their schedule, keeping them at a slightly more respectable 2-14. What saved them in the 1993 season? Two wins against the Patriots that lifted them to a 6-10 record that otherwise likely would’ve been 4-12. Finally turning the corner in the rivalry, the Seahawks looked poised to dominate the rest of the 1990s, but what no one could’ve known was that those 2 games in 1993 would be the last Seahawks Patriots games for the next decade.

The end of the curse and Patriot rise to prevalence (1994-2004)

Up till 1994, a Seahawk Patriots matchup was about as sure a thing as you can get in a NFL schedule aside from divisional opponents. These two teams faced each other 13 times since the genesis of the rivalry in 1977, almost good for one game a season. Outside of division opponents during this 16 year stretch, the Seahawks most played opponents were the Patriots and vice versa. These two teams were essentially pseudo-division rivals, always facing off against each other every year at the bottom of the league standings. Then, as if the NFL was sick and tired of watching the pillow fight known as Seahawk Patriot games, all Seahawk Patriot games were removed from the schedule for the next decade. No given reason, no big announcement for why: these two teams were just forbidden from playing against each other. Much like how the rivalry was birthed by the whims of the NFL higher-ups, the Seahawks Patriots rivalry would also be hampered by the NFL. For 17 years of NFL play, it appeared as if these two teams would never be able to separate from each other, and in an instant it was all over. With no pseudo-divisional games against each other, it was almost as if their destinies untangled from each other and the two teams went their separate ways. It would be the Patriots in particular, that would diverge off the path of mediocrity and really begin shaking up the NFL hierarchy.

As much as the NFL is lauded for it’s parity, for decades the NFL elite had been reserved to a small group of old guard teams: the Packers, Cowboys, Niners, and Steelers. These few teams would be common sight in the play-offs, and dominated the NFL over the first 3 decades of play from the 1970s-2000s. The Patriots would shatter this class structure, breaking their way into this elite circle. While the Seahawks would continue to flounder with sub .500 season after sub .500 season, the Patriots took off. No longer playing games against the Seahawks, it was as if the Patriots had cut loose a dead weight and from 1993 onward began to take over the league. To see just how quick this turn around was, look no further than the juxtaposition between 1993 and 1994. In 1993, with two games against the Seahawks (that they both lost), they went a 5-11, good for 4^th place in the NFC East. Then in 1994, with no huge coaching change or free agent signings, they went 10-6 doubling their win total. Taking an aggregate look, the contrast becomes crystal clear. From 1994 to 2004, the decade stretch where no Seahawk-Patriots games were scheduled, the Patriots would make 6 trips to the post season, coming away with 3 Super Bowl Trophies and 4 Super Bowl appearances. The Seahawks, over this same time, made it to the post-season twice, less times than the Patriots made it to a Super Bowl.

From 2001-2004, the Patriots tore through the league winning 3 out of 4 Super Bowls and cementing themselves as the first dynasty of the salary cap era.

With no Seahawks-Patriots games on the schedule, the Pats grew up. No more loitering at the bottom of the standings together. No more pillow fights over who gets the #1 pick. No more clawing at the final playoff spot. From 1994-2004, the Patriots and Seahawks rivalry became unrecognizable. At this point in time, these two teams seemed to be about as far apart as they have ever been: on opposite coasts of America, in different conferences, different divisions, and with different levels of success. Yet it was perhaps during this decade, when these two teams were the most different and did not even play each other one time, that the rivalry truly began to heat up.

The Jets, the Patriots, and coaching (2004-2010)

Enter, Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick.

