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February 1, 2015 at 10:18 pm #17811
nittany ramModeratorGLENDALE, Ariz. — “I can take a punch,” Pete Carroll texted me late Sunday night, nearly three hours after the conclusion of one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played — and about 170 minutes removed from one of the most universally reviled play calls in the history of football.
That’s good, I thought to myself. Because you’re about to get pummeled like a guy stepping into the ring against Mike Tyson in his prime.
The Seattle Seahawks coach and I were in the middle of an extended exchange which, via the wonders of modern technology, allowed us to delve deeper into a topic we’d first broached in the University of Phoenix Stadium locker room, where Carroll had walked around consoling some of his despondent stars. In the wake of a staggering 28-24 defeat to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX that took Tom Brady’s legend to another level, virtually every Seahawks player I encountered was having trouble comprehending the sudden and stunning end to Seattle’s season.
Fresh off a near-miraculous, four-bobble reception by Jermaine Kearse, the Seahawks had second-and-goal at the 1 with 26 seconds remaining. Seattle was one yard away from securing a second consecutive championship — but instead of handing the rock to Marshawn Lynch, the most powerful goal-line runner in football, Carroll called a pass play, causing double-takes on his sideline and in living rooms and sports bars all over the football-watching world.
And when Russell Wilson’s goal-line slant to Ricardo Lockette was jumped and intercepted by Pats rookie Malcolm Butler, Carroll earned himself a lifetime’s worth of second-guessing from aghast witnesses, some of them inside his own locker room.
When I asked receiver Doug Baldwin, in a quiet conversation near his locker, if he was shocked by Carroll’s decision to throw, he shook his head and said, “Come on, man, you’ve got common sense, too… We have nobody to blame but us. My first thought was that we were gonna run it in — but coaches, they’re the ones that they know it better than us.”
Seattle linebacker Bruce Irvin was even more pointed, telling me, “We beat ’em, bro. We beat ’em… I’m speechless. Best back in the league, and the 1-yard-line? It wasn’t even the 1 — it was like half a yard. I will never understand that, bro. I will never understand it. I will never understand…
“When Jermaine caught that ball, I felt it was meant to be for us. Oh, no doubt — we’re gonna score. Beast Mode. Beast Mode! Best back on the (expletive) planet. That’s crazy!”
So yes, like Lucy Ricardo, Carroll had some explaining to do. And he was certainly hurting when he returned my text and began detailing his logic, a gracious and commendable endeavor from a brilliant coach whose stirring journey I’d documented Sunday for GameDay Morning, and a couple of days earlier on this website.
To Carroll’s credit, he did so even while possessing a pretty clear idea that his perspective would get lost amid the noise — a very legitimate fear given human nature, the magnitude of the moment and the understanding that I had a column to write.
For every ounce of admiration and excitement I experienced for a valiant Patriots team which overcame a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit, got an insanely clutch play by an undrafted rookie defensive back to capture the fourth championship of the Bill Belichick/Brady era and completed an incredible journey, I was equal parts sick for the Seahawks, who were literally two feet from a rousing repeat.
My sublime colleague, Judy Battista, handled the glorious side of that zero-sum equation.
I drew the What Was Pete Thinking? straw — and while every synapse in my brain suspects that Carroll was overthinking the situation, I’m going to tell you what was going through his head.
“Really wish that guys that understand can teach why that situation happened!” Carroll texted. Before we go there, let’s set the scene: The Pats had gone ahead by four on Brady’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman with 2:02 remaining.
The Seahawks countered immediately, with Wilson finding Lynch on a beautiful over-the-shoulder sideline pass for a 31-yard gain. An 11-yard completion to Lockette on third-and-10 gave Seattle a first down at the New England 38. Then, in a surreal play that caused bad flashbacks all over New England, Wilson went up top to Kearse who, despite tight coverage by Butler, stayed with and somehow managed to catch Wilson’s pass while laying on his back — on the fifth time it touched his hands.
Given that the Belichick/Brady Pats, after winning three championships in a four-year period that concluded a decade ago, subsequently lost a pair of Super Bowls to the New York Giants on the strength of unfathomably difficult catches (David Tyree, XLII; Mario Manningham, XLVI), the apparent completion of this tragic trifecta was too much for anyone associated with the Patriots to bear.
Carroll, with one remaining timeout, did the math and erred on the side of ensuring a maximum amount of chances to get the ball across the goal line, while limiting the chances that the Pats would have enough time to counter.
