KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel still can't get over how the Seahawks came from behind to beat the Packers in overtime to advance to their second Super Bowl in two years.
“That was the most remarkable sequence of events I have ever seen in my sports writing career," he proclaimed.
Art breaks down the game and looks ahead to Super Bowl XLIX between the Seahawks and Patriots.
From Horribly Wrong To Perfectly Right
“All the things that went wrong in the first 55 minutes of the game had to go right in the final five minutes of regulation and in the overtime," Art said. "And they did."
“It just doesn’t happen like that – in pro sports in general and certainly not in the NFL.”
“I’ve never seen the Seahawks play that poorly in a big game under Pete Carroll,” Art continued. “And I’ve never seen them do everything right like that when they absolutely had to have perfection.”
The Game Winner
“The touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse was remarkable, given that he had been targeted five previous times and the results were one incompletion and four interceptions. It just couldn’t have gone worse for him that day. And then Russell Wilson has enough faith in Kearse to throw him the biggest pass of the game and he catches it."
"Touchdown. Seahawks win. It’s the Super Bowl. That’s why my nickname for the game is ‘The Curse of the Undead.’”
Two-Point Conversion
“The thing that really surprised me was that 2-point conversion pass," Art said. "Wilson had to escape twice the Green Bay Packers pass rush. And then he just basically threw it up. He knew that Luke Willson was somewhere in the end zone but it was a desperation heave.
“And it hung in the air for 2 ½ seconds that seemed like 2 ½ hours. And the Green Bay defense didn’t move. They were stuck where they were. Willson was there. He himself, after the game, said if they had run that play 100 times it might have worked once. And that was the time.”
Fake Field Goal
Art gives credit to the Seahawks for planning the fake field goal that resulted in a touchdown.
“They saw a vulnerability in the way Green Bay rushed the kicks. They practiced it. And they executed it perfectly in a situation that desperately called for some action. That was the first score that the Seahawks had.
“It was a brilliant call. But that was planned. The other stuff was just happenstance, spontaneity and serendipity.”
Bring On The Patriots
Art says, given what the Seahawks went through to get to the Super Bowl this year, they're ready for anything that happens.
“They have been to the crucible. Throughout this season they traded Percy Harvin, they were 3-3, they weren’t pass blocking well, they weren’t giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch enough. Then they saved their worst for last and they still won the game. So, yes, I think they’re ready.”
“Pete Carroll has got a tremendous record when he’s given two weeks to prepare for an opponent. Bill Belichick, the New England coach, is a very sharp dude but I give the edge in coaching to Carroll.”
---
Art Thiel will report live from the site of Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Arizona every morning next week on 88.5 KPLU and streaming at kplu.org.
You can find Art Thiel’s work at Sportspress Northwestand Crosscut.com.
