I don't think a pass play was a bad call in that situation. I think that pass play was about as dumb as it gets.
What wound up making it bad was that it had worked in the past. Often success in football is predicated on doing the “dumb” thing largely nobody ever does it and the other side doesn’t expect it. But this one was on the tapes, and Bill coached against it, and thus it didn’t work.
What I love about that play (the whole play, not just Pete’s call) is that both coaches did “dumb” things that if they didn’t work would be questioned. CW in that situation for the Pats is to call the timeout and nurse the clock for your thrilling comeback. But Bill didn’t because he saw the formation and figured his guys had it. If the Seahawks succeed in that play today the talk of the sports world is how stupid Bill was for not stopping the clock. I don’t think I’ve seen a play where both coaches took the genius/ idiot path at the same time.