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SUPER BOWL Carroll defends fateful call He called for pass that was intercepted on final play Comment By Bob Condotta The Seattle Times MailTribune.com By Bob Condotta The Seattle Times Posted Feb. 2, 2015 at 6:05 PM Updated Feb 2, 2015 at 6:07 PM By Bob Condotta The Seattle Times Posted Feb. 2, 2015 at 6:05 PM Updated Feb 2, 2015 at 6:07 PM » Social News PHOENIX — For Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, the decision to call the play that cost the team the Super Bowl on Sunday night was no different than so many that had gotten them in position to win it in the first place. The pass from the 1-yard-line with 26 seconds left, he said, was born out of the same philosophy that led the touchdown pass on which Seattle scored with six seconds to go in the first half — or the fake field-goal attempt that helped lead to the comeback against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game two weeks ago. “I don’t ever coach these guys at one time thinking that they’re going to throw an interception, thinking that we’re going to fumble the ball,” Carroll said Monday of the interception thrown by quarterback Russell Wilson that turned a likely second consecutive Super Bowl title and football immortality into one of the more-devastating defeats imaginable. “There was not a thought in my mind that we would make a mistake on that play. And really, the mistake was a tremendous play by the guy on the other side (New England cornerback Malcolm Butler, who intercepted the pass). He made just an unbelievable decision and choice to make a play that changed a game and that won them their championship. That’s what it feels like.” That’s not all it felt like, though. As Carroll stood in front of a conference room at the team’s hotel before a flight home Monday morning, he said the emotion of the loss was unlike any other he has experienced. “It hurt uniquely,” he said. “It hurt because it was so sudden and just so far off of what should have happened for us.” As for the play itself, Carroll reiterated what he said immediately after the game — while also noting he had yet to watch a replay of the game or the play itself. The Seahawks had second-and-goal at the 1 after Marshawn Lynch had been tackled just shy of the goal line on the previous play. Seattle had one timeout remaining. Carroll explained again that Seattle had decided to send in a personnel grouping with three receivers, one tight end and Lynch as the Lynch run ended. When New England then sent in its goal-line package, Carroll said the Seahawks decided to call the pass, feeling it was a bad matchup to try to run against a New England defense set up to stop a run. “We easily could have gone otherwise,” he said. “But when they sent their goal line guys in, I know that we have the advantage on the matchups in the passing game, so let’s throw it. It’s OK.” Carroll also insisted he called the play, denying any suggestion that offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell initially called a run and the play was then changed. “One of those downs we were likely to throw the ball, maybe two of those downs we would have thrown the ball depending on how we had to save the clock,” he said. “We had to get all of our plays. It wasn’t about, ‘Just run the ball.’ That wasn’t what the thought was. There was not a thought about with the run and I changed it. That did not happen.” He defended Bevell while also sending him a vote of confidence, calling him “crucially important to our future.” New England players said later that the formation, and the fact that Seattle did not use play-action, made it easy to read that a pass was coming. On the play, Doug Baldwin went in motion, which allowed Seattle to determine the Patriots were in a man defense. That left two receivers stacked to the right — Jermaine Kearse and Lockette. Lockette then broke behind Kearse with the thought being that Butler might get rubbed off by Kearse, who was being defended by Brandon Browner. Butler, though, made a quick move to jump in front of Lockette and get the ball. Bevell said after the game that Lockette “could have been stronger” to the ball. Asked if Lockette could have done more to get the ball, Carroll said: “I don’t know that. I don’t think so. I think the way that (Butler) jumped the route, it looked like he was open. Russell saw him open, and the way the play works is often that DB gets brushed and doesn’t get to be in position to make that play, but he did. I do know that Browner jammed Jermaine, and he’s the front guy in that route and probably kept him from getting off as cleanly as you would normally hope.” By Bob Condotta The Seattle Times MailTribune.com By Bob Condotta The Seattle Times Posted Feb. 2, 2015 at 6:05 PM Updated Feb 2, 2015 at 6:07 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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