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, left, shakes hands with New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick before the NFL Super Bowl XLIX football game Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Most modern fans will recognize these names and their importance as the coaches for the Seahawks and Patriots respectively in that 2014 Super Bowl, but the story for these two truly begins with the New York Jets and Patriots. In 1997, right around the time the Patriots had begun their rise, Pete Carroll was hired as the Patriots head coach. Despite taking them to the playoffs and posting a winning record over 3 years, at the turn of the century the Patriots would fire him in favor of another up-and-coming coach, Bill Belichick. Now you might be wondering, how the Jets factor into this. Well Bill Belichick was hired by the Jets to be their head coach in 2000, and infamously resigned and reneged on his contract the day before the official announcement was to be made, essentially quitting his job less than a week into it in favor of the Patriots job. This move even wilder when consider that the Jets and Patriots play in the same division and are heated rivals. By doing perhaps one of the dirtiest moves in NFL history, Bill Belichick became the Patriots head coach. This is the same Jets team, that just 4 years prior had fired Pete Carroll as their head coach in 1996. In essence, Pete Carroll was replaced by Bill Belichick as head coach twice in the same decade, on two teams in the same division. So despite the Seahawks and Patriots never once taking the same field from 1994-2004, the rivalry between coaches had already begun.

While the Patriots would go on to win 3 Super Bowls in 4 years (2001-2004) and dominate the AFC under Bill Belichick and Tom Brady’s reign, Pete Carroll would move onto college coaching at USC. Despite being a highly criticized move, with thousands of donors and alumni contacting USC to fire him after a shaky 2-5 start, Carroll would dominate the College football world in the years to come, winning National championships in 2003 and 2004. With Belichick ruling the NFL and Carroll innovating College football, it seemed these two were destined to meet each other again sooner or later. 

Seahawks show shades of Patriot Past (2010-2013)

In 2010, it happened. Pete Carroll, a decade after being fired from the Patriots in 2000, was hired to be the Seattle Seahawks head-coach. Coming in as one of the greatest college coaches of all time, Pete would be assigned the monumental task of changing the culture of a historically mediocre Seattle Seahawk franchise. The same Seattle Seahawks that have gone a combined 255-277 since their inception in 1976 till his hiring in 2010. With a mountain to climb ahead of him, Pete Carroll stumbled out of the gates going an unconvincing 7-9 in 2010 and 2011 much like how he started 2-5 at USC. The Patriots, meanwhile, were as good as ever, going 14-2 in 2010 and 13-3 in 2011. Despite the Seahawks struggling woes through the first two years of Pete Carroll’s tenure, the Seahawks had been building up their team under witty GM John Schneider. With a strategy of prioritizing the quantity of draft picks over the quantity, they managed to accumulate a roster chalk full of unproven young talent. All of this would come to head in the 2012 season, a week 6 matchup against the Patriots, where the young unproven Seahawks would burst onto the scene and reignite the rivalry in a big way.

John Schneider, the man behind the Seahawks rebuild. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Heading into their week 6 head-to-head matchup, there are a few things that need to be considered. First, this would be only the third Seahawks Patriots matchup since the 1994-2004 drought. The rivalry had been dormant for decades at this point, primarily due to the Seahawks mediocrity, only barely kept alive by the connection between Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick. The Seahawks didn’t even look like playoff contenders. Despite featuring a talented young defensive backfield led by rowdy cornerback Richard Sherman, the Seahawks secondary was just that: young. These Seahawks, much like in years past, still hadn’t really proved anything 5 weeks into the season, with a 3-2 record that belied how little confidence the fans had in the team (one of their wins was the infamous Fail Mary against the Green Bay Packers, so by all means this was actually a 2-3 team). Meanwhile, the Patriots were also coming in with a 3-2 record but had all the confidence in the world. Boasting the number one passing attack in the league, coming off of double digit wins over the Bills and Broncos, Tom Brady and the Patriots looked poised to take advantage of an inexperienced Seattle secondary.

Loud-mouthed fifth round cornerback Richard Sherman led the physical Seattle defense.

