The Seattle Seahawks continued the trend from this season of teams losing in heartbreaking fashion when they inexplicably opted to pass instead of run from the one-yard line in the closing seconds of the game and Russell Wilson threw the game-sealing interception.
Seahawks Ignore Their Best Player On Biggest Play Of The Season
The backlash to Pete Carroll's decision was immediate and forceful, and it came from all directions. Many have since labeled the decision to throw in that situation "the worst play call in Super Bowl history," and some have argued that it is the worst play call in the history of sports.
After the game, Carroll said that he did not want to run it against New England's personnel package that was on the field (the Patriots stacked the line of scrimmage before the snap), but was that the only reason that the Seahawks threw instead of running?
What Is Marshawn Lynch's Future With Seattle?
According to NFL.com's Michael Silver, one Seahawks player believes that the coach made that play call in an attempt to have Russell Wilson be the hero instead of Marshawn Lynch:
"I'll spare you the numerous "What the (expletive) was he thinking?" mutterings I overheard from people in Seahawks uniforms and refrain from lending any legitimacy to the conspiracy theory which one anonymous player was willing to broach: That Carroll somehow had a vested interest in making Wilson, rather than Lynch, the hero, and thus insisted on putting the ball in the quarterback's hands with an entire season on the line. "That's what it looked like," the unnamed player said, but I'd be willing to bet that he merely muttered it out of frustration, and that it was a fleeting thought."
If the decision was an effort to elevate Wilson, it could be telling about Lynch's future with the team. There have been rumors for a few months now that the team could elect to release Lynch this offseason. Lynch is entering the final year of his contract, and the team would save $7 million by releasing Beast Mode.
Teams are more frequently choosing not to pay running backs hefty salaries nowadays, believing instead that they can find productive backs late in the draft or for bargain prices. With guys like Justin Forsett in Baltimore and C.J. Anderson in Denver emerging from obscurity each season, it would appear that those teams are correct.
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