Pete Carroll's Final Play Call Will Add to the Legend of Bill Belichick's Genius

Rush Limbaugh.com ^ | February 2, 2015 | Rush Limbaugh

[Kaslin]

RUSH: So we had the Super Bowl last night. Folks, I don't quite know how to express this. I still feel cheated. I don't think that ended up being a pro-football game. I mean, it was, but that last call -- I've looked at it every number of ways. I've listened to every excuse offered. You know, it would be wonderful if Obama would actually stand up and take responsibility for his mistakes like Pete Carroll has. If Obama had made that call last night and it blew up, Obama would say (imitating Obama), "I knew nothing about it. I found out about it when you did when I watched the replay on TV from the sideline." He would totally divorce himself from any responsibility.

I don't think it was Pete Carroll's call. It might have been what the offensive coordinator thought Pete Carroll wanted, but it was the offensive coordinator's call. If I were the quarterback, I would have protested. I would have said, "No way, we're not running this play." And I've heard them say that, yeah, second down we have to throw the ball, it's a wasted play. Wasted play? You've got 40 seconds left. You've got a time-out left. You're on the one yard line after your best running back has just gained four yards and just barely missed scoring, you're gonna waste a play because protocol calls in that situation for at least one pass play?

Why would you even think about stopping the clock? You would want to run as much time off the clock as possible, in the event you do score, give the Patriots as little time as possible to march down into field goal range. But the play call itself -- you know, I've watched it. I've watched that play in a gif format, it just loops, and that cornerback, the rookie, Butler, he knew that play was coming. If you get a chance and watch that play, look at how far off the line of scrimmage he was from the defensive perspective on the left side and look how far he had to go to get there. He could have only made that play if he knew it was coming.

And for the life of me, if you are going to throw the ball in that situation, why in the world do you make it obvious Marshawn Lynch is not part of the play at the snap? Brian, did you see this? At the snap, Marshawn Lynch, who everybody thinks should have gotten the ball, is jogging out to the left flat, totally out of the play. It's instantly visible to the defense so you don't have to worry about him. And that's one of the keys, I think, for this rookie cornerback. He saw Lynch not even be part of the play, but they had watched tape. They knew the Seahawks ran that play in goal-line circumstances, and it was part of the preparation. When he saw that the quarterback was gonna throw, he knew exactly what was coming, quick slant. I think the offensive receiver didn't run an aggressive root. He didn't get there quick. I've watched it. He didn't really get a good start off the line.

[Lexinom]

The Seattle Seahawks, with five injuries (three LOB players + Lane and Avril), lost to an inferior team at full health yesterday. That’s all it was. It just wasn’t in the cards for them this year.

[Kenny Bunk]

Russell Wilson is not an ‘elite’quarterback. He’s actually a below average QB for the NFL. I wouldn’t pay him any big bucks.

As a Patriots Fan (Superbowl only), I must pitch the pixels to object. This Wilson kid from Seattle is really good. He is a dyn-o-mite runner, excellent on the bootleg, and has a very good arm. Also he is very young, and it seems to me is ordered to execute what the guys in the office want. Maybe they will loosen up when he's older?

On another note, no normal town can have both a website like

More Than Any Sane American Should Know About Seattle

AND an NFL Team. The two are simply incompatible.

[DennisR]

“Russll Wilson is not an ‘elite’quarterback. He’s actually a below average QB for the NFL. I wouldn’t pay him any big bucks.”

Really? He has taken his team to the SB twice (won one, lost one) in his first three years in the league? Can you name anyone else who has done that? Sure, the defense is great, but teams have to play both sides of the ball.

[Cyman]

” He is a dyn-o-mite runner, excellent on the bootleg, and has a very good arm. Also he is very young, and it seems to me is ordered to execute what the guys in the office want”

AND is not going to rehab.

[Lexinom]

“The Stranger” is an embarassment... But, you know, first amendment...

