After Julian Edelman fair caught a punt at the Patriots’ 36-yard line, the 70,288 bearing personal witness to Super Bowl XLIX seemed to take a deep breath. The scoreboard showed six minutes and 52 seconds remaining in regulation, and the Seahawks leading by three. Just a moment earlier it had shown Seattle’s margin at 10, so with the tension mounting at University of Phoenix Stadium, and history hanging in its grasp, it sounded as though the crowd had seized on this break to take a collective pause.
Glendale quieted. Quickly. Briefly. But long enough that out of the cacophony came a rising clamor.