On a Super Bowl Sunday for the ages, the New England Patriots defeated the defending champion Seattle Seahawks 28-24 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ, thanks to some heroics in the final seconds.

Malcolm Butler’s historic interception on the one-yard line on Russell Wilson’s questionable pass into traffic stopped Seattle from scoring what would have been the game winning touchdown. Butler’s pick also helps to cement the legacy of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady as one of the best coach-quarterback tandems in the history of the NFL.

ESPN and the national media spent much of the two weeks leading up to the Big Game beating a dead horse, by focusing on the Deflategate “scandal.”

If you’ve been living under a rock the last few weeks, here’s a quick summary: after the Pats rolled over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game, media reports began to trickle out indicating that all but one of the 12 game balls the Patriots used in the first half were under-inflated by at least two pounds per square-inch. A report on NFL Network the morning of the Super Bowl refuted this, claiming that “just one was two pounds under. Many of them were just a few ticks under the minimum.”

But honestly, who knows what to believe?

It didn’t matter what Belichick or Brady said in their respective press conferences addressing the allegations, and it didn’t matter that current and former quarterbacks alike were admitting their personal preferences when it comes to “doctoring” the footballs before the game, whether they like an under-inflated ball or an over-inflated ball. Fans and media outside the six New England states pounced on another opportunity to rip the Patriots and write them off as cheaters once more.

It was The World versus the Patriots yet again, in their sixth Super Bowl appearance since the 2001 championship that kick-started their dynasty of the last 15 years.

Super Bowl XLIX got off to a bit of a slow start. The game opened with a scoreless first quarter, highlighted by a wasted Patriots scoring opportunity when Brady threw an interception right into the hands of Seattle defensive back Jeremy Lane.

The teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter. Brady got New England on the board first, leading the Pats up the field with quick, short passes left and right. This was a pivotal piece of New England’s offensive game plan, keeping the Seahawks defense off-balance. It was widely thought going into the matchup that the Pats would be most successful by handing off to LeGarrette Blount, but he was largely a non-factor in the game.

Three drives later, Marshawn Lynch pounded his way through the front seven of the Patriots’ defense, and Seattle tied the game at 7. The Pats responded with a quick two-minute drill, marching down the field again, with the drive commencing with Rob Gronkowski torching linebacker K.J. Wright on a 22 yard touchdown reception.

All signs pointed towards New England cruising into the second half with a lead, ahead 14-7 with 30 seconds on the clock. But an undisciplined face mask penalty on Kyle Arrington moved the ‘Hawks deep into the red zone. With time winding down, Wilson found wide out Chris Matthews for an 11 yard touchdown.

The Patriots were able to hold Seattle to a field goal on their first possession of the second half, but Brady threw another pick when the Pats got the ball back, eventually leading to another Seahawks touchdown off the turnover.

The Seahawks were only 15 minutes away from winning their second Super Bowl in as many years, leading 24-14.

New England’s lackluster third quarter gave way to one of the most intriguing fourth quarters in the 49 years that the Super Bowl has been played. It started with a Seattle three and out, punctuated by Rob Ninkovich sacking Wilson. New England then answered with a 68 yard drive. Brady hit Julian Edelman up the middle twice on key third downs, with two 21 yard passes. Later, Danny Amendola’s touchdown reception cut the Seahawks’ lead to 24-21.

The Patriots defense held Seattle to another three and out, and Brady went back to work with 6:52 to go in the game, with the Pats trailing by a field goal. He continued to beat Seattle’s “Legion of Boom” defense with the dink and dunk offense, while managing to chew almost five minutes off the clock. Edelman caught what turned out to be the game winning touchdown.

That was Edelman’s 12^th reception of the game, totaling 109 yards; definitely an MVP-worthy performance. But that honor went to Brady, who finished the night completing 37 of 50 passes (setting a Super Bowl record with those 37 completions), along with 328 yards, four touchdowns, and those two giant interceptions that would have been a major talking point if the Patriots lost this game.

New England fans from Portland to Providence sat on the edges of their seats (or couches) in anticipation of the Patriots finally hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy after a 10 year hiatus. But it wasn’t a done deal just yet.

The Pats were clinging to a 28-24 after the Edelman touchdown, and now it was up to the defense to help cap off this incredible comeback. But with roughly a minute left on the clock, the circus-act of a catch made by Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kearse along the sideline brought back a haunting memory for Pats fans: the miraculous David Tyree helmet catch on this same field, seven years ago when the then-undefeated Patriots were upset by the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

In this instance, Kearse leaped to make the catch, dropped the ball, went down to the ground, and somehow grabbed the ball on the deflection, a huge 33 yard gain on an unthinkable catch.

Now, a Seattle touchdown is inevitable, right? Deep into Patriots territory, all Seattle coach Pete Carroll had to call for was a few handoffs to Lynch, who had been running all over the Patriots all night long (he finished 102 yards on 24 carries).

They did just that on first and goal. Wilson handed off to Lynch, but was being tackled down at the one yard line by Patriot linebacker Dont’a Hightower.

Then of course came the play of the century, when Butler laid out intended receiver Ricardo Lockette and intercepyed Wilson’s pass, one of the biggest plays in NFL history.

Butler’s interception etched his name onto a long list of Boston sports heroes, and helped to seal the deal on a record-setting comeback; the 10 point deficit the Pats overcame set a Super Bowl record for the largest fourth quarter comeback.

Sure, the nationwide fans and analysts will do everything they can to try to diminish the importance of this all-time win, but this was a legacy game for the New England Patriots. Losing this game would have made Seattle the first back-to-back champion since the Pats of 2003 and 2004. A loss would have meant a third straight Super Bowl choke job in the Belichick-Brady era when it was all on the line. A loss would have continued to fuel the Deflategate fire even more.

The Pats truly needed this one. Patriots owner Robert Kraft said that he “never thought another trophy could feel his special, but this one absolutely does.” Seriously, how many more opportunities will Belichick and Brady going to get to play on football’s biggest stage? There was no way this tandem would have been able to stomach a third straight Super Bowl loss.

No question, this one puts Brady right in the conversation with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as the best quarterbacks of all time.

Period, end of story.

And now that Deflategate has made its way to the back burner (for the time being) we can sit back and appreciate the fact that this will go down as one of the best (if not the best) Super Bowls ever played.