The Seahawks started off strong forcing the Patriots to punt at their own 38, before scoring a field goal of their own on the next drive. After exchanging touchdowns on the next two drives, it seemed the Seahawks would be able to keep pace with the fastest scoring offense in the league. One big Seahawks fumble later, however, and the Patriots found themselves with great field position which they converted into a touchdown, before tacking on one last field goal to take a 17-10 lead at the end of the half. After another third quarter field goal, the Patriots had extended their lead to 20-10. Up till now, Tom Brady had already torched the Seahawks secondary for 300+ yards and 2 touchdowns through the air. With the Patriots once again driving down the field at the Seahawks 40, Tom Brady saw the Super Bowl 39 MVP and former Seattle Seahawk, Deion Branch, darting down the right sideline and went deep. We all know what happens next.

Tom Brady gets picked off by Richard Sherman.

And in that moment, against Tom Brady and the high flying Patriots, on an intercepted pass to a former Seattle Seahawk, the fiery Richard Sherman let the world know that the Legion of Boom was born.

For the rest of the third and fourth quarter, Brady would be held to just 30 yards and yet another interception, this time at the hands of ballhawk free safety Earl Thomas, the second member of the Legion of Boom. Not to be outdone by the defense, the offense led by rookie QB Russell Wilson became came up big when it mattered most, scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter including a game winning drive, to barely hold on and win 24-23 against the dynastic Patriots. This would not only be the Seattle Seahawks big break out game, but also the return of the rivalry. I just want to emphasize how strange all of this is. The Seahawks Legion of Boom components were all there in 2011, but they never had a breakout game against anyone else. This exact defense was together for the first 5 games of the 2012 season, yet of all the possible times for such a break out game to occur, of course it would be against the New England Patriots and their #1 passing attack. Of course the birth of the Legion of Boom would occur on a pass thrown to Deion Branch: a player who has inexplicably been on both sides of the rivalry, a man who was Super Bowl MVP with the Patriots, joined the Seahawks for big money, only to leave in the 2010 off season to return to the Patriots, the same year Pete Carroll was hired. Of course the man who threw the pass, Tom Brady, hadn’t thrown an interception in over 150 pass attempts. And of course said pass was picked off specifically by the leader of the secondary, the foul mouthed Richard Sherman who immediately after the game shouted “You Mad Bro?” which in turn inspired an entire brand of merch around his iconic phrase. None of these things were expected, none of these things were normal, and none of these things were meant to happen. Yet they did, and despite the years of separation, these two teams had found their way back to each other. Back to square 1.

Brand of merchandise inspired by Richard Sherman’s famous quote.

A matter a fact, when one takes a closer look at this Seattle Seahawks team it becomes apparent just how freakishly similar, they are to the early 2000s Patriots when Belichick first arrived. Both the Patriots and Seahawks were coached by defensive minded coaches, who prioritize one part of the defense more than any other: secondary. While the Legion of Boom may be the best and most physical secondary to exist, the Patriots secondary in 2001 (their first Super Bowl victory) was no slouch of its own, featuring hard hitting HOFer Ty Law alongside pro bowlers Otis Smith and Lawyer Miller. Both teams featured an “outside-in” philosophy, prioritizing strong physical coverage corners and safeties to buy time for the pass rush to get home. Similarly, the two teams also employed a straightforward offensive philosophy, running the ball to lower possessions allowing the defense to win low scoring games and let their game manager Quarterbacks make the crucial third down throws.

But perhaps most strange of all, is the similarity of the two quarterbacks. In 2000, the Patriots drafted Tom Brady out of Michigan. Now while Tom was an excellent Quarterback in Michigan, with the comeback victories and stats to back it up, he fell to the 6^th round due to his physique. In 2012, the Seahawks drafted Russell Wilson out of Wisconsin, a state coincidentally located right next to Michigan. Russell Wilson was also an excellent Quarterback in College, posting the best Touchdown-Interception ratio, total yardage, and yards per play out of any QB in his class and easily should have been a first rounder. Instead he slid to the 3^rd round due to his height.

