Super Bowl 49 One-Month Anniversary: Looking Back On “The Call”
Now that were over the bashing our heads through the TV phase (I hope!), was throwing the ball from inside the one in Super Bowl 49 that bad of a call?
In short, yes. But not for the reason you might think.
I’ve come around to the thinking of why it made sense to throw the ball on second down. With the amount of time that was left, throwing the ball on one of the downs was the only way to ensure the Seahawks got four cracks at the end zone. That much makes sense.
And you have to be able to trust Russell Wilson in that situation. He is a smart QB who will almost always err on the side of caution in those situations.
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But don’t call THAT pass. There are three reasons why that particular play was a terrible idea.
First, the Seahawks ran that pick-and-slant DOZENS of times throughout the season inside the red zone. And it’s the freakin’ Super Bowl. The Patriots had all year to scout and had to know all about that play. According to Malcolm Butler, they did. He had this to say in a Peter King story from a few weeks ago.
"“I knew they were going to throw it,” said Butler. “From preparation, I remembered the formation they were in and I knew they were doing a pick route.”"
Second, why would you take away Russell’s greatest ability and make him throw over the middle from inside the pocket? With how quickly he released the ball, the lineman had no time to spread out and give him a lane to see through, which at 5’10”, he needs. Either get him rolling out, or don’t throw such a quick route, give him some time to read the defense.
And third, why go to Ricardo Lockette? I know the whole mantra of this team is not worrying who gets the credit, and that’s awesome. It really is. But in the biggest situation possible, why not target one of your established guys, either Jermaine Kearse or Doug Baldwin? Or even Chris Matthews who had dominated whatever corner the Patriots put on him, even Brandon Browner.
Ugh.
I know it’s time to move on. This is still going to be a really good team for a really long time. Pete Carroll and John Schneider have put a lot of really special people together here in Seattle.
But one last time, WHY?!?!