It’s pretty remarkable how often the Super Bowl is actually an interesting and compelling game. The Nick Foles Bowl was so incredible Philly natives couldn’t help but punch police horses in the face. Even though most of the country was disappointed in the outcome, the Patriots 28-3 comeback was impossibly historic. Peyton Manning hobbling off into the sunset and ruining the Panthers 15-1 season is story book material in and of itself. It may be a sequel to John Elway’s autobiography but it’s still a compelling read.
The ending to the Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl XLIX, however, stands alone as the most Hollywood ending to any Super Bowl in NFL history. If you or I walked into Warner Brothers and pitched an ending where an undrafted free agent from West Alabama intercepted the defending Super Bowl champions on the goal-line they would throw us out of their offices.
Malcom Butler’s interception is such a Hollywood ending that it’s almost to a fault. Nearly five years since Butler’s interception and our society still hasn’t recovered from the fact that a rookie from what is at best the ninth best football program in Alabama got the better of America’s favorite son Russell Wilson. Before the Patriot’s red and blue confetti even hit the ground the cries that the Seahawks should have run the ball had already begun. Whoever said time heals everything clearly never met a Marshawn Lynch truther, many of whom are still beating the drum that had Seattle run the ball they would be two time world champions.
As self-appointed Czar of play-calling criticism, I hereby declare that it is time to let any and all jokes about Seattle throwing an interception on the goal-line go the way of all the earth. In truth, the real time to stop berating the Seahawks was a couple days after the Super Bowl. As a generous and forgiving Czar though, I’ve given us five years to mock the Seahawks.
I get it, believe me I do. Seattle had one of the best running backs in the league and on the goal-line they threw it to a fellow who’s name you don’t even remember (Ricardo Lockette). Sure, I’ll even concede that a run play would have been the more conservative call. It would have also been the wrong call, though. Based on the clock, timeout situation, down and distance, and the gameflow Seattle should have thrown the ball when they did. New England scored the go ahead touchdown with 2:02 left in the game. Seattle got the ball on their twenty yard line down 28-24, needing a touchdown and having all three of their timeouts.
On the first play of the drive they hit a thirty one yard slant and go route to Marshawn Lynch down the left sideline to get to New England’s forty nine yard line. After an incomplete pass Seattle had to use their first time out to avoid a delay of game penalty, remember that por favor. After another incomplete pass Seattle completed an eleven yard hitch to Ricardo Lockette on their 3rd and 10 play.
The next play Seattle ran was the thirty three yard circus catch that Jermaine Kearse made to take the ball to New England five yard line. Kearse got out of bounds, stopping the clock, but because Seattle took so long lining up they had to use their second time out with 1:06 left to avoid another delay of game penalty. Doing the math, Seattle used two timeouts when they didn’t need to and only had one left.
On 1st and goal from the five yard line Marshawn Lynch took a handoff four yards to the left before being brought down by Patriots middle linebacker Dont’a Hightower.
The next play was the Malcom Butler interception. In one play New England cemented their legacy even further and Seattle’s Super Bowl window was slammed shut. What’s ensued since Butler’s interception has been over five years of revisionist history and coordinator shaming. The decision to throw at the one yard line is seemingly the most scrutinized decision in Super Bowl history. It’s time to lay the jokes to rest though. Despite the result of the play, the decision to throw was the right call.
Clock Management
Clock management is where NFL coaches earn the millions of dollars they’re paid. New England had two timeouts remaining, while Seattle only had the one. With the ball within the five yard line and under a minute left on the clock, the question New England has to ask themselves if they’re going to start using their timeouts. If Belichick had used his timeouts it’d be in an effort to give Tom Brady more time once Seattle inevitably scored. The Patriots didn’t use any timeouts, though, banking on their defense to get a goal line stand.
Unlike New England, who could dictate their game plan because of their timeouts, Seattle’s game plan was dictated by their lack of timeouts. On 2nd and goal with twenty six seconds left Seattle is planning on three shots at the end zone in under thirty seconds.
If Seattle runs the ball and they don’t get in then they have to use their last time out in that situation. Then Seattle would have been in an obvious passing situation on third down with no timeouts. Obvious passing situations are where, because of either the down and distance or the clock, the offense can’t run the ball. Obvious passing situations allow the defense to dictate the play more because they can either bring pressure or drop into coverage and the offense has to react to that. By throwing on second down Seattle avoided an obvious passing situation and could have run on third and fourth down. Had Seattle run the ball on second down and not scored, they would have been in obvious passing situations on third and fourth down.
Patriots Defense
Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell gets a lot of the blame for the play call, but no one ever seems to mention that Russell Wilson never killed the pass call and checked to a run play. Wilson has become America’s sweetheart, and deservedly so, but if we’re going to mock Pete Carroll and Darrell Bevell for calling a pass play then we need that same energy directed at Russell Wilson.
