Worst Play Call Ever?

With all apologies to the New England Patriots, the Super Bowl tends to inflate moments in history. Great catches become legendary, big drops are infamous, and mistakes can cast a shadow over otherwise great careers.

When Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell called a pass on second-and-goal from the one-yard line as the team was going in for the possible game-winning score, there was much more to lose than to gain.

“It’s a tough pill, Marshawn (Lynch) is one of the best backs, one of the greatest backs in the game and I know he feels a certain way and we feel for him….There’s good plays and there’s bad plays in the season, I just hope we stick together,” Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett said.  “It’s a tough pill to swallow not to win the game and hopefully we can take something from this game.”

The fear entering the game was that New England would avoid their usual balance and give up on the running game too soon. Although that happened, everyone was pretty sure that Seattle would stick to their bread and butter, the running game behind “Beast Mode”, Marshawn Lynch.

They stuck with it to the tune of 24 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown, but when they needed one more yard to take a lead with less than 30 seconds to play, Bevell inexplicably called a pass and Russell Wilson threw his only interception of the game.

“Obviously you can hand the ball to Marshawn (Lynch), that’s a great option,” Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson said.  “You can also throw it and I think that’s a great option.  We thought we had him and I thought it was a touchdown when I threw it and when I let it go I thought it was going to be game over.”

Patriots’ rookie defensive back Malcolm Butler jumped a Ricardo Lockette slant route and came up with the football to effectively end the game.

“Preparation; We studied film and I knew the stacks and when the stack receivers came out I knew one was coming up and the other was coming over and I knew it was clutch time and I knew we needed it and I just went on and made the play,” Brown explained on NFL Network following the game.

It’s rare that one individual coaches’ call can lose a Super Bowl and alter history. That’s exactly what happened Sunday night, and now Pete Carroll and Darrell Bevell will be remembered for a singular call more than anything else.

“That was the worst play call I’ve seen in the history of football,” Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith said via his Twitter account.

Tom Is Terrific Again

With Tom Brady’s Super Bowl record 37-completion, 328-yard, four-touchdown performance in Super Bowl XLIX, he captured his third Super Bowl MVP award and tied a record by winning his fourth Super Bowl title.

Just like in previous Super Bowl’s, Brady received the ball down three points and led his team to the eventual game-winning touchdown as he found Julian Edelman on a three-yard touchdown strike.

“He’s the greatest quarterback to ever live on this Earth,” Edelman said in an NFL Network interview after the game.  “He’s won four Super Bowls in the modern day era with a salary cap.  He’s been to six.  I’m a huge Joe Montana fan, I love him to death, but Tommy’s No. 1.”

Although Brady was great, he wasn’t perfect as he threw a pair of interceptions and New England was down 10 points heading into the fourth quarter.

“It wasn’t the way we drew it up, and throwing a couple picks didn’t help,” Tom Brady said from the podium when accepting his MVP Trophy. “Our team has had a lot of mental toughness all year and we never doubted each other. That was a great football team we beat and I’m just so happy for our team.”

Tom Brady directed his team to 28 points against the top-ranked Seahawks defense which hadn’t given up four touchdowns in a game since October.

“Tom is arguably one of the greatest to ever play the game,” Seahawks’ defensive end Michael Bennett said.  “They made some good plays, we made some good plays…Whenever you play against a great team it always comes down to the last play.”

Although an argument could have been made for Brady to be the greatest quarterback ever even if he lost the game just by making six Super Bowl appearances, now the argument holds even more water as Brady holds the record for appearances (6), and ties the record for most Super Bowl victories by a quarterback (4) and most Super Bowl MVP’s (3).

“He’s the best quarterback to ever play this game,” Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis said after the game. “All the hard work really pays off for Tom (Brady) and how he approaches the game. It’s really awesome; It’s puts another championship under his belt.”

Although Brady isn’t mobile and his numbers have slipped somewhat in recent years as his team has become more run based, there’s simply nobody you’d rather have in a big game.

Pygmy Wide Receiver Attack

The New England Patriots were once again ahead of the curve regarding the NFL’s rule changes regarding downfield contact. While it’s nice to have the big receivers who can physically beat smaller players and catch jump balls, the Patriots proved once again that it’s not necessary to win at the highest level.

Neither Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola or Shane Vereen measure in a six feet tall, but they played their underneath, slot roles to absolute perfection in Super Bowl XLIX. Edelman led the Pats with nine catches for 109 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown catch which gave New England the lead with 2:02 remaining in the game.

“We made more plays and we executed when we had to,” Julian Edelman said after the game.

The Patriots dinked, dunked and crossed their way to their fourth Super Bowl title in the last 14 years. The trio of Edelman, Amendola and Vereen combined for 25 receptions for 221 yards and three of Tom Brady’s four touchdown passes in the game.