Seahawks on Patriots goal line
No question having Marshawn Lynch ready to burst into the New England Patriots line a yard from the goal line makes the pick slant the Seahawks called inexplicable and completely indefensible. Lynch is the man when it comes to lugging the ball in from the red zone and they had three tries.
They also had enough time on the clock and there’s no doubt that Beast Mode would have gotten into the end zone. And if they didn’t have faith he could, then why offer him an insanely rich contract extension?
Further, passing the football from the one-yard line near the end of the game, needing a touchdown to win, even without a Marshawn Lynch, is not a sound tactic. Putting the ball in the air is a risk that close to the end of the game because an interception seals the deal, obviously.
One reason you fear an interception is the fact that your quarterback, in tight like that, with defenders and your receivers bunched together in the limited field left to play, can make a mistake. Doesn’t take the throw to be off by much for it to turn from a touchdown pass to an interception.
Russell Wilson throws to Butler
That’s what happened on the play that lost the Super Bowl. The call was bad, yes, but so was Wilson’s throw. It was off by a lot in fact. He needed to throw the ball lower into the stomach area of receiver Richardo Lockette. He does that and it doesn’t matter that defender Malcolm Butler steps up because he can’t reach the ball. Instead, Wilson lead the receiver, and by too much. He gave Butler a gift.
Lots of blame all around on this. Coach Pete Carrol took the blame for calling the play, though it’s not clear if he was just taking the heat off of offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. Meanwhile, Bevell reportedly said that Lockette should have been stronger on the ball.
But there has to be blame left over for Wilson. He came into the game having never lost when going head to head against a quarterback who had won the Super Bowl: Aaron Rodgers (3-0), Drew Brees (2-0), Eli Manning (2-0), Peyton Manning (2-0) and Tom Brady (1-0). He was 10-0 against those big-name quarterbacks until Brady beat him in Superbowl XLIX.
Or until, in a manner of speaking, he beat himself.