On first-and-goal with one timeout from the 5, Lynch (24 carries, 102 yards) took a handoff to his left and powered inside the 1, and the notion of him not getting the ball again seemed unthinkable. Belichick, with two timeouts remaining, inexplicably elected to let the clock run down, simultaneously eschewing both the let them score on purpose strategy (which he’d employed against the Giants in Indy three Super Bowls ago) and the try to keep them out but save Brady as many seconds as possible tack.
Carroll saw a front stacked against a power run and a matchup he felt he could exploit with a short route against a rookie corner who had zero career interceptions. And he didn’t want to run, get stopped short, burn his final timeout and be boxed into calling a pass on third down.
“You could run on 2nd down, call timeout, have to throw on third and score, or incompletion and have to choose (run or pass) on the final down. That’s ball logic, not 2nd guess logic… you never think you’ll throw an interception there, just as you don’t think you would fumble.”
And yet: Wilson (12 for 21, 247 yards, two touchdowns), who’d thrown four interceptions in the Seahawks’ stunning NFC Championship Game victory over the Green Bay Packers, served up the most painful pick of his short, luminous career. While Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell complained in postgame interviews that Lockette “could have been stronger through the ball,” give Butler credit for beating him to the spot.
“You see how he jumped it, though?” Irvin said to Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner as they stood at their adjacent lockers. “Like he knew it was coming.”
As Carroll and I continued our late-night text conversation, I thought I knew what was coming — until the coach made a point that, if not completely altering my perspective, at least got me thinking. He did it by referencing Wilson’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Chris Matthews on a ball that was snapped with six seconds left in the first half, completing a five-play, 80-yard, 29-second drive (you read that correctly) which tied the game at 14 just before Katy Perry took over the field.
“The logic and reasoning (of the second-and-1 pass) is why you throw a TD pass with six seconds left in the half,” Carroll said. “You’ve trained your players to do the right thing, and I trust them to do right.”
OK — I get that, at least.
As time passes, and the wounds become less acute, I suspect that many of Carroll’s players will start to become open to viewing this painful and perplexing lost opportunity from a similar orientation. As for now? Too soon.
I’ll spare you the numerous “What the (expletive) was he thinking?” mutterings I overheard from people in Seahawks uniforms and refrain from lending any legitimacy to the conspiracy theory which one anonymous player was willing to broach: That Carroll somehow had a vested interest in making Wilson, rather than Lynch, the hero, and thus insisted on putting the ball in the quarterback’s hands with an entire season on the line. “That’s what it looked like,” the unnamed player said, but I’d be willing to bet that he merely muttered it out of frustration, and that it was a fleeting thought.
I do believe this: The Seahawks remain a young, talented and relentless team, and Carroll will return next season as a highly popular coach who can work his motivational magic with a clear mandate for redemption. I wouldn’t bet against him — but I also know that he’s going to beat himself up over this, over and over again.
“Ohhhhhhh yeah,” he told me when we spoke in the locker room. “There’ll be plenty of that.” Fortunately, he can take a punch. We know this from past experience.
Earlier, Carroll had likened Sunday’s disappointment to that which he endured while coaching USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl, when the Trojans suffered a heartbreaking, 41-38 defeat to Texas that denied them a third consecutive national championship.
He bounced back from that, and he’ll likely bounce back from Sunday’s defeat, even as the chorus of severe second-guessing from people like yours truly reaches a crescendo and continues for the foreseeable future.
For now, like many Seahawks players, I believe Carroll should have handed the ball to Lynch on second-and-1, and I think that would have led to him hoisting the Lombardi Trophy and sucking down celebratory beers, rather than engaging in a back-and-forth text exchange with a skeptical columnist.
That said, I get why Carroll made the call that he did, and I respect him for his bravado and his convictions, and I love the fact that he’ll hold his head high and continue to fight with everything he has, as evidenced by the short text he sent late Sunday night, and one that I chose to include as the final words of the 2014 NFL season.
February 1, 2015 at 10:18 pm #17793
JackPMillerParticipantYou have Marshawn Lynch, 20 seconds, on New England’s 1 yard line, and you pass? What was Seattle thinking? Seattle lost this game on a stupid call. Me being a Rams fan, I have seen a bunch of bad play calls over years.
February 1, 2015 at 10:34 pm #17797
NERamParticipantYou have Marshawn Lynch, 20 seconds, on New England’s 1 yard line, and you pass? What was Seattle thinking? Seattle lost this game on a stupid call. Me being a Rams fan, I have seen a bunch of bad play calls over years.