[cmomm44]

c’mon—he did what was ordered by the higher ups-—when the pass was caught to give them a chance to win,that was not scenario desired-—sooo-—something stupid had to be done to ‘lose the game’——just follow the money-—my humble opinion and I’m stuck with it

[jobim]

Same here. I was 7 & 1/2 when the Hitless Wonders won the penant - a night of revelry I shall never forget. Luis Aparicio was my hero, my model for when I later played shortstop. Sat at the 20,000 foot elevation in the old Chgo Stadium for $2 to see Tom Boerwinckle etal. Saw Roller Derby at the Coliseum (saw the Rascals there too). Caught the Black Hawks some too, but they had Hull & Mikita to bring some pride. I remember the Loyola Ramblers winning the 1963 NCAA, and I remember them leading Alcindor’s UCLA Bruins at half time with Doug Wardlaw, Jim Tillman, and Corky Bell. And I remember those Rosemont Blue Demons with Aguirre. Yup, Chgo sports nearlly always came up short.

[norwaypinesavage]

Rush: "I still feel cheated."

Anyone who "feels cheated" by a play called by a coach of a football game is simply not rational. Rush obviously was rooting for the Seahawks, and lost. Get over it, Rush.

[ought-six]

Well, it wasn’t first down, it was second down.

I am no Pete Carroll fan (in fact, I despise him, and have ever since he was at USC). But when one considers the odds (and an analyst that was cited on another thread pointed this out), they actually favored (though only so very slightly) a pass play in this situation.

I was like a lot of people when I first saw that play: WTF? You didn’t RUN???

But looking at it later, after considering all possibilities, I cannot fault Carroll for the call. Of course, I’ve had almost a full day to consider the options, but Carroll (or the OC, if he in fact called the play), had only a few seconds to make the decision.

[TexasGator]

“He could have only made that play if he knew it was coming. “

He didn’t need to know. It was his man to cover.

[TexasGator]

“One foot from a TD”

The hash marks are one yard, not one foot.

[ought-six]

“I’d have lined up and run 3 times.”

They didn’t have time for three running plays. They only had time for two, and that would have required them using their last time out.

[TexasGator]

“I’d have lined up and run 3 times.”

Clock would have run out before third run.

[TexasGator]

” He has taken his team to the SB twice (won one, lost one) in his first three years in the league?”

He has some mobility but the passes he made were lobs to the tall receivers guarded by short defensive backs.

[TexasGator]

“with five injuries (three LOB players + Lane and Avril), “

As the race car driver complained ... I would have won the race if only my engine handn’t blown.

[TexasGator]

“that will go down as the WORST call in NFL history”

Not to mention that neither the QB or WR executed at a superbowl level on the play.

AND one undrafted DB DID perform at a superbowl level on the play.

[freebilly]

Wilson has GREAT mobility. He reads defenses better than most young QB’s (unlike Kaepernick of the 49’ers). Young QB’s better than him? Luck and Derek Carr. Carr has the misfortune of playing on a hapless Raiders’ squad. Will Wilson improve? Yes. Will he ever be an elite QB? Maybe not. But the Seahawks might just win a couple more Superbowls with him at the helm. He’s a winner (yesterday notwithstanding), and I was rooting for the Pats....

[TexasGator]

” But the Seahawks might just win a couple more Superbowls with him at the helm.”

They will have to work on their post-TD routines then ...

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/02/01/baldwin-mystery-penalty-a-poop-joke/21137740/

[dfwgator]

Everyone was expecting Belichick to use his timeouts to give Brady and Company a chance to go down the field and kick a tying FG should the Seahawks have scored.

When he didn’t, it threw Carroll off-balance and took away Seattle’s options.

But if Seattle scored, then everyone would have been going after Belichick for the poor clock management.

[vpintheak]

Shopot, Seattle got lucky on 3-4 plays in the NFC CHampionship game to even make it there in the first place. Good game, great plays.