Maybe Carroll was gambling on Belichick burning his timeout when they lined up for that play.
Carroll said they were expecting it. And 99% of the time taking the timeout is the right move there. All the way up until they line up exactly the way you want them to.
Yep. That’s where Belichick outsmarted him. I myself was wondering why the Patriots weren’t taking the TOs to leave some time on the clock if Seattle scored, because all they would have needed was a FG to force overtime.
But by not taking them, it forced Seattle to consider abandoning the run.