The Seattle Seahawks pass from the one yard line with 30 seconds left in Super Bowl XLIX has been criticized for the passed week after they opted not to run the ball with Marshawn Lynch. Although running the ball is Seattle’s best option offensively, passing the football wasn’t a terrible idea.
The thing that people seem not to recognize is what a tremendous play Malcolm Butler made. Aside from returning the ball 99 yards for a touchdown Butler was perfect. Had he only knocked the ball down for an incomplete and forced third down, it’s still a great play. Break it down. At the snap Butler is about eight yards away from Seattle receiver Ricardo Lockette, Butler diagnoses the route perfectly, he is quick enough to beat Lockette to the ball, and then Butler wrestles the ball away from him. Keep in mind that because Lockette is stacked behind receiver Jermaine Kearse, Butler’s view of him is obscured by two players (Kearse and Patriots corner Brandon Browner). Also consider this, Butler caught the ball outside of the end zone then crossed the goal line into the end zone. Had he been tackled inside the end zone it could have been considered a safety. Now I realize he was knocked back into the end zone and forward progress may have played some role in this, but even if that was the case it wouldn’t have been the first blown call this post season. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had this to say, “It was the worst result of a call ever. The call would have been a great one if we catch it. It would have been just fine, and nobody would have thought twice about it.” Carroll also said the plan was always to throw the ball at least once because he didn’t want to leave enough time on the clock for Tom Brady. And lets be honest, you don’t want to take the chance of putting the ball back in Brady’s hands with two time outs left no matter how good your defense is. If the second down pass had fallen incomplete, the Seahawks planned to use their next two downs to run the ball.
Plus it’s not like the Seattle’s passing game had been completely defunct up to this point in the game. Wilson had already passed for 247 yards in the game and two red zone scores, including a touchdown lob to Doug Baldwin from the three yard line. Jermaine Kearse also made a catch that God himself probably would have dropped just two plays before the interception. There is also no guarantee that Lynch gets in the end zone. I realize it is very probable he does, but why not try and take all three downs like Seattle planned. “I think there’s been a lot of criticism that’s I don’t think anywhere close to being deserved or founded,” said Bill Belichick, “That football team is very good and they’re very well coached. Pete does a great job. Malcolm and Brandon on that particular play just made a great play. I think the criticism they’ve gotten for the game is totally out of line and by a lot of people who I don’t think are anywhere near qualified to be commenting on it.” People forget that, although Lynch is a beast, because of Russell Wilson the Seattle passing game can be equally effective as their run.
