Tom Brady, MVP of Super Bowl XLIX. Photograph by Keith Allison.

Wow, karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?

The Seattle Seahawks – whose vaunted defense has been the graveyard of rival quarterbacks – lost Super Bowl XLIX 28-24 when their own preternaturally poised quarterback, Russell Wilson, was intercepted, at the one-yard line no less.

As was pointed out a zillion times by the experts, the Hawks could’ve handed off the ball to Marshawn Lynch (the guy who won’t talk to the press and grabs his crouch after scoring a touchdown). Indeed, they seemed on the brink of back-to-back SB titles after experiencing a sort of miraculous catch of David Tyree proportions. (See Super Bowl XLII, also at the University of Phoenix Stadium, in which the Pats lost to the New York Giants, 17-14.) This time, however, the Pats had a David Tyree miracle of their own as rookie Malcolm Butler picked off Wilson, and Hawks’ motor-mouth cornerback Richard Sherman, who so loves to taunt opposing losers, was for once left speechless.

Somewhere, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Colin Kaepernick are smiling.

As for the Pats, those divos of Deflate-gate, theirs was a pyrrhic victory for they didn’t so much win as not lose. Plus, who knows what the NFL investigation into their deflated footballs will reveal?

As for the rest of the show, less was more. Favorite commercial – Carnival Cruises, which blended panoramic seascapes with John F. Kennedy’s reflections on our primal connection to water. It was simple, profound and poetic.

While there was nothing wrong with the halftime show, spectacle isn’t the same as entertainment. Katy Perry looked fetching in outfits that ranged from tennis-style dresses to futuristic looks and warbled her hits, though you could hardly understand what she was saying for all the props. Yet the best halftime shows, again, are the most straightforward. Think Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at, again, Super Bowl XLII, still the best Super Bowl I’ve ever seen as the Giants defeated the 18-0 Pats in the last few minutes of play.

The Hawks could’ve Giant-ed the Pats. But they didn’t.

Hey, they’re ain’t no easy way out.