Not sure there is a logical explanation.
February 1, 2015 at 10:52 pm #17799
ZooeyParticipantI certainly expected Lynch between the tackles. And my jaw dropped when I saw a pass unfolding.
That is a high percentage pass, though. Is the only thing I can think. But…still.
February 2, 2015 at 1:28 am #17803
znModeratorButler snatches Lombardi Trophy from Seahawks
By Jim Thomas
PHOENIX • Seattle was on the doorstep of a dramatic Super Bowl victory — just 1 yard to go for the go-ahead touchdown and just half a minute left to play.
One handoff to Marshawn Lynch, who already had 102 yards rushing and a touchdown, and into the end zone he goes for a victory over New England.
But in what has to be one of the worst play calls in Super Bowl history — maybe THE worst — the Seahawks chose a pass play. It was a quick slant to wide receiver Ricardo Lockette, who had position on defender Malcolm Butler and could see the ball coming right into his hands for Super Bowl glory.
But no. Butler, a rookie cornerback, bumped Lockette off the ball for an interception, grabbing the Lombardi Trophy away from the “12s” in the process. The play sealed a 28-24 victory for the Evil Empire — aka the AFC champion Patriots — Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium.
“This is our fourth Super Bowl championship in (13) years,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said as he cradled the Super Bowl XLIX Lombardi Trophy. “The first one we won (against the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI) I thought was really special.”
But this one even tops that victory over the Greatest Show on Turf in terms of last-second heroics.
It was New England’s first Super Bowl triumph in a decade. And as much as Rams fans or Patriots haters may detest the outcome, it was an amazing comeback for quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots, who trailed by 10 midway through the fourth quarter after giving up 17 unanswered points to the NFC champion Seahawks.
“It wasn’t exactly how we drew it up,” said Brady, who earned his third Super Bowl MVP. “It’s been a long journey. It’s just a great win. We left it all on the field.”
Brady completed a Super Bowl record 37 passes, good for 328 yards and four touchdowns. He now has 13 Super Bowl TD passes, breaking Joe Montana’s record of 11.
Touchdown catches on throws to former Ram Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman wiped out a 24-14 Seattle lead, giving the Pats their final 28-24 advantage with 2 minutes, 2 seconds to play.
However, that appeared to be more than enough time for Seattle QB Russell Wilson to rally his team to a last-second victory. Two weeks ago in the NFC title game, a Wilson TD pass in overtime gave the Seahawks a victory over Green Bay.
On Sunday, after a tremendous catch by Jermaine Kearse for 33 yards to the New England 5, it looked like another last-second victory was in the works for Seattle. On a deep ball from Wilson, Butler tipped the ball away.
But as Kearse was falling to the ground, the ball bounced up off his left knee, then Kearse swatted at the ball with both hands, keeping it alive. Next, he tapped it with his right hand, and corralled it just before his back hit the ground.
Odell Beckham Jr., eat your heart out.
With 1:06 to play, Lynch carried off left tackle for 4 yards to 1. Second-and-goal and at worst three cracks at the goal line with Lynch? This looked like a sure thing for Seattle.
On second down, the Seahawks let the clock run down to 26 seconds before the snap, and then Butler stepped in to make the greatest defensive play in the Super Bowl since Mike Jones and The Tackle against Tennessee 15 years ago.
“I feel good. I made a play to help my team win,” Butler said in understatement. “I’ve worked so hard in practice, and I just wanted to play so bad and help my team out. I got out there and did exactly what I needed to do to help my team win.”
That’s for sure.
Butler was signed as an undrafted free agent out of NCAA Division II West Alabama, and that happened only after a tryout at a rookie minicamp. He played only two years of high school ball in Vicksburg, Miss., got kicked out of Hinds Community College and worked at a Popeye’s chicken restaurant for a while before enrolling at West Alabama.
But down by 10 points late in the third quarter, the Patriots were staggered, in large part because of the work of another obscure player — Seattle wide receiver Chris Matthews.
First signed by Cleveland as an undrafted rookie in 2011 out of Kentucky, he spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.
He had played in only three NFL games and hadn’t caught a pass before Sunday, when he caught four passes for 109 yards and a touchdown. Besides his TD with two seconds left in the second quarter to tie the score at 14-14, he also made a 44-yard grab to set up Seattle’s first TD and then caught a 45-yarder to set up a go-ahead field goal to start the second half.
