The Seahawks were a yard away from a touchdown and a lead with under a minute to play in the Super Bowl, which is pretty much the textbook time to call on Marshawn Lynch.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll opted to go a different way, however. As he explained after the game, he called a pass because of the personnel the Seahawks had on the field and Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepted it to seal the fourth Super Bowl title in Patriots history.
Plenty of people were surprised by the play call, but Lynch joined Patriots coach Bill Belichick in saying he wasn’t surprised that Carroll decided to put the ball in the air at that moment in the game.
“No. Because we play football. It’s a team sport,” Lynch said, via Jim Trotter of ESPN.
Plenty of other Seahawks players did express surprise about the decision to go with a pass rather than the running back who scored 17 touchdowns in the regular season and had already scored once in the Super Bowl. Even though it shortchanges Butler’s play and the other 59 minutes of the game, that surprise will likely remain a major topic of conversation for a while in Seattle.
