Pete Carroll said it was "totally" his fault.
Quote:"I told those guys, 'That's my fault, totally,' " Carroll said on NBC's postgame show. "But we had plenty of time to win the game ... we were playing for third and fourth down, give them no time left ... but didn't work out that way."
Darrell Bevell also blamed himself. Both coaches gave the same reason for deciding to throw on second down at the 1 yard line.
Quote:"We sent in our personnel, they sent in goal line," Carroll said. "It's not the right matchup for us to run the football, so on second down, we throw the ball. Really, it's to kind of waste that play. If we score, we do, if we don't we don't, then we run it on third and fourth down. No second thoughts, no hesitation."
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000...final-play
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000...lt-totally
Bevell added Ricardo Lockette was partly responsible for the disastrous result
Quote:Lockette "could have been stronger through the ball," Bevell pointed out to reporters multiple times.
After not talking much all last week, Marshawn Lynch answered questions, saying he was not surprised about the play call "because football is a team sport." In other words, he won't throw anybody under the bus.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000...-play-call
Malcom Butler was too overcome with emotion to talk when Michele Tafoya asked him about it. Jimmy Garoppolo was able to do a better job explaining what happened.
Quote:"We did (call that play) and (wide receiver) Josh (Boyce) got a touchdown in practice on it," Garoppolo confirmed in the Pats locker room. "It got him ready and he knew what to expect. Jumping the route like that, that's very impressive. That's all instincts."
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000...-to-happen
Knowing all this now, maybe it was more a case of the defense playing better than the offense and the play call itself was not as bad as it seems.
Of course, that did not stop people who are employed by the NFL and other players from tweeting it was a stupid call.
Quote:With Marshawn Lynch and the No. 1 rushing offense in tow, Seattle cooked up a curious playcall to throw the ball on the 1-yard line on second down. When Malcolm Butler of the Patriots came away with the game-saving interception, social media was abuzz. The hashtag #WorstCallEver became trending in the United States.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000...-goal-line
That was a stupid call with the way Lynch was running it yeah it was def a stupid call. As soon as I seen them getting into a pass formation I said this is gonna end bad and just like that game over.
Again stupid call by Carroll .
Nothing will ever justify the decision by the Seahawks coaching brass involved with the decision.
But if it worked, everybody would say it was a great call, right? That is how we are. People say great call when it works and terrible call when it doesn't all the time.
My personal opinion is because Pete Carroll said the purpose was to take time off the clock, Russell Wilson should have been told to throw the ball away, not to a receiver.
It was an all around fail of epic proportions by Caroll and Bevell. No excuses can be made other than they screwed the pooch. I don't like how Bevell somewhat threw Lockett under the bus saying he could have gone after the ball a little harder. The guy is running a slant that gets jumped perfectly, how does he go harder after the ball?
If I'm Lockette that angers me that my coach is attempting the throw me under the bus.
Quote:Nothing will ever justify the decision by the Seahawks coaching brass involved with the decision.
True, but obviously you have to credit Malcom Butler for executing better than Ricardo Lockette.
Quote:But if it worked, everybody would say it was a great call, right? That is how we are. People say great call when it works and terrible call when it doesn't all the time.
My personal opinion is because Pete Carroll said the purpose was to take time off the clock, Russell Wilson should have been told to throw the ball away, not to a receiver.
Bill Belichick took plenty of time off the clock by not calling a timeout. That IMO was a mistake as well that could have cost the Patriots the game.
The clock shouldn't have even been a factor in the playcalling by the Seahawks, based on them still having a timeout and it being 2nd and Goal at the 1. You can't afford to waste a down in that spot. The only sound decision was a running play to Marshawn Lynch. You have to let your most differential weapon on Offense decide the game, especially when factoring risk / reward.
I'll give the Seahawks coaches all the credit you want them to have for the play call that led to Chris Matthews' TD reception near the end of the 1st half. I thought that play call was too risky, based on the time factor. I was wrong. But at least at that point of the game, there's margin of error. The passing play call with around 30 seconds remaining in the game was extremely likely going to cost the Seahawks the game if a turnover resulted. That turned out to be the case.
Quote:It was an all around fail of epic proportions by Caroll and Bevell. No excuses can be made other than they screwed the pooch. I don't like how Bevell somewhat threw Lockett under the bus saying he could have gone after the ball a little harder. The guy is running a slant that gets jumped perfectly, how does he go harder after the ball?
If I'm Lockette that angers me that my coach is attempting the throw me under the bus.
Yeah it would have been better to say Malcom Butler made a great play on the ball, but he could be right about Ricardo Lockette.
Fortunately Bevell understands he totally screwed up and is taking responsibility for calling the wrong play.
Even great coaches are human and mistakes are inevitable. Unfortunately for everyone involved with the Seahawks, the mistake on that one play, when it was made, will overshadow everything they accomplished this season until/ unless these coaches help lead the team to another Super Bowl win.
