Super Bowl 2015 Score: Quarterly Results, Highlights for Patriots vs. Seahawks

The 49th Super Bowl began as a heavyweight tussle, almost became a blowout and then produced one of the most dramatic finishes in NFL history. The result of all that was the New England Patriots beating the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 to claim a fourth Lombardi Trophy.

Here's how the score, and the game, broke down during each quarter. All video highlights via NFL.com:

First Quarter: 0-0

Predictably tense during the initial exchanges, the early advantage belonged to the Patriots. Head coach Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia had a good game plan in place to stifle Seattle's pocket-edition passer Russell Wilson.

David Goldman/Associated Press

It involved locking up Wilson's unheralded wide receivers in tight man coverage. Another key factor was using ultra-athletic linebacker Jamie Collins as a roving spy to track Wilson scrambling out of the backfield.

The Pats often relied on just a four- or even three-man rush in passing situations. They challenged Wilson and his receivers to beat their blanket coverage.

For its part, Seattle's fearsome defense countered by pressuring Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. In particular, versatile defensive lineman Michael Bennett caused havoc from the inside.

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

He was a major threat from either B-gap as a 3-technique rusher. Bennett even occasionally slid over rookie center Bryan Stork in some Bear looks.

It was Bennett's pressure that forced a few skittish moments from Brady. He hurriedly threw at the feet of running back Shane Vereen on the game's first third down.

Brady also saw Bennett coming when he tossed an interception in the red zone later in the quarter to Jeremy Lane.

Bennett's overall effort didn't deserve a place on the losing team. B/R analyst Chris Simms listed the front-seven terror as one of the game's ultimate winners:

Second Quarter: 14-14

After wasting a great chance to go ahead in the opening quarter, Brady and the Patriots soon got their act together during the second period. He led a clock-eating march based on short passing and route combinations that routinely sliced open Seattle's usually formidable "Legion of Boom" secondary.

B/R analyst Matt Bowen detailed what the Patriots were doing to give the Seahawks fits:

Brady soon capped the drive with a 12-yard throw to Brandon LaFell on a slant route. The Pats had ruthlessly targeted stand-in nickelback Tharold Simon after Lane had suffered an injury on his first-quarter interception.

But Seattle's early wobble was merely the cue for from-out of-nowhere wide receiver Chris Matthews to briefly take the game over. He made the first of a series of big catches to highlight a drive ended by Lynch battering his way over the line from three yards out.

Lynch's score was soon answered by another well-executed Patriots drive mixing the run and short pass. In the end, though, it was a 22-yard strike from Brady to tight end Rob Gronkowski that earned New England's second six.

Brady wasted no time going to Gronkowski once he saw the dominant tight end was covered one-on-one by linebacker K.J. Wright. That's surely not how the Seahawks meant to draw it up, right?

Brady had been masterful running the two-minute offense, but he apparently still left too much time on the clock for Wilson. The Patriots had kept the NFL's half-sized Houdini virtually silent for most of the half, but sooner or later, Wilson always finds a big play. And once he finds one, you'd better duck for cover, because the next one's coming faster.

So it proved, as Wilson marched the Seahawks 80 yards in only five plays and just 29 seconds. He eventually connected on an 11-yard scoring pass with the suddenly impossible-to-cover Matthews, who had been victimizing the bottom end of New England's cornerback rotation.

Third Quarter: 0-10

The second half is usually Lynch's cue to take over. So it proved in the Super Bowl, with the battering-ram-style running back pummeling New England's defensive front at the start of the third quarter.

But the Seahawks would soon rue having to settle for a Steven Hauschka 27-yard field goal. However, the missed opportunity didn't immediately seem costly when 'Hawks middle linebacker Bobby Wagner picked off another Brady pass.

His crafty theft soon positioned Wilson to toss his second scoring pass of the night. After some powerful Lynch running, Seattle's mini marvel under center flipped a three-yarder to Doug Baldwin to give Seattle a double-digit cushion heading into the fourth:

Fourth Quarter: 14-0

This Super Bowl will be remembered for a mind-numbingly stupid call at the goal line late on. But the truth is that the Seahawks let a few opportunities slip through their grasp before then.

One of the biggest was a 3rd-and-3 bomb to Jermaine Kearse that the receiver failed to bring in. A completion would've put Seattle inside the red zone with the chance to build an insurmountable three-score lead.

But instead, the 'Hawks punted. On the following drive, the defense couldn't get off the field on 3rd-and-14 and 3rd-and-8, with Brady connecting with Julian Edelman to convert on both occasions.

He followed those strikes with a four-yard pass to Danny Amendola along the back of the end zone to pull the Pats to within three.

Once a now-nervy Seattle offense went three-and-out, the writing was as good as on the wall. Brady soon connected with Edelman again, this one from three yards out to cap the scoring, but not the drama.

Wilson still managed to push Seattle into scoring position as the slow death of two-minute defense continued. The key play was a quite-amazing catch from Kearse. No explanation can do this bizarre moment justice. Just watch.

Speaking of bizarre, there'll never be an adequate explanation for what followed Kearse's 33-yard pluck from the skies. Instead of letting Lynch run it in, or even trusting the Patriots to let him score, something they've done in the past, Seattle offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell unbelievably called a pass on 2nd-and-goal.

Wilson's slant toward Ricardo Lockette was snatched away by rookie free-agent Malcolm Butler to win the Super Bowl.

More than a few were left stunned by Bevell's call. But former Dallas Cowboys running back and three-time Super Bowl winner Emmitt Smith probably said it best:

Ultimately, that's the one play that will be remembered from a Super Bowl otherwise jam-packed with brilliant scheming, great individual efforts and almost too many big plays for the eyes to handle.