The Seahawks Should Have Ran It
Today marks 6 years ago that Super Bowl 49 was played in Arizona between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. A lot happened during the season. The Seahawks coming off a dominant Super Bowl win the year before managed to fight their way through the regular season and have a huge comeback win against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game. The New England Patriots were status quo with Tom Brady playing his game with a solid run game and fantastic receivers. The same year the Patriots QB was allegedly deflating footballs during games to make the ball easier to throw.
The stage was set. Russell Wilson and the Legion of Boom had a chance to be the first team to win back to back Super Bowls since the Patriots did in the early 2000s while Tom Brady was chasing rings. It was a chess match. Especially in the 4th quarter. Marshawn Lynch, Beastmode, was breaking away with a wild game. The Seattle defense was running out of steam after a long season. It came down to the 4th quarter. Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch had to get down to the end zone with 2 minutes remaining. With a miraculous pass to Lynch on the left then one of the craziest catches to Jermaine Kearse put the Seahawks 5 yards away from scoring with a little over a minute remaining. The ball was handed to Lynch where he ran forward for 4 yards putting the Seahawks on the 1 yard line with the clock ticking down to 26 second remaining before snapping the ball. Russell Wilson dropped back throwing a pass across the middle of the field to Ricardo Lockette. Malcolm Butler stepped up and intercepted the ball with 20 seconds remaining. Seahawks fans boiled watching this in rage, disbelief, in the biggest “What are you guys doing?!” moments ever? For years jokes and memes were made that we now enjoy saying “They should have ran it". The interviews would come out after with Beastmode and the rest of the team about that game. The Seahawks were never the same team after this season. Tom Brady went on to win another close call Super Bowl that should have never even happened like it did.
There were a lot of things wrong about that final play. After thinking about it for seconds which would become years after seeing the play happen again and again over the years, we have come to some conclusions. The play calling was horribly wrong in that situation. It was so risky to do. In that situation you have a timeout. Everyone is expecting a Marshawn Lynch run. The Patriots showed a heavy blitz on the line. But you have Marshawn Lynch! For years, Beastmode has been slowed down but not stopped. Marshawn Lynch is known for getting yards after contact. He was and is one of the toughest runners we have seen in the NFL.
There was a game he played on Oakland where he was nearly stopped but fought his way in for a touchdown. You have a timeout to use if he doesn’t make it in. You have to try it at least. You don’t just throw a slant. Beastmode was playing great this game against a tough team when our defense was hurt and trying to keep up.
It’s rumored the Seahawks wanted to make Russell Wilson the hero of the Super Bowl to save the day and comeback, beat Tom Brady in the biggest game, and become the Super Bowl MVP, and not be so reliant on the Seattle defense on his success. Seahawks rely even today on a lot of big plays and luck and comebacks when they are down when they finally decide to wake up in the 4th quarter. Their luck ran out. And for the Seahawks trying to paint Wilson as the hero over Lynch may have just caused it. But let’s draw up another run play that is very possible that still makes Wilson a hero. It’s something I barely have seen Wilson do. I only saw it once or twice that I can remember in his entire career. Quarterback sneak.
They were on the 1 yard line. Wilson didn’t line up directly behind the center. He was back on the 6 yard line with Lynch in the shotgun to his left. There still was some deception with the lineup to the defense so it did seem like they would still run, but I would have preferred to put Wilson right behind the center and put Lynch where Wilson was standing to get him running downhill as a backup if they wanted to change the play. Wilson could just dive over the center to reach over the goal line or follow the center forward instead of the line dropping back and going into pass protection. The play before where Lynch ran 4 yards, the center got downfield and make a block to keep Lynch going forward. The right guard blocked the defender lining up on the center. The penetration on the defensive line with the offensive line wasn’t great but it was good enough to do a run or QB sneak with a timeout remaining to move a yard forward and get the ball to cross the line in Wilson’s hands. There we go. Wilson saves the day. Even if they were adamant on passing still, Wilson could have rolled back and throw it still on a developing play.
The thing that really bothered me was when the play was called everyone looked at Lynch in the huddle like it didn’t make sense. Nobody challenged the play call by the offense coordinator Darrell Bevell. Not Pete Carroll. Not Russell Wilson. Not anyone. Except everyone and the defense after the play happened during interviews and recapping the game. I get it. Wilson was in his 3rd year still developing. But he should have known if he didn’t want something that risky with the game on the line that he needed a play that gave them a better chance with less risk.