Brady threw his second interception of the night shortly after that Seattle field goal, and it led to a Wilson-to-Doug Baldwin TD pass that gave the Seahawks their 24-14 lead. Then Brady and the Patriots took over.
“Unbelievable play by Malcolm,” Brady said. “We didn’t call a timeout and the clock was winding down and we realized, you know, this is basically it. … I saw the interception and couldn’t believe it. It was just an incredible play. You know, what a play. A championship play.”
That it was.
Pardon the Deflategate pun, but for the Seahawks it was about as deflating as it gets. Their efforts to become the first back-to-back Super Bowl champions since the Patriots were foiled because the Butler did it.
Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman conceded he was “a little bit surprised” that the Seahawks didn’t run the ball at the 1.
“Their guy made a heck of play,” he continued. “You’ve got to give him all the credit.”
Would he have handed the ball to Lynch instead on that play?
“What I would have done is irrelevant at this time,” Sherman replied. “We went with that play. We trusted our quarterback, and unfortunately they made a play.”
February 2, 2015 at 2:59 am #17806znModeratorDarrell Bevell hints Ricardo Lockette could have been more physical on pivotal play
Because it ended in the game-clinching interception in Super Bowl XLIX, the Seahawks’ decision to throw on the New England one-yard line in the final minute Sunday night will be a part of NFL lore for years to come.
Criticism has fallen on Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell for the second-down call resulting in an interception by Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler, securing a 28-24 win for New England. And in the immediate aftermath, Carroll showed accountability, taking the blame for the call and explaining time and again to reporters why Seattle was throwing instead of handing off to Marshawn Lynch.
For his part, Bevell has also taken ownership of the call, per John Boyle of theEverett (Wash.) Herald.
However, Bevell also indicated wide receiver Ricardo Lockette — the intended target on the play — could have showed more strength finishing his route. Lockette was knocked off the ball by Butler, who ran through the receiver and made the pick in a spectacular effort.
“We could have done a better job staying strong on the ball,” Bevell said afterwards, according to Gregg Bell of the Tacoma News Tribune.
The Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta also observed Bevell had suggested Lockette needed to be stronger, as did Boyle of the Everett Herald.
The lamenting about the Seahawks’ final offensive play won’t stop anytime soon. While Bevell might be right about Lockette, there’s no escaping that Seattle passed at a curious time — and failed.
February 2, 2015 at 3:56 am #17807znModerator/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3366162/PATSPATSPATS.0.gif)
February 2, 2015 at 7:46 am #17808
wvParticipantAwesome defensive play.
I dont see how anyone could
blame the WR in any way, on that.w
vFebruary 2, 2015 at 8:32 am #17809wvParticipanti didnt interpret it
as a “bad call.”Lynch coulda been stopped
for a two yard loss, etc.…anyway, the good thing is this will haunt
seahawk fans, players and coaches for eternity.
Bad thing is, it makes the Pats organization
the best ever, i would think.w
vFebruary 2, 2015 at 9:34 am #17821znModerator…anyway, the good thing is this will haunt
seahawk fans, players and coaches for eternity.
Bad thing is, it makes the Pats organization
the best ever, i would think.I think this is a many edged sword.
Just talking about how this will be “construed.”
1. Did Brady & Patz win? No they lucked out.
2. Carrol faces key moment and screws up, it will haunt the team to eternity and beyond.It’s lose/lose.
February 2, 2015 at 9:36 am #17822
DakParticipantI kept waiting for another handoff to Lynch, or play action and Wilson out on the edge. I never in a million years thought that they would throw the ball in traffic. Hell, if you’re going to throw, try another pass to Matthews on the outside, or a pass to Lynch in the flat.
I don’t know. Anything but that pass right there. And, really, Wilson gets the blame, too. He telegraphed it and threw it in traffic.
February 2, 2015 at 9:38 am #17823DakParticipantPlus, that was a really good play by the rookie CB. You have to give him credit. Again, Wilson had to telegraph the play first, but how many times have we seen that play work?
February 2, 2015 at 10:00 am #17825nittany ramModeratorPlus, that was a really good play by the rookie CB. You have to give him credit. Again, Wilson had to telegraph the play first, but how many times have we seen that play work?
Yeah, outstanding play by Butler the way he broke on the ball. Even if the receiver caught it he wouldn’t have got into the endzone the way Butler jumped that route. Then the Seahawks would have had to burn their last timeout setting up a dramatic ‘win or lose on the final play’ scenario.
