Patriots second-half comeback largest in Super Bowl history

Matthew Slater (18) and Shane Vereen (34) celebrate as the Patriots won Super Bowl XLIX. Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Ten points doesn't seem like much at all in any old football game. Last night was not even close to any old football game. It was one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time.

The Patriots found themselves down 24-14 to the vaunted Seattle Seahawks going into the fourth quarter, and all the momentum was in Seattle's hands. Most other teams would have crumbled at the thought of trying to score 10 fourth quarter points against one of the best defenses of all time.

Not Tom Brady. Not the Patriots.

The 14 unanswered fourth quarter points by New England topped off the largest comeback in Super Bowl history. The comeback personified everything this team has been about all season, and has sort of been a theme for them in these playoffs.

Down 14 on two separate occasions to the Ravens? No problem. Down 10 in the fourth quarter to the then-defending Super Bowl champions? Ha, we got this!

When you think of great playoff comebacks in Boston sports history, this is up there with them. You think of recent ones like the Bruins against the Maple Leafs in 2013 and against the Canucks in 2011, the Red Sox over the Yankees in 2004 and again over the Indians in 2007, the Celtics 24-point comeback against the Lakers in Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals, the Patriots in the "tuck rule" game.

You think of the not-so-recent ones like the Celtics in 1981 coming back against the 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Red Sox in 1986 against the Angels in the ALCS, Carlton Fisk's home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.

The list goes on and on. But I say this one has to be up there with the greatest Boston sports comebacks ever because of the situation, the stats, and the relief it brought to a team and a fan base that no longer has to hear "the Patriots haven't won since Spygate" argument.

It would have been easy, and not so farfetched to think that down 10 heading into the fourth quarter against that defense, the game might have been over. No one would have blamed you for thinking it. In fact, Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk reports at one point, the Seahawks win probability was at 96.5 percent.

Teams who trailed in the fourth quarter of Super Bowls were 0-29 all time before last night.

Tom Brady celebrates a touchdown pass in Super Bowl XLIX Christen Petersen/Getty Images

It all started with Brady, who played the fourth quarter of his life, finding Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman for the biggest touchdown catches of their careers. You could have even made a case for Edelman to win MVP, but there was no way Brady wasn't winning it. He went 8-for-8 on the final Patriots drive of the game. The clutch gene is still very much alive.

I wonder how different things would have turned out had Brady not thrown that end zone interception to Jeremy Lane in the first quarter. For a time, that looked like it was going to be the difference in the game.

Call me crazy, but I'm almost glad that happened. It set the Patriots up for one of the most dramatic finishes in Super Bowl history. It made the game more fun to watch. It gave our friends and family members who may not be Patriots fans a reason to film our knee-jerk reactions to the ending and post them on social media.

Toughness, heart, passion, and the ability to make a play when it is absolutely needed. Those are just a few words to describe the 2014-2015 Patriots. Spygate and Deflategate be damned. The Patriots' legacy is now cemented.

So let's celebrate, friends. The Patriots are champions for the fourth time in their history, and this one might be the most satisfying one of them all.

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