Malcolm Butler (21) intercepts pass to win game for the Patriots (Mark J.

Rebilas/USA Today)

PLAY IT AGAIN:
HOW I LEARNED TO STOP THROWING BRICKS AT MY TELEVISION SET AND
GIVE PETE CARROLL A BREAK
By Dean T. Hartwell

When I saw the Seahawks throw an interception at the Patriot one yard line in the Super
Bowl last week, I wanted to throw a brick at my TV set.
How on earth could the Seahawks fail to give the ball to the best running back in the
NFL, Marshawn Lynch? What a terrible decision!
But wait a minute. I have had second thoughts.
The two coaches, Pete Carroll of the Seahawks and Bill Belichick of the Patriots, both
made decisions without the gift of hindsight and they often made them in a hurry. Many
of these decisions took place in the last sixty-six seconds of the game.
That period of time started when Seahawk receiver Jermaine Kearse was pushed out of
bounds. He had just gotten up after juggling a pass six times and catching it on his
back. The Seahawks now had 1st and goal from the Patriot five-yard line.
Play It Again by Dean T. Hartwell

The Seahawks then decided to give the ball to Lynch, who barreled his way to the one
yard line. The clock continued to run until the Seahawks ran their next play. That was
because the Patriots decided not to call a time out of their own. In effect, Belichick
decided to leave the game up to his defense.
As the game ran fast to its conclusion, Carroll had to decide what play to call before the
game clock again was to expire. In a manner of seconds, he had to consider a number
of factors:
Time left in the game
Possible plays
Defensive unit sent out by the Patriots (the defense lines up first).
Possible consequences and levels of possibility of outcomes
Here is what likely ran through his mind:
Time left in the game The game clock (the seconds left in the game) went down to
26 seconds before the Seahawks got the play off. Given that plays near the goal line
last about 5-10 seconds depending upon whether the clock continues after the play (for
example, a tackle in bounds) or the clock stops (ex: penalty, play goes out of bounds,
time out called, etc.), he could estimate perhaps three plays. But the choice of possible
plays would narrow depending upon how the Seahawks managed the time.
Possible plays With one time out left, the Patriots had to respect the possibility of
both a run and a pass. Even if the run was stopped, the Seahawks could still call time
out. The absence of time outs would have limited Seahawks to passing plays, to which
the Patriots could set their defense accordingly.
Defensive unit Carroll would say later he saw the Patriot run defense take the field. 1
A run could still work, but certainly the perception that a pass might be better for this
particular play likely crossed his mind when he saw that.
Possible consequences With time running out on both the play and game clock, it
would be human for Carroll to consider his fears of running specific plays. The pressure
was on him (and Belichick) all game long to make decisions about player personnel,
strategy, and time management) and that pressure increased in the final minute. A pass
could have negative consequences, like an interception, but an interception wasnt
likely. (In fact, Quarterback Russell Wilsons interception was the first time in 109 plays
throughout the 2014-15 season in which a pass from the opponents one yard line
ended up picked off by the opponents.2)
Every play carries the risk that something will go wrong. No play is a sure thing
because of the chances of a penalty, turnover, loss of yardage, etc. If, for example,
Lynch was the sure thing to gain yardage, then why not give him the ball every play? It
is simple the other team would catch on and put in a defense to stop Lynch. (Lynch,
interestingly, carried the ball five times all season from the opponents one yard lime
Play It Again by Dean T. Hartwell

only once did he scored a touchdown. The other four carries were split between losses
and no gains.3)
Belichick, too, was taking chances, first by deciding not to call a time out (which, had the
Seahawks scored, would have given the Patriots more time to go for a game-tying field
goal) and second, by sending on a defensive unit designed to stop the run. He had to
show his hand first and, as noted, Carroll saw the defensive players when deciding the
Seahawk strategy.
But the last decision belonged to the Seahawks. The pass play was called and carried
out. There were hidden risks involved. The player who made the catch, Malcolm Butler,
later said that Coach Belichick had told him (a fifth-string cornerback who didnt even
start the game!) to look out for Seattle to call that play near the goal line! Butler raced to
where he anticipated the ball and just took it for an interception.
Can you really blame Carroll for not knowing that?
Millions of arm-chair quarterbacks have cursed Carroll for the play call. But they have
the luxury of never having to put their call (a run by Lynch) to a test. Imagine this
scenario, based on the same chance of the interception:
Lynch takes the ball from Wilson and runs right. The Patriot defense stacks him at the
half-yard line. Butler strips the ball from Lynchs hands. Theres a mad scramble for the
ballthe Patriots have it!
The response from the same arm chair quarterbacks? Silly Carroll. He should have
known Lynch does poorly from the one yard line. He should have thrown it.
Throw me back my brick!

Play It Again by Dean T. Hartwell

1 http://grantland.com/the-triangle/super-bowl-new-england-patriots-seattle-seahawks/
2 http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/102175/inside-seattles-decision-to-passfrom-the-1
3 http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2015-02-04/nfl-super-bowl-seahawks-marshawnlynch-one-yard-line-analysis-context-pete-carroll-call-patriots-2014