Despite being drafted to play quarterback, both were 4^th on the QB depth chart at the start of training camp and became starters when they turned 24 years old. After becoming starters, both would lead their teams to 11-5 records in their first season as “game managers”, both would lead their teams on deep playoffs runs early in their careers, and both would become known for their mental resilience in highest pressure moments. Having remarkably similar starts to their careers, Tom Brady would win a Super Bowl in his first, third, and fourth year in the league, whereas Russell would win a chip in his second year. If this ping-ponging sounds familiar at all, it is because it is reminiscent of the Seahawks and Patriots of old. Back during the fabled Curse of 25, the Seahawks and Patriots would regularly take turns entering the playoffs, never overlapping once. It’s perhaps poetic that the early dynamics of the Seahawk-Patriot rivalry would later be reflected in both franchises’ greatest Quarterbacks.

Most strange of all is the timeline of these events. The Seahawks and Patriots diverged paths beginning in 1994, when the NFL first removed all Seahawks Patriots games off the NFL schedule. Their paths would re-cross for the first time in 2004, exactly 10 years later. Why does this matter? The Seahawks of the 2010s are inexplicably similar to the 2000s Patriots in almost every possible way. In the 1970s-1990s, these two teams were about as similar as could be. Yet after the NFL stopped scheduling Seahawks Patriots games it was as if the Patriots continued to improve and move forward and the Seahawks were frozen in time. Once those games returned a decade later, the Seahawks thawed and followed the exact same trajectory as the Patriots, just 10 years behind. Coincidence? Am I once again trying to find meaning out of something meaningless? Perhaps, but at this point in time there’s so many strange things occurring between these two teams I think it transcends just coincidence. Anyhow, with the Patriots surprising 2012 defeat to the Seahawks, and the subsequent reignition of the rivalry, it would not take long for these two teams to meet once again: only this time it would be at the top of the NFL world.

The Grudge Match (2014)

As alluded to before, the 2013-2014 NFL season (Russell Wilson’s second year), ended with the Seahawks on top of the NFL hierarchy after a 43-8 demolition of the 2013-2014 Denver Broncos. A Denver Broncos team that had come into the Super Bowl ranked #1 not just in the league, but in the history of the NFL in points scored and yards gained through a total season, as well having a top 10 defense to boot. After such an absolute domination of the NFL’s greatest offense of all time, the Legion of Boom put their names down in the annals of history as one of the best secondaries of all time, and now were looking to extend on this championship window.

Boasting the league’s number one defense spear-headed by the Legion of Boom, combined with an extremely efficient offensive piloted by a young Russell Wilson, the Seahawks looked poised to make another stab at the Lombardi Cup. The Patriots, meanwhile, had a successful season of their own, albeit having it ended in the AFC Championship game in heart breaking fashion. But with a high-flying offense featuring dominant tight end Rob Gronkowski, the reincarnation of Wes Welker in Julian Edelman, all tight together by the GOAT Tom Brady, the Patriots still looked positioned to win it all. By the end of the 2014 season the Seahawks and Patriots sat tied at the top of the NFL, each going 12-4 getting the #1 seed and bye in their respective conferences.

In the playoffs, the Seahawks made quick work of the Panthers in the Divisional round, dominating them thanks in large part due to a late game pick-six from the third member of the Legion of Boom, Kam Chancellor, to turn a 24-17 lead into a 31-17 lead. Despite dominating the Panthers, Seattle still had a challenge ahead of them in the Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, a NFC Championship that would go down as an instant classic. Despite Russell Wilson throwing 4 interceptions throughout the game, all of them off the hands of wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, the Hawks’ with 5 minutes left in regulation rallied to overcome a 19-7 deficit, forcing the game into overtime, largely thanks to a bobbled onside-kick recovery. Winning the coin toss, Russell Wilson would lead the Seattle offense to the Packers 35-yard line, where he would see Jermaine Kearse running through the teeth of the Packers secondary. And in that moment, Russell Wilson went from broke, unleashing a bomb down the right hashmark towards Kearse, the same Kearse whose last 4 targets had all resulted in interceptions. Yet the gamble would pay off, and Kearse came through big, catching his only catch of the game, a 35-yard touchdown pass to end overtime and send the Seahawks to their second Super Bowl in just as many years.