The next option is a pass that makes sense. Wilson needed to throw the ball in the back of the end zone in the right hand corner where only his receiver could get it with a back shoulder pass (and not floating it). If it was incomplete no problem. The clock stops and you still have a timeout with about 20 seconds left. You could have ran it or tried another pass on 3rd and 1 after a potential incomplete pass. On the play, Jermaine Kearse was blocking while Ricardo Lockette was coming across underneath Kearse when he wasn’t even in the end zone yet when the ball was getting to Lockette’s hands. Baldwin was crossing back towards Wilson in the end zone who got crossed up with the tight end and another defender running to the left corner of the end zone with Lynch running left to the end zone with okay coverage: Something you wouldn’t feel comfortable throwing to…
Let me remind you, Wilson threw 5 interceptions the game before this game. Wilson finished Super Bowl 49 completing 12 of his 21 attempted passes for less than 250 yards scoring 2 passing touchdowns with one interception. Not great by how efficient he would become from 2015-2019. Tom Brady threw 37 for 50 for 328 yards with 4 TDs and 2 interceptions. The defense clearly wasn’t at their best and needed something from the offense. But the defense still made plays and picked Brady twice which is very difficult to do on any level. The drive before the Patriots scored taking a 4 point lead the Seahawks didn’t convert a 3rd down and punted the ball with 6 minutes remaining. They also passed on that play also stopping the clock. Lynch overall had 24 rushes with 102 yards and 1 TD. Doug Baldwin and Chris Matthews were the surprises from the receiving game of the Seahawks Super Bowl. Doug Baldwin got one target the entire game which he caught for a touchdown. One target! He went on to catch that ball for 3 yards. Kearse had 3 for 45 with most of that yardage coming on one ridiculous catch to set up the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl. Meanwhile this Chris Matthews guy came out of nowhere catching 4 balls on 5 targets for 109 yards and a touchdown. He played during the following year and again in 2017 with his career never really blossoming like it did that day in Super Bowl 49. Let it be known Doug Baldwin went on to catch 14 touchdowns the following year with over 1,000 yards receiving.
After this game this team was never the same. The next year Lynch would play and get injured then retire (for the first time) after the postseason the day of Super Bowl 50. The Legion of Boom would regress. The infighting would begin with the defense no longer trusting the coaching of the team investing into building a team around Wilson. For years to come the defense would still be a force to be reckoned with with the offense lacking a running game, scraping together 10 or 11 or 9 wins a season missing the playoffs in 2017. In 2017 both Cliff Avril, Kam Chancellor would both have to s top playing due to injury. Richard Sherman tore his Achilles and was released and went on to play in SF and get burnt by Tyreek Hill in the 2020 Super Bowl. He has lost a step and isn’t the same Richard Sherman who dominated. Earl Thomas, Bobby Wagner, and KJ Wright were all that remained of the LOB in Seattle. Thomas got hurt badly a few years before and recovered then came back playing strong. In 2018, he held out to get a new contract but eventually showed up for the regular season and played out of his mind. He played 2 weeks until he got hurt. He flipped off the head coach as the final salute ending his time in Seattle and then continuing regression in Baltimore with personal issues. KJ, Bobby Wagner, and Russell Wilson are all that remains of that team that played against the Patriots 6 years ago. Pete Carroll has kept for so long to play his game with having a solid running game with a half decent line with a QB that will play within his limitations efficiently. It got him to the playoffs but never back to even the NFC championship since 2015. The defense was never to that level again is the missing piece and that’s something Pete is trying to add to.
Meanwhile KJ played arguably his best season yet in 2020 and Bobby continued to be one of the best linebackers in the game. Wilson however started off on a tear then fell apart when teams figured out his game plan. He struggled to get the ball out, he struggled holding onto the ball too long and getting sacked from his mistakes, and threw a lot of picks in the process. You can blame the offensive line or the quarterback but some of this is on coaching too. The offensive coordinator was then fired. But I don’t know if that coach was the problem. Only time will tell but after a disappointing season for the Seahawks 6 years later, the Hawks just don’t seem to adapt well. They play down to the other team’s level and always want to come from behind and win the game in extraordinary fashion with a stroke of luck. Their luck ran out again against a former CFL quarterback, John Wolford, and Rams starting QB Jared Goff in typical Seahawks fashion. Try to catch up, run out of time, the other team wins, and the other team then gets blown out the following week in the playoffs when the Seahawks could have put up a better fight or won. Now with the NFC West adding Matt Stafford to the Rams and Goff shipping out with Jimmy G likely leaving the 49ers also for another elite option, we have to step up and compete and dominate. The Seahawks can’t play down to teams. We have to score and score early and often then set the tone on defense and not step off the gas with the offense until the 2nd team can sub in. That’s what we were doing in 2013 and times in 2014. That’s what it will take to have a chance at winning it all again. But for now, we remember what happened and we hope to learn from it to not repeat the same mistakes. The Seahawks have so much potential again!