February 2, 2015 at 10:07 am #17826znModeratorfrom off the net…some “wasn’t a bad call” posts
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Speed_Kills
Sure in hindsight don’t make the call. I wouldn’t have made that call. However, they put the ball in the hands of Russell Wilson who is super clutch. Ultimately they lost because they failed to execute the play.
A throw that is inside a foot or a more experienced WR (we say this about Quick) who aggressively goes and gets that ball and its a TD. Imagine if that was Dez Bryant. Is he waiting for that ball to get to him or does he move aggressively to get it? Give credit to Butler… he studied and he made the play and saved the game for his team
If Wilson makes the throw there no one is taking about that being a dumb call.
Bottom line they didn’t execute it. That’s why they lost it. I don’t have a problem with them putting the ball in Wilson’s hands in that situation on second down.
The issue is they could not throw an int and they did.
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flv
You can’t run the ball 3 times with 26 seconds on the clock and only 1 timeout. If you run on the 1st attempt and don’t get in you have to take your timeout there and then. Now you have 20 seconds and 0 timeouts. If you run on the next play you only get 1 shot. If you pass everyone is expecting it.
Passing on the 1st attempt would have allowed the Seahawks to either run or pass on 2 more attempts. Passing on the 1st attempt was good strategically. The specific pass play wasn’t a great call and it wasn’t well executed.
The Seahawks were poor in converting short yardage situations by rushing the ball in 2013. I haven’t seen how they rated in 2014. They failed to convert a short yardage situation by rushing early in this game.
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Zaphod
At first I was baffled, but I think they really did have only one time out and 3 more attempts at a touch down. What they did was absolutely logical now that I think about it.
The Patriots were stacking the box and they had three wide-outs. If they run now, they pretty much burn a time-out and a down. If they call a time out and switch out personnel, then their next attempt after that is almost certainly a pass.
This was basically their last attempt at exploiting any element of surprise with time and downs running out. If that ball was thrown better, it was a touchdown, game over, Seahawks win. If if was thrown away, the next to plays are hand offs to Lynch, and at least one of them likely makes it in.
I want to place the blame on Wilson, but this wasn’t the first interception of the game, and this is a team game. If you eliminate the interceptions entirely, then this game probably isn’t even close.
But in the end, the Patriots really played well and overcame their mistakes and the better team won. I know everyone hates the teams involved, as do I, but it really was a fun game to watch, and it was as close to the 1999 super bowl as anything we’ve seen in a while, right up to pass call at the end that people will probably question for a long time.
February 2, 2015 at 10:13 am #17828znModeratorThe Seahawks were poor in converting short yardage situations by rushing the ball in 2013. I haven’t seen how they rated in 2014.
Actually…small correction. Lynch was 1st in the league on converting 3rd n short:
http://stats.washingtonpost.com/fb/leaders.asp?year=&type=Rushing&range=NFL&rank=016
1 Marshawn Lynch Sea 89.5% ( 17/19 )
He was 2nd in the league on TDs rushing inside the 10:
http://stats.washingtonpost.com/fb/leaders.asp?year=&type=Rushing&range=NFL&rank=074
2 Marshawn Lynch Sea 42.3% ( 11/26 )
February 2, 2015 at 1:22 pm #17836DakParticipantOK, some of the defenders of the play call need to also look at the run-up to the call. The Seahawks farted around quite a bit before even getting a play off. I want to say they killed like an extra 20 seconds or something. You could tell that they were really over-thinking this one. So, yeah, there was plenty of time to run the ball a few more times, with the timeouts they had, if they had the mindset that was how they wanted to try to win the game. You can also say that a better WR might have made the play, but then, you’re arguing against the call … because they didn’t have Dez Bryant or another premier receiver on this team. They moved the ball in the air in this game by throwing it up along the sideline.
Yes, I (and many other people, I’m sure) questioned the call when it was apparent that the Patriots didn’t have to worry about Lynch. Not even a play action pass. Really, think about it: What plays do you have to worry about there. Quick-hitter throws first. They covered Lynch when he ran into the flat and they clogged the throwing lanes in the middle of the field. It was a nicely executed defense by the Patriots. Now, imagine if Wilson or Lynch have the ball in their hands. Both of those guys were able to beat nicely executed defenses throughout the game.
I do love the controversy, though. The Seahawks and Carroll may never live this one down.
February 2, 2015 at 2:00 pm #17842znModeratorPeter King: MMQB – 2/2/15 – Super Bowl Edition
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/02/02/super-bowl-49-patriots-defeat-seahawks/
By Peter King
I ran into Steve Young on the field 90 minutes after the game, and he felt the way I did, and the way I suppose much of America still feels this morning. “It’s hard to accept, because you’re so sure the game was going one way,” Young said. “I still can’t believe it.”