Jermaine Kearse sends Seattle to the Super Bowl for the second straight year.

On the AFC side of the bracket, the Patriots rallied overcoming two 14 point deficits in the Divisional Round against the Ravens, the first time such a feat had occurred in NFL history, before going on to demolish the Colts 45-7 in the AFC Championship game to clinch their sixth Super Bowl berth since the 2000s.

The most meaningful matchup in the history of the rivalry held even more weight outside of just being the Super Bowl. With the Seahawks already dismantling the #1 offense in NFL history led by Peyton Manning, arguably the second greatest quarterback of his time, a win over the actual GOAT Tom Brady would have made the Seahawks the most impressive back-to-back Super Bowl Champions of all time. This isn’t even an exaggeration, up till 2014 there had only been 8 ever back-to-back winners, 6 of them occurring before the salary cap era. In the salary cap era, only two teams have done it: the Broncos in ’97-98, and the Patriots in ’03-04. Neither of those back-to-back victories would have been nearly as impressive as Seattle’s, as they faced easier competition whereas the Seahawks would have done it against two of the top 5 quarterbacks of all time. Similarly, the Seahawks Super Bowl wins would’ve been against the Broncos and Patriots, the only two other teams to ever repeat in the salary cap era. In essence, a Seattle Seahawk win would have put them down in contention as one of the greatest teams of all time.

The only two teams to go back-to-back in the salary cap era were the John Elway Broncos of the 90s, and the Tom Brady Patriots of the early 2000s.

On the opposite side of the coin, for the Patriots a Super Bowl win could signal the return of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s dominance atop the NFL. Starting out the 2000s on a hot streak, winning 3 out of 4 possible Super Bowls from 2001 to 2004, the Patriots had stumbled in recent years losing to the Giants in both 2007 and 2011. Losing to the Seahawks here would leave the Patriots with a 3-3 record in the Super Bowl, all the fuel Patriot haters needed to diminish the Pats earlier excellence. So a win here would be massive, perhaps a sign of a brighter future to come, a future where the Patriots once again stand atop of the NFL throne for years to come. And so, with the odds the highest it has ever been, the two age old rivals took the field in Glendale Arizona and the game began.

The Patriots would be robbed of Super Bowl victories in 2008 and 2011 off of two of the most improbable catches in NFL history, both of them against Eli Manning and the Giants.

In what would go down as the most watched television show of all time, the Patriots started off the Super Bowl attempting to accomplish what they had never done before: score in the first quarter. Driving down to the Seahawks 10 yard line, the Patriots looked poised to at least tack on a field goal before the second quarter, breaking their Super Bowl curse, only for Tom Brady’s pass to get intercepted on the goal line. The game would remain scoreless in the first quarter, but that wouldn’t last for much longer.

In the second quarter on their first drive, Tom Brady and the Patriots would score the first touchdown of the game, putting themselves up 7-0. The Seahawks followed suite, tacking on 7 of their own on their ensuing drive. With the game tied at 7-7 with 2:16 left in the half, it looked like we  would go into half-time tied: but the fireworks were just beginning. On the Patriots next drive, Tom Brady would go 5/6 including a 22-yard touchdown pass to Gronkowski, scoring a touchdown leaving only 31 seconds left on the clock. Resilient as ever, the Seahawks responded in kind driving 60 yards downfield off the back of three consecutive chunk plays, scoring a touchdown in 29 seconds, leaving only 2 seconds on clock. Tied 14-14 apiece at half, the Super Bowl still looked wide open for the taking.

