Seattle will defend its SB title after shocking Green Bay in a wild 28-22 overtime victory. The Seahawks trailed 16-0 at halftime and 19-7 late into the fourth quarter, but scored two late touchdowns and another in the extra session to punch their ticket to Glendale.
Russell Wilson was intercepted four times and struggled for most of the day, but rushed for a one-yard score and ended the game with consecutive 35-yard completions, including a picture-perfect touchdown to Jermaine Kearse.
Green Bay settled for field goals of 18 and 19 yards in the first quarter, formerly known around these parts as John Fox Specials (TYJE).
Seattle's comeback began late in the third quarter with a 19-yard touchdown pass by punter Jon Ryan to offensive tackle Garry Gilliam on a fake field goal. Broncos fans might remember Ryan from his Week 3 performance, when he blasted punts of 66 (net 51), 61 (no return), and 58 yards (no return). The jack-of-all-trades has completed all three of his career NFL pass attempts; this one was made while running left and throwing across his body.
After Wilson's fourth-quarter jaunt cut the deficit to 19-14, Seattle recovered the onside kick, and Marshawn Lynch weaved his way for the go-ahead score with 85 seconds remaining. Wilson scrambled around threw up a prayer on the two-point attempt, but Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who'd picked off Wilson twice earlier, appeared to lose track of the ball, and Luke Wilson caught the pass for the all important three-point advantage.
The Seahawks needed all of it, as Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay on a last minute FG drive to send the game to overtime.
However, Seattle won the coin toss, and three minutes and 19 seconds later, they had given themselves a chance to become the first repeat SB champions since the Patriots of 2003 and 2004. Look for there to be plenty of debate over the league's overtime rules in the coming weeks and months, because why should a coin toss carry so much weight in helping determine a conference champion?