Bill Belichick bid adieu to his glorious years in the New England Patriots. The longest-serving coach in the NFL finds himself without a team for the first time since 1975 this offseason, but his legacy is still as fresh as ever.

The Super Bowl XLIX broke the franchise’s dry spell after a span of nine years. There was one crucial play toward the final seconds by Malcolm Butler, which cemented the Patriot’s victory over the Seattle Seahawks in style.

Bill Belichick’s three-corner defense

Belichick had been working on the goal-line defense play for quite some time, and he finally came up with the three-corner defense. The Patriots practiced it before and during the 2014 season but only came to use at the crucial Super Bowl moment. The architect explained the mechanics in an earlier NFL Film interview.

“The inside receiver got off the line and up in the end zone,” explained Belichick. “Malcolm didn’t have enough awareness of the play, so he had to go all the way around behind the receiver and the defensive back, and there was just too much space, and it was an easy touchdown.” The cornerback also shared how he was struck by the idea of the play.

“Everybody’s heard how I went over the play in practice, and I didn’t execute the play right in practice,” Butler had shared after his golden moment via Sporting News. “But when I got into the game, I saw (Russell) Wilson peeking, and I took a guess.” The guess proved to be the right one, and although a little rough, the CB fulfilled the play’s purpose. While Butler’s interception was what is remembered today as one of the greatest in the league’s history, there was an important decision that went behind the play’s successful execution.

Why did the HC not call a timeout?

With two timeouts left and a chance of Marshawn Lynch scoring from the 1-yard line, the question of a timeout came up. However, Belichick had noticed something interesting on the field and he calmly told his crew, “Yep, I got it.”

Belichick had noticed the Seahawks’ players were in a bit of disarray and decided not to let the moment go to waste. “When I looked over there, I don’t know, just something didn’t look right,” explained the head coach in a previous NFL Film video. “They started on, they started off, and now how many seconds had gone by, and I am thinking, alright, I’m not gonna take them off the hook here by taking the timeout.”

What would follow was nothing short of spectacular. Russell Wilson had his eyes on WR Ricardo Lockette as he shot the ball, but in came Butler and intercepted the ball. 

Having reconstructed the franchise from the root up and won the Super Bowl six times, Bill Belichick’s legacy lives on in the New England Patriots. His brainchild came into play during the 49th championship and not only got them their fourth win, but also made Malcolm Butler a hero.