Receiving the ball first in the second half, the Seahawks continued their offensive prowess driving 72 yards down to the Patriots goal line, only for Marshawn Lynch (Beast Mode) to be stuffed on third and one resulting in the Seahawks kicking a field goal. 17-14 Seahawks. This would prove to be a crucial moment later in the game, as a Mashawn Lynch stuffing meant that since the playoffs started, Beast Mode had still not converted a single third and one situation. The Patriots looked to answer, only for middle linebacker Bobby Wagner to get in on the action and pick off Tom Brady. With the interception and handy field position, the Seahawks capitalized, scoring yet another touchdown putting the Hawks’ up 10 points and ending the third quarter 24-14. Up till this point, no team in NFL history had overcome a fourth quarter deficit of 7 or more points in the Super Bowl. To win Tom Brady would have to do the impossible. Overcome the 10-point deficit by conquering the Legion of Boom, the greatest passing defense the NFL had ever seen.

And he got to work immediately, driving down the length of the field converting third and long three separate times, managing to keep the drive alive and score a touchdown. 24-21 Seahawks. Following a three and out by Seattle which took less than 2 minutes off the clock, the Patriots would go on to score again on another long drive, leaving only 2:02 on the clock taking a 28-24 lead over Seattle, their first of the second half. Now it was all up to the Seattle offense and the Patriot defense, the weaker units of both teams. A touchback would set Seattle at their own 20-yard line, and the final drive of the game commenced. Following a 31-yard reception to Lynch then an 11-yard catch by Ricardo Lockette, the Hawks found themselves at the Patriots 38-yard line. In this moment, Wilson saw Jermaine Kearse, the man who clinched the NFC Championship, in tight coverage sprinting down the sideline and Wilson decided to just throw it up for grabs. Then this happened.

Defended almost perfectly by rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler, Kearse managed to bobble the batted ball against his leg and secure it, setting up the Seahawks in the red-zone on a pass that never should’ve been completed.

Despite Tom Brady’s excellence in the fourth quarter, at this point it seemed all for naught. The Seahawks were poised to score with Beast Mode hammering it down to the one-yard line leaving Pats fans with only one thought: how could this happen again? First David Tyree’s helmet catch. Then Mario Manningham’s toe tap grab. And now the Kearse bobbled catch. It seemed all but destined for the Seahawks to run it in and sneak away with a second ring. With Marshawn yet to convert on one yard situations in the playoffs, the Hawks put the ball in Wilson’s hands to finish the game off. With a minute left to play, all the Seahawks had to do was get one measly yard, yet what happened on the ensuing play will torment Seattle Seahawk fans forever.

Malcolm Butler makes the game saving play.

Intercepted by Malcolm Butler. The same Malcolm Butler who tipped the Kearse pass that was eventually bobbled and caught. The same Malcolm Butler who on film and in practice had never ONCE successfully defended this exact pass play, only to come up big when all the lights were on him. And Seahawk’s fans could only be left thinking about how they could’ve gotten that one extra yard. Just one more yard. The Patriots won and would go on to win 3 more Super Bowls in 5 years, creating a second dynasty altogether. The Seahawks bit the dust, and would never reach a NFC Championship, let alone the Super Bowl, ever again.

The new Kearse of 1 and into the great beyond (2015-Present)

It’s almost as if the Super Bowl hangs over both teams, preventing their football games from being anything but normal. In return for the most improbable interception of all time, the Patriots sold their soul to the football gods, forever destined to be stuffed on the 1-yard line against the Seahawks.

These two teams are a dumpster fire. They started at the bottom together, separated from each other, then met again only this time at the top of the world. They reflect each other, they are cursed and Kearsed by each other, and no matter how much they try to get away from each other it’s always the same Seahawks and Patriots rivalry it’s always been. The players can change, the coaches can change, but the teams never change. And that’s what’s so beautiful about this rivalry. Whether it is coincidence or fate, these two teams will always somehow find a way back to each other because they are the unlikeliest rivals in NFL history.