OT: Carrollfreude?

Submitted by YoungGeezy on

Anyone else feel like this is karma for Pete Carroll? I can't help but still be bitter about the last couple of Rose Bowls we lost to him and he royally screwed the Trojans on the way out.

Most are calling the goal line play the worst call in the history of football, which might be hyperbole, but I can't say I feel bad for him.

Edit: Not Hyperbole. It was a horrendous call.

bronxblue

February 2nd, 2015 at 8:24 AM ^

Pretty much.  Throwing a ball from the 1-yard line on a crossing route isn't the worst play in the world, and again, a couple of inches and it's a TD.  But giving up 8 yards of cushion when you only need 7 yards for a TD was terrible, and you could tell it was a terrible call because everyone was screaming about the formation as soon as they broke it out.

This is a subjective argument so I'm not sure your drive to "convince" me I'm wrong.  You think throwing a short pass instead of giving your RB a shot at a TD from the 1 yard line is the worse call, and I'm not going to argue with you that it wasn't a bad call.  But people are acting like it was a terrible decision because of the result, not because of the playcall.  Had it fallen incomplete, now Seattle has a choice between running the ball on two more plays (3rd and 4th) and still have a TO.  You run there and he gets stopped, you have to throw the next two downs and that limits you.  It was a dangerous throw and it was picked off, but it was also a great play by the Patriot DB.  Your mileage may vary with this argument, but that's how I viewed it.

EDIT:  I think the result of the play is so intertwinned that the argument of "terrible play" is hard to distinguish.  It was an INT so it was a terrible result, but throwing a pass on 2nd-and-short near the goalline wasn't a terrible decision, and based on stills and videos of the play it probably would have worked had the throw been a bit better.  My issue with the "worst playcall in history" argument, which I've seen here and other places, is that it is based on the result, not necessarily the play called.

westwardwolverine

February 2nd, 2015 at 11:52 AM ^

It was a terrible decision because the Patriots are awful at stopping short yardage situations and the Seahawks have Marshawn Lynch. 

Carroll admitted after the game they were "wasting" a play. 

Basically, he's saying that call was designed to not win the Super Bowl, which makes it the worst possible call you could make considering you have the winning lottery ticket in your backfield. And yeah the result plays into it, but the playcall allowed the result to occur...and the playcall was entirely unnecessary given the personnel and situation. 

You're doing that thing where you're just thinking about this in football theory as its drawn on a chalkboard and not about the actual context of the game and who was playing in it. Its the SpaceCoyote special. 

gord

February 1st, 2015 at 11:20 PM ^

Yeah, lets talk shit about Carroll who dominated Michigan while at USC and dominated Harbaugh while at Seattle.  Seriously, without Carroll Harbaugh is not at Michigan right not.

 

THANK YOU PETE CARROLL!!!

remdog

February 2nd, 2015 at 12:29 AM ^

didn't "dominate" Michigan.  He won two games by only two touchdowns each time.  That's a winning record but not exactly domination.  And he didn't exactly dominate Harbaugh overall either.  Harbaugh kicked his butt (2-1 record and a beatdown in the last game) while at Stanford even though he had major disadvantages.  Then at SF, I believe Harbaugh only trails Caroll 5-4 overall after an initally leading 4-2.  Obviously, the last couple games Harbaugh's SF was crippled by injuries, suspensions and incompetent/undermining management.

gord

February 2nd, 2015 at 1:08 AM ^

The games weren't close and you know it.  USC didn't even want to be in the Rose Bowl those years.  Carroll's USC teams were light years ahead of Michigan.  He's a great coach.

BlueInWisconsin

February 1st, 2015 at 11:21 PM ^

I'm not on board with the "worst call ever" chorus. It's all a flip of the coin. If his players out execute the opponent then they win and it's a brilliant call. If they run Lynch and get stuffed then everyone would be on him for being too obvious.

MichiganExile

February 1st, 2015 at 11:38 PM ^

You don't flip a coin on 2nd and 1 at the goal line with the SB on the line and Lynch in the backfield. The call maybe, maybe, could be excused if Pats are the one's driving. They weren't, it was the Hawks who have Lynch. If they were so intent on throwing and surprise they should do a fade or something that doesn't throw right into the teeth of a loaded up box. 

HateSparty

February 1st, 2015 at 11:23 PM ^

I am not Pete's fan but I appreciate how he handled the questions afterward. They had a plan and it did not work out. Props. His steadiness bodes well for a return visit for Seattle.




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superstringer

February 1st, 2015 at 11:27 PM ^

When USC had a 4th and 1 play to win their third consecutive championship, they ran the obvious play -- Bush up the middle. Texas stuffed it, Vince Young then did his thing etc.

Wonder if that was in the back of his head. Dont do the obvious.




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MichiganExile

February 1st, 2015 at 11:31 PM ^

Best running team in football? Check. Marshawn Lynch in the backfield? Check. 

Run Lynch three times to get one yard. Not a single person on the planet can be upset that he isn't stopped. Conversely if he is stopped you tip your cap to the Pats and not a single person can be upset.

It was, without doubt or hyperbole, the worst call in the history of any sport. It's hard to understand and as a lifelong Seahawks fan who has watched some terrible football it might have been the most painful thing I've ever experienced. 

BigOzzy86

February 1st, 2015 at 11:34 PM ^

Douche Bag who had absolutely no regard for any semblance of integrity in college football... He was well aware of the tire fire he started and was approaching USC. He did what most con men do... run to where they won't extradite. His safe haven was the NFL.
That is why the play that happened to night came at the time it did.... to punk him out at the biggest moment and on the biggest stage. Sleep tight Pete....

Engin77

February 1st, 2015 at 11:43 PM ^

intercepting what appeared to be a sure TD pass against the Patriots' goal line rush defense. The play call is being questioned. I get that.

It was rock, paper, scissors time; the Seahawks decided to go scissors, thinking they'd have two more downs to go ROCK.  But rookie Malcolm Brown wasn' t thinking about the incredible catch Kearse made against him two plays earlier, he was thinking about what he'd seen on film when the Seahawks lined up with stacked receivers, and he made the play of the game on the biggest stage.

What a great finish to a great game.

Can we get a UFR of Q4 for our former QB and now 3 time Superbowl MVP?

 

Ben v2

February 2nd, 2015 at 1:38 AM ^

Jed York and Trent Baalke would have "consciously decoupled" from Jim Harbaugh even if he had won 5/6 vs. Pete Carroll.  York only cares about profit margin, and Baalke wants to have the biggest unit in the Niners office.

LSAClassOf2000

February 1st, 2015 at 11:50 PM ^

While there have been some mind-boggling calls at critical moments in Super Bowls past, what the Seahawks did there really stands out to me as one of the more unreal "WTF" strategic gaffes in recent Super Bowl memory. As other have mentioned, if you were going to try anything in the air, you would have done better to go all Mike Leach and throw goal line fades, or do something more conventional and just run Lynch up the middle until a TD happened or someone died. The pass up the middle was just...wow. 

bronxblue

February 1st, 2015 at 11:57 PM ^

As a counter, had the ball been 6-inches more inside Seattle scores there.  It wasn't a great playcall by any means, especially with a TO in your pocket, but the Patriots DB made a tough play in traffic that could just as easily been a TD.