On Saturday night, at the Patriots’ hotel, the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa (sounds more exotic than it is), the coaches had a one-hour staff meeting. What happened there is the essence of what Bill Belichick is as a coach.
As Belichick spoke, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels took his blue Sharpie and wrote two things on the top of his laminated play-call sheet he’d carry with him on the sideline in Super Bowl XLIX. Whenever McDaniels looked down at the sheet, he’d see these two bold reminders:
ADJUST
CORRECT PROBLEMS AND GET THEM FIXED
———-
That was the dumbest big play-call in Super Bowl history.
Maybe Wilson shouldn’t have thrown it. Maybe he should have thrown it out of the end zone. But I’m not blaming Wilson for the play. It wasn’t an audible. The play came from the sidelines, from offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. Though coach Pete Carroll took the blame afterward, it’s not his call, and it sounded very much like Carroll falling on his sword for a coach on his staff. Whatever, this was a play you simply do not call. Marshawn Lynch had 102 yards against a heavy New England defensive front in the game to that point. He’d just burrowed four yards over the left side, to the one.
When Lynch got up, the stadium clock read 1:00. And counting. Call a timeout, Belichick! Call a timeout!A stadium dumbfounded. What we knew just then:
New England led 28-24.
Seattle needed a touchdown, obviously.
Seattle had traveled 79 yards in 62 seconds.
Seattle had one yard and three plays and one timeout left.
Seattle had Marshawn Lynch. “The baddest back on the planet!” former Seahawk cornerback Brandon Browner, now a Patriot, said afterward.New England didn’t call timeout. Belichick is brilliant, and I’m sure he had his reasons. (He said he’d have called time if the Seahawks had run the next play and not scored, but by then, with 20 seconds left, there wouldn’t have been enough time left to do anything fruitful if Seattle scored.) But I think that’s a huge mistake. If New England calls time there, and Seattle scores on the next play, the Patriots get the ball back, down 31-28, with about 50 seconds left. That’s far preferable to getting it back down 31-28 with two timeouts and, say, 18 seconds left.
One Patriot told me a couple of things that made sense. He thought Belichick bypassed the the timeout because the coach was comfortable defensively—as comfortable as he could be with who was on the field trying to stop Lynch—and that a timeout would have given Seattle a chance to stop and consider different plays, and why give the enemy more time to think?
In the end, Seattle could have had either two or three shots with Lynch. Instead, Wilson passed.
“What were they thinking!’’ Browner said. “I just really feel like sometimes these coaches are so intelligent they out-strategize themselves. It’s simple. You turn around and give it to the best back in the game. He picked up like four yards and landed a yard away from the end zone the play before.’’
Carroll’s explanation:
“We sent in our personnel. They sent in goal-line [defense]. It’s not the right matchup for us to run the football, so on second down we throw the ball really to kind of waste that play. If we score we do, if we don’t, then we’ll run it in on third and fourth down. Really, with no second thoughts or no hesitation in that at all. And unfortunately, with the play that we tried to execute, [Butler] makes a great play and jumps in front of the route and makes an incredible play that nobody would ever think he could do. And unfortunately that changes the whole outcome.
“A very, very hard lesson. I hate to learn the hard way.”
But what’s the lesson? Carroll sounded like he had no regrets. So Seattle, after shredding some other defense and going 79 yards in a minute, with three downs to get one yard, given another chance, would throw a goal-line slant? I don’t get it. I never will.
Goat of the Week
Darrell Bevell, offensive coordinator, Seattle. For years to come, fans of the Seahawks and just plain fans will ask one simple question about Super Bowl 49: What in the world was Seattle doing throwing a slant pass on second and goal from the 1, with one of the game’s best short yardage backs in the backfield? It’s a question that will torment the Pacific Northwest for years and will make it difficult for Bevell ever to fulfill his dreams of becoming an NFL head coach. It simply was an incredibly wrong call.
February 2, 2015 at 3:27 pm #17847
rflParticipantLook. I dislike Carroll. I didn’t even watch the game, so I dunno nuffink.
But.
People have to keep things in perspective. At the end of the 1st half, I watched a few plays with Meg. Carroll passed up the FG for a pass with :06 left. They scored a TD.
This is who Carroll is. For good … and for ill. You can’t laud the guy for the 1st call and rip him for the 2nd.
