3. Dont’a Hightower saves the Super Bowl and nobody notices. You’ll remember that play Butler made for the rest of your life if you’re a football fan. What you probably already don’t remember, though, is what happened on the previous play. You already know that Lynch ran the ball for four yards to set up that second-and-goal situation on the 1-yard line. Do you know why he didn’t get into the end zone? Watch what no. 54 does here:
That’s an incredible play by Hightower in a spot where the margin for error is basically nil. First, he fights off a block from one of the best left tackles in football, Russell Okung. That gives him a tiny window in which to tackle Lynch, arguably the most difficult man in football to bring down, and Lynch is running away from a basically standstill Hightower at full speed. Hightower somehow manages to dive at Lynch’s knees and trip him up, with Akeem Ayers diving on a falling Lynch as the Seahawks star goes down.
If Hightower doesn’t get off Okung’s block, it’s a touchdown. If Hightower doesn’t get enough of a swat at Lynch’s knees, he either runs in for a touchdown or Ayers’s tackle drags him into the end zone. Sure, the Seahawks made the wrong call to throw the football on the next play. Seattle fans are going to spend the rest of their lives stewing over that call. As easy as it is to say the Seahawks lost this game because of their own mistakes, the Patriots had to make some incredible plays to win. Hightower’s Super Bowl–saving tackle was one of the plays that will unfairly get lost in the shuffle.
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/super-bowl-new-england-patriots-seattle-seahawks/
RTR!!!!:biga2:
That’s an incredible play by Hightower in a spot where the margin for error is basically nil. First, he fights off a block from one of the best left tackles in football, Russell Okung. That gives him a tiny window in which to tackle Lynch, arguably the most difficult man in football to bring down, and Lynch is running away from a basically standstill Hightower at full speed. Hightower somehow manages to dive at Lynch’s knees and trip him up, with Akeem Ayers diving on a falling Lynch as the Seahawks star goes down.
If Hightower doesn’t get off Okung’s block, it’s a touchdown. If Hightower doesn’t get enough of a swat at Lynch’s knees, he either runs in for a touchdown or Ayers’s tackle drags him into the end zone. Sure, the Seahawks made the wrong call to throw the football on the next play. Seattle fans are going to spend the rest of their lives stewing over that call. As easy as it is to say the Seahawks lost this game because of their own mistakes, the Patriots had to make some incredible plays to win. Hightower’s Super Bowl–saving tackle was one of the plays that will unfairly get lost in the shuffle.
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/super-bowl-new-england-patriots-seattle-seahawks/
RTR!!!!:biga2: