TBT: The Seahawks and the one yard line
It’s been almost a year and a half since Super Bowl 49. Maybe that’s enough time for the pain to go away for Seahawks fans.
Just in case you haven’t seen the most devastating interception in NFL history enough times over the last 16 months, here’s another angle.
Nope. Still hurts.
Losing a championship game in any sport is never fun. Losing a Super Bowl is about as bad as it gets. Losing a Super Bowl at the one yard line in the most tragic way imaginable? That’s the kind of thing that sticks with you. Legend has it that I finished my work that evening and then drank enough to earn a two and a half day hangover.
Say what you will, but it’s obvious that Malcolm Butler’s pick has had a lasting effect on the Seahawks and their fans.
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New England was in a goal line formation designed to stop a short run. There were any number of ways that Seattle could have worked around it. In the end, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell went with a quick slant to Ricardo Lockette.
A quick slant.
To Ricardo Lockette.
Chris Matthews already had scored a red zone touchdown and tallied 109 yards on four catches, but he didn’t get the call.
Jermaine Kearse had just secured a circus catch to put Seattle in scoring range, and he’s nothing if not clutch. He didn’t get the call, either.
Russell Wilson had 39 rushing yards and has been known to scamper in for a touchdown after a play-fake every now and then. Instead of letting Wilson roll out and improvise, he was essentially told to throw a bullet pass into a very tight window against some of the best coverage DBs in the league.
After the game Bevell told reporters that Lockette could have been stronger to the ball, which may have been the worst part of it. Everyone else took their share of the blame except the guy who drew it up.
What really burns though is that the Seahawks abandoned their whole core philosophy on offense at the most critical moment.
How could they not run the ball in that situation?
Earlier this week the now-retired Marshawn Lynch opened up to 60 Minutes Sports about his philosophies about life and football and Oakland. One thing he refused to discuss? The decision to pass at the one yard line rather than run.
However, back in March Lynch told a Turkish sports network what we were all thinking.
“I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I was expecting the ball… maybe it was a good thing that I didn’t get the ball. I mean, you know, it cost us the Super Bowl… But would I love to had the ball in? Yes, I would have.”
So say we all.
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