That blame would be misplaced as well though. Below is the defensive front that the Patriots were playing in on that second down play. They had eight guys on the line of scrimmage plus Dont’a Hightower about four yards deep in the box. Seattle had two wideouts, which left seven Seahawks to block New England’s nine defenders at the line of scrimmage
Honestly where is Marshawn Lynch supposed to run? The core of any offensive philosophy is to create and exploit mismatches. In the NFL two defensive backs covering two wideouts is the closest thing to a mismatch any offense is going to get. Wilson actually motioned the receiver who’s at the top of the formation when the ball was snapped out of a trips formation at the bottom of the screen to put the two defenders on an island.
When three defensive backs are covering three receivers there is more room for defensive error, especially in the red zone where everything is condensed for the offense. When there’s only two defenders if one missteps then the other defensive back is forced to play 2-1 defense. Because New England was okay with taking that gamble with Brandon Browner and Malcom Butler isolated on two Seattle receivers they were able to stack the box.
The end zone view looks even worse for Seattle’s chances of running the ball. New England has every gap filled including the edges, plus Dont’a Hightower is there to clean anything up. There is no realistic way for Seattle to block this defensive front. Their best chance would be running a zone scheme away from Chandler Jones, the would be unblocked defender labeled #1. Even then Jones has to stay home so Russell Wilson can’t pull the ball then Lynch is still running into a front that has every gap covered. Hightower shines read and react run situations like this, and any win up front that Seattle would have won would have been erased. up by Hightower.
Seattle could have called a timeout if they were committed to running the ball but didn’t like the defensive front they were facing, but that would have been their last timeout and they would have put themselves into three consecutive obvious passing down situations. If the Seahawks had even one of those timeouts used earlier in the drive then it completely changes how they can call their offense.
But alas, even if Seattle wanted to run the ball they couldn’t use their timeout to get into a better formation and had to run (get it) with the original play call.
Execution
If Wilson completes that pass or even throws it high and moves onto third down then no one is thinking twice about the decision to throw. Being the results oriented society that we are though, we look at the interception and deem the process that led to the interception an implosion.
The route concept that Seattle ran is one that they’d used all season in goal line situations. Seattle stacked the two receivers, had Kearse line up on the line of scrimmage and Ricardo Lockette staggered behind him. It’s a pick concept where Kearse is allegedly running a route to the corner of the endzone, and bumps into the defender on Ricardo Lockette (Malcom Butler) freeing up Lockette on his slant route.
What actually happens is Kearse just straight up blocks Brandon Browner from the get go, doesn’t even pretend to run a route. So called pick plays where one receiver ends up blocking more than running a route aren’t new, but maybe the most frustrating thing for an opposing defense. They’ve become so common though that as a society we’ve just stopped caring about offense breaking the downfield blocking rule. Clemson walked off in the national championship off of a pick play where the outside receiver didn’t even try to disguise his block as a route. No one outside of Tuscaloosa had any major issues with Clemson walking off on a pick play against Alabama in the National Championship, and I’m sure no one outside of the good folks in Southie would have had major qualms with Kearse’s downfield block had Seattle completed that pass.
Pick plays, or rub plays, are the easiest way for receivers to create separation in the red zone. Every team does it and that play call had worked for Seattle all year. The problem for the Seahawks though is that Patriots Cornerback Malcom Butler had two weeks of film study to prepare for that route combination.
Butler’s break on the ball was unbelievable, the only reason that play wasn’t a touchdown for Seattle is because Butler essentially knew what play was coming. Butler almost broke towards the ball before Seattle receiver Ricardo Lockette did.
Now, I am willing to listen to arguments that Seattle should have understood that with an extra week of preparation New England could have anticipated that pick play coming. I’m not buying it because that discredits Butler from what really was maybe the most spectacular play I’ve ever seen in a Super Bowl. I’m also on the team that Seattle didn’t manage their timeouts properly and put themselves in a poor situation, forcing them to throw. In that poor situation they were in, though, passing gave Seattle the best chance of winning that game.
The ONLY issue I have with Seattle’s play call is throwing the ball over the middle. There was just no room for error for Russell Wilson. Running an outbreaking route combo toward the sideline, or even getting Wilson on a rollout would have been a lot safer for Seattle. It’d give Wilson the option of just running it in himself, or if nothing was open then he could have simply thrown the ball out of the back of the endzone.
That being said, Seattle absolutely should have thrown the ball when they did. It took an unbelievable break on the ball and a lucky bounce for New England to come up with that interception. If they had run the ball and not gotten in they would have forfeited any ability to control the game situation. Throwing let Seattle dictate the clock, as well as limit what the Patriot’s could have done on defense.
Revisionist history tells us that Seattle threw an interception, therefore they made the wrong decision and should have run the ball. Revisionist history is no way to look at life, though, we’re better than that. The Seahawks made the unpopular, but correct choice by throwing instead of running on the goal-line. As a country and as a culture, we should collectively make the unpopular but correct call and move on from the Marshawn Lynch goal-line jokes.
-By Jake Cowden