Why did Brady have so much more time in the pocket in the last quarter?

It seemed like through most of the game Brady had only a couple of seconds to throw the ball before he was about to be tackled. But in the last quarter, suddenly he seemed to have a reasonable amount of time.

What happened? Something on the offensive line to give Brady more time, or did Seattle change its defense?

(And how come Boult was able to run in the first quarter a bit but got stopped for the rest of the game?)

Offensive line wanted to win a Super Bowl.

Dline started to wear down, a pass rusher was hurt, and I think seattles secondary creeped up but still couldn't slow us down

Because Seattle DE Cliff Avril went out with a concussion. That was a turning point in the game.

Avril went out. Lots of throws by Brady. I think SEA just got tired.

Cheating, naturally.

Belichick himself addressed this:

Asked about the Patriots' two long drives in the fourth quarter, Belichick said, "I've been in a few of these games and we've been on the other side of it. It's just hard to rush the passer for four quarters in a game like this. You just expend so much energy. Our offensive line did a great job, but I think as the game wore on, that probably helped neutralize the pass rush a little bit."

Source = Reiss ESPN Boston Blog

When you throw a lot, pass rushers tend to get tired.

Cheating duh.

Reminds me of when the Pats played in SD after the 06 season. Merriman and Philips rushed hard all game and were gassed by the 4th quarter when the Pats made a run to win the game.

defense was tired, brady controlled time of possession…. and cliff avril got KTFO by 5'9 brandon bolden!!

wOOOOOOO!

Seattle were papercut to death with the short passes and by the 4th Quarter they were a wounded animal and Brady smelled blood

brady was also throwing REALLY quickly. he didn't give them time to rush for the most part.

Yeah, I remarked at the time that while it was tied at the half, we had the ball way more and Seattle's scores were two fast strikes at the end. Their defense got a little extra breather with the long halftime, but all that time on the field early on paid off later for the Pats offense against a tired defense. I also think that they were taking advantage of matchups that, by the 4th quarter, were obvious to the Pats.

Also Brady started stepping up, way up, in the pocket to buy time.

the adderall started to wear off for the seahawks.... badabing. too soon?

D-line wore down, o-line stepped up, guys got open, Brady released it super quick

Fixit said:

Cheating, naturally.

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HHISSSSSSS!!!!

I was encouraged by the time Brady had to throw even on the fruitless drives of the 1st quarter, but Seattle changed strategy and started getting their hands up to block the throwing lanes. In the 4th quarter the middle of the line was clear, letting Brady step up as far and clear as he wanted to throw past the linebackers and secondary.

SammyBlueCat said:

HHISSSSSSS!!!!

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It's an indisputable fact that in Chris Carter's opinion under inflated footballs can help slow down the pass rush.