Down 28-24 with under one minute to go in Super Bowl 49 and the ball at the one yard line, the Seattle Seahawks elected to throw the ball against the New England Patriots. You know, as opposed to handing it off to bruising running back Marshawn Lynch and allowing him to push the pile that one yard into the end zone, likely giving the boys in navy blue a second consecutive NFL championship.
Instead, Russell Wilson threw an interception to Malcolm Butler. A couple plays later, the Patriots took a knee and Tom Brady, not Wilson, was named MVP after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
When pressed for an explanation, Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll told NBC after the game:
"Really, what happened down there is really, frankly, is really clear that we went to three receivers, they stayed in their goal line people. We had plenty of downs and we had a timeout. We really just didn't want to run against their goal line group right there. ... That's my fault, totally."
Wilson, for his part, blames himself:
"I put the blame on me. I'm the one who threw it."
Patriots Coach Bill Belichick, meanwhile, claims he wasn't surprised at all:
"They're goal-line plays. That didn't surprise me. They do a lot of things down there. We had to be ready for everything."
It certainly didn't surprise Butler, who, on the biggest stage imaginable, made the biggest play possible.
Thanks to some help from a bone-headed decision by the powers that be in Seattle, of course.
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