By virtue of the absurd ...
February 2, 2015 at 3:31 pm #17848znModeratorThis is who Carroll is. For good … and for ill. You can’t laud the guy for the 1st call and rip him for the 2nd.
That;s a good point I think.
YOu are who you are and you dance with who brung you. You therefore also trip and fall over on your ass with who brung you.
February 2, 2015 at 6:30 pm #17854znModeratorfrom off the net
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Glimmer Twin
Carrol is a maverick and a gambler. He makes counter-intuitive plays. Case in point. At the end of the first half with six seconds left on the clock and Seahawks within easy FG range the safe call would have been a FG. Go into the locker room down 14-10. Instead Carrol makes a gutsy call and throws a TD to tie the game.
Carrol also rolled the dice in the National championship game against Texas when he was at USC. 4th and 1 at Texas 40 and he chose to run it with Lyndell White. A first down would have finished the game, but a punt would have pinned Texas much deeper and made the ultimate TD drive by Vince Young much more difficult. Carrol rolled the dice, Texas got the stop and Vince Young had just enough time to drive the Longhorns 60 yards for the game winning TD. Carrol rolled and lost.
Last night was another example. Safe play would have been one or two runs by Lynch, but Carroll dials up a higher risk pass play. Carroll rolls the dice a lot in critical situations. More often than not, he wins, but last night he lost.
Funny, one play call and he’s either a genius or an idiot. But, the call itself was not out of character for Carroll.
February 2, 2015 at 9:16 pm #17864znModeratorfrom off the net
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Blue and Gold
February 2, 2015 at 11:31 pm #17868
PA RamParticipantI will always believe it was a dumb call at that moment.
They were down in the first half–momentum was an issue. I would have criticized him for kicking the field goal.
This play was THE game. They had to have the T.D.
For some reason they decided to call a play with a lot of moving parts. There was an off snap in the first half that Wilson gathered in–could have happened. Could have been called for a penalty on a pick play. Could have and was intercepted. Wilson may have pulled the ball down for a split second of hesitation and been sacked.
If they run it in Lynch either gets it and it’s game over or he doesn’t and a time out is taken. You live to play again.
I love the chances with Lynch–stacked box or not.
Was execution perfect? Nope.
But the coaches should not have put the team in that position. They did not have to do it.
I’ve read all the excuses, all the explanations and all the rationalizing.
In the end–that call is going to haunt that team and its fans forever.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
February 2, 2015 at 11:42 pm #17871ZooeyParticipantI will always believe it was a dumb call at that moment.
They were down in the first half–momentum was an issue. I would have criticized him for kicking the field goal.
This play was THE game. They had to have the T.D.
For some reason they decided to call a play with a lot of moving parts. There was an off snap in the first half that Wilson gathered in–could have happened. Could have been called for a penalty on a pick play. Could have and was intercepted. Wilson may have pulled the ball down for a split second of hesitation and been sacked.
If they run it in Lynch either gets it and it’s game over or he doesn’t and a time out is taken. You live to play again.
I love the chances with Lynch–stacked box or not.
Was execution perfect? Nope.
But the coaches should not have put the team in that position. They did not have to do it.
I’ve read all the excuses, all the explanations and all the rationalizing.
In the end–that call is going to haunt that team and its fans forever.
I agree with that.
I also think everybody around here would be pretty happy with that if it had been ANY other team than the Patriots. It would have been something to gloat over a division rival about, and ridicule them. Instead, it appears a lot of Rams fans are unhappy.
Weird, huh?
February 2, 2015 at 11:55 pm #17872PA RamParticipantZooey, you’re right about the emotional aspect. It is weird. The Patriot hate is strong.
Otherwise, I really don’t care about the Seahawks. I just really hate the Pats.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
February 3, 2015 at 8:42 am #17881wvParticipantSeahawks offense stayed true to form on last Super Bowl pass
http://seattletimes.com/html/seahawks/2025607820_seahawksjenks03xml.html
……“Who was asking about the passing stats?” Carroll asked. “Who was that guy? Who was that?…This game of football has always been about the physical side of it, the aggressive, physical, take-care-of-the-ball mentality. We close the loop on toughness by being a running team. The circle of toughness wouldn’t be there if we were throwing the ball.”…
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vFebruary 3, 2015 at 9:21 am #17882nittany ramModeratorZooey, you’re right about the emotional aspect. It is weird. The Patriot hate is strong.
Otherwise, I really don’t care about the Seahawks. I just really hate the Pats.