How come Wilson gets no blame? He threw the pass, he should have read the defense, he could have ran with it, thrown it away, etc etc. But the whole nfl, from owners to fans never blame wilson. He didn't play well, no where near brady.
Quote: Bill Belichick took plenty of time off the clock by not calling a timeout. That IMO was a mistake as well that could have cost the Patriots the game.
The clock shouldn't have even been a factor in the playcalling by the Seahawks, based on them still having a timeout and it being 2nd and goal at the 1. You can't afford to waste a down in that spot. The only sound decision was a running play to Marshawn Lynch. You have to let your most differential weapon on offense decide the game, especially when factoring risk/reward.
I'll give the Seahawks coaches all the credit you want them to have for the play call that led to Chris Matthews' TD reception near the end of the 1st half. I thought that play call was too risky, based on the time factor. I was wrong. But at least at that point of the game, there's margin of error. The passing play call with around 30 seconds remaining in the game was extremely likely going to cost the Seahawks the game if a turnover resulted. That turned out to be the case.
Right, someone said if the Patriots lost everybody would be all over Belichick for not calling timeouts when they had two left.
The Matthews touchdown was not a bad call because he was in single coverage and there were 30 minutes left. Wilson knew he could get rid of the ball too quickly for anyone to pressure him. Of course if it failed, everybody would be mat at Carroll for keeping the offense on the field with six seconds left.
What everyone forgets is if Beast Mode ran it in on second down, the Patriots would get the ball with two timeouts. A long return, a couple throws to the sidelines, and using both timeouts would help them tie it with a last-second field goal attempt. That probably is why Belichick saved both timeouts and Carroll wanted to kill the clock with a "wasted" play.
Quote:How come Wilson gets no blame? He threw the pass, he should have read the defense, he could have ran with it, thrown it away, etc etc. But the whole NFL, from owners to fans never blame Wilson. He didn't play well, no where near Brady.
He did read the defense. There were only three defensive backs. How do you
not pass with that formation?
Quote:How come Wilson gets no blame? He threw the pass, he should have read the defense, he could have ran with it, thrown it away, etc etc. But the whole nfl, from owners to fans never blame wilson. He didn't play well, no where near brady.
He didn't throw as many passes as Brady.
He didn't throw as many picks as Brady.
Wilson actually attacked downfield.
As for the INT in question, it is a quick hitting play. He can't hold the ball lest he gets a sack.
Had Kearse not dropped a perfectly thrown bomb down the left sideline, it probably never comes down to that play.
To say Wilson had a bad game is silly.
Quote:Right, someone said if the Patriots lost everybody would be all over Belichick for not calling timeouts when they had two left.
The Matthews touchdown was not a bad call because he was in single coverage and there were 30 minutes left. Wilson knew he could get rid of the ball too quickly for anyone to pressure him. Of course if it failed, everybody would be mat at Carroll for keeping the offense on the field with six seconds left.
What everyone forgets is if Beast Mode ran it in on second down, the Patriots would get the ball with two timeouts. A long return, a couple throws to the sidelines, and using both timeouts would help them tie it with a last-second field goal attempt. That probably is why Belichick saved both timeouts and Carroll wanted to kill the clock with a "wasted" play.
A pass play does the opposite of "kill the clock". No matter what happened, the clock was going to stop at the end of that play, whether they scored or threw an incompletion. My problem with the play is the talk about "throwing the down away". Seriously? Sometimes we think that coaches are smarter than us because that's their job, but this was a really stupid decision. They hosed the game up with 2 burned timeouts on the drive, even before 1st and goal. You've got first and goal with 1:06 and you tell me you don't run it 4 times. You don't have a play call in there to hurry up and run a play to prevent them from getting their goal line package in? Wasting the clock and killing downs is presumptuous and stupid and it doesn't mean $#*$ if you don't freaking score. Dumb play call no matter how anyone wants to sugarcoat it.
Not sure why they were worried about leaving time on the clock. Zero chance Brady is able to drive the length of the field in under a minute. He dinked his way down the field the entire game.
If you can't get one yard with a top 5 RB and three attempts then you don't deserve to win. Seahawks called the one play that could've blown up in their face and did
Quote:If you can't get one yard with a top 5 RB and three attempts then you don't deserve to win. Seahawks called the one play that could've blown up in their face and did
They pulled a Jaguar.
Quote:If you can't get one yard with a top 5 RB and three attempts then you don't deserve to win. Seahawks called the one play that could've blown up in their face and did
Exactly.
Even assuming the wrong personnel, if you run Lynch and he doesn't make it, barring a fumble, Seattle could call time out and still have at least one more snap, if not 2.
I know they wanted the right personnel, but give yourself more chances to win.
Risky playcalling was the M.O. that had gotten Seattle this far, so I am not shocked by the call.
If ti had worked, Carroll would have been lauded as a genius for recognizing and taking advantage of the match up.
Epic Fail in Super Bowl history, why wouldnt you run up the middle in Beast Mode if you fail you have 2 more downs and over 30 secs left with timeout.