I didn’t care who won. I just knew a team I hated was going to lose and clung to that. 😉
One thing I never like regardless of who is playing is when the perception is that a game was lost because of one person or one event. For example, I don’t like it when a team loses because a kicker misses a FG because the kicker will get all the blame for the loss. Now, we all know that a game is never really lost due to one person. A game is won or lost due to the sum total of performances of everyone on the team, players and coaches alike. So in reality a game is never lost because a kicker missed a FG, because the FG would not have been necessary if previous mistakes had not been made…(ie, missed block leading to tackle that prevented a first down, bad throw that misses wide open receiver, etc.) So the missed FG is just one contributing factor to the loss, not the reason for the loss.
Same is true for this “bad call”. The Seahawks didn’t lose because of it. They lost for a number of reasons, the bad call (if it truly was a bad call) being just one reason. How about the fact that the vaunted “legion of boom” got lit up to the tune of 356 yds and 4 TD’s even with Brady’s two gift INT’s? Think that might have played a part in the loss?
Anyway, this loss being attributed to this one call smacks more of emotion than reason.
February 3, 2015 at 9:58 am #17883PA RamParticipant<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>PA Ram wrote:</div>
Zooey, you’re right about the emotional aspect. It is weird. The Patriot hate is strong.Otherwise, I really don’t care about the Seahawks. I just really hate the Pats.
I didn’t care who won. I just knew a team I hated was going to lose and clung to that.
One thing I never like regardless of who is playing is when the perception is that a game was lost because of one person or one event. For example, I don’t like it when a team loses because a kicker misses a FG because the kicker will get all the blame for the loss. Now, we all know that a game is never really lost due to one person. A game is won or lost due to the sum total of performances of everyone on the team, players and coaches alike. So in reality a game is never lost because a kicker missed a FG, because the FG would not have been necessary if previous mistakes had not been made…(ie, missed block leading to tackle that prevented a first down, bad throw that misses wide open receiver, etc.) So the missed FG is just one contributing factor to the loss, not the reason for the loss.
Same is true for this “bad call”. The Seahawks didn’t lose because of it. They lost for a number of reasons, the bad call (if it truly was a bad call) being just one reason. How about the fact that the vaunted “legion of boom” got lit up to the tune of 356 yds and 4 TD’s even with Brady’s two gift INT’s? Think that might have played a part in the loss?
Anyway, this loss being attributed to this one call smacks more of emotion than reason.
I see what’s going on here, Nittany.
If you love Tom Brady so much why don’t you marry him?
Anyway, they may not have LOST because of that one play. But the play did cost them the WIN.
That’s my logic and I’m sticking to it.
Besides, we all know that one way or another the Pats cheated.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
February 3, 2015 at 10:24 am #17884nittany ramModeratorIf you love Tom Brady so much why don’t you marry him?
Because bigamy is illegal.
February 3, 2015 at 12:35 pm #17887
Isiah58ParticipantI have no problem with the call. Carroll’s logic was sound. Three plays is better than two plays. He knew he could run the ball twice if the pass was incomplete.
Also, two stats I heard that I cannot verify. This year there were 109 passes thrown from the one yard line. Only one of those passes were intercepted (Wilson’s). Second, Marshawn Lynch rushed five times this year from the 1 yard line. He scored once of those five attempts.
Plus, New England had six linemen in on the play. They stacked the box for the expected run. Running the pass was actually a good call, foiled by an amazing play by a rookie who made an incredible break on the ball.
“Marge, don't discourage the boy! Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals! Except the weasel.” - Homer Simpson
February 3, 2015 at 12:53 pm #17888nittany ramModeratorI have no problem with the call. Carroll’s logic was sound. Three plays is better than two plays. He knew he could run the ball twice if the pass was incomplete.
Also, two stats I heard that I cannot verify. This year there were 109 passes thrown from the one yard line. Only one of those passes were intercepted (Wilson’s). Second, Marshawn Lynch rushed five times this year from the 1 yard line. He scored once of those five attempts.
Plus, New England had six linemen in on the play. They stacked the box for the expected run. Running the pass was actually a good call, foiled by an amazing play by a rookie who made an incredible break on the ball.
There’s this from Sando…
Mike Sando, ESPN.com @SandoESPN · Feb 2
5th time since ‘01 a tm down 4-8 pts had 2nd/GL from 1 w/20-40 sec left and 1 timeout. 2 ran and fell short. 2 threw TDs. SEA threw INT. -
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