Fade":2h6wknnp said:
1a) 2 by 2 Wide Stack Inside Zone to the left out of the Pistol, hand the ball to Lynch, easy TD.
1b) Sprint Right Option if you want Wilson to get the glory instead. (Run/Pass option for Wilson out of the pocket.)
Both plays would've worked so take your pick.
The Seahawks instead chose to throw to the special teams gunner into the teeth of a crowded goaline defense, and have Kearse block the most physical corner in the league, and oh yeah he knows the play and tells M.Butler to be ready for it.
It is a trust play, the QB just chucks it as soon as he gets it, he doesn't read the defense, and has to trust the receiver to run a precise route, and the other receiver to make a great block.
Utter failure. Asking a special teams gunner to run a precise route, and the other to block the most physical corner to come along in 30 years. Instead of putting the ball into your 2 best players hands Lynch & Wilson.
The dumbest playcall in sports history (given the circumstances) that people will always bring up for the rest of our lives.
The End.
Hawkstorian":2h6wknnp said:
I'm happy to see that the passage of time has let the truth sink in that we relied on a 3rd-rate bottom of the roster hack WR determine the most pivotal moment in team history and that just will never be OK. All the great players in team history from Largent all the way to Earl Thomas ... guys who are NFL legends and Ricardo F-ing Lockette was put into that moment. I think that's why so many people will never get over that we didn't give the ball to 'Shawn. No so much that running the ball seems obvious to many, but if our legend is going to be destroyed then at least let it be destroyed by an actual NFL talent.
jeremiah":2h6wknnp said:
Do over? Re-sign BB and keep him from going to your opponent.
jeremiah":2h6wknnp said:
It was a bad read and it was caused by panic by RW. He easily could have rolled back and surveyed the field. Marshawn was wide open in the left corner. I saw it live and it was easy to read that defense before the snap.
These. Excellent summary from Fade. I would only add that in my mind, in NO WAY is Ricardo Lockette responsible. The responsibility is on Bevell. Then Bevell later throws Lockette under the bus; sick, sick, sick.
And pretty much any other corner than Browner playing for NE in that situation, and the play succeeds, or at worst is incomplete. Kearse failed to push him back in a mano-y-mano duel, giving up 20 lbs. Browner knew what was coming. Just another indictment of Darrell Bevell.
I also agree that Russ got involved in a bit of panic, or, I'd call it, impatience. In Russell's mind, it was ON, it was THERE, and he wanted to throw the football BEFORE anything changed. However, Russell was so hasty in his throw, that he put the ball in a HORRIBLE place, leading to the pick. Impatience, panic, being too short (Russell also didn't see Butler lurking, screened off by the mass of bodies) Because of his impatience/panic, Russell made a hasty throw that was sloppy and not well placed, leading directly to the pick. Watch a replay, and Russell actually starts to celebrate as soon as he throws it, because in his mind, he just threw the game-winning TD. If only that were true.
This just goes back to a readiness/playcalling TOTAL FAILURE on the part of Darrell Bevell, of not taking advantage of Wilson's strengths, and trying to win with a typical Bevell stupid "They'll never expect THAT...!!" "surprise" play, that relies on multiple weaknesses making a play. #6 WR Lockette = WEAKNESS, Kearse vs Browner = WEAKNESS, Russell throwing a slant into a crowded pack in middle of line = WEAKNESS. Three weaknesses, zero strengths, no wonder the play failed. WHY THE FREAK didn't Bevell call something using one or more STRENGTHS, OK, pass instead of hand to Marshawn vs. NE's "Heavy" lineup, so roll Russell out, to right, with run-pass option, Russell's mobility = STRENGTH, Russelll's decisionmaking = STRENGTH, limited chance of horrible outcome = STRENGTH. The TD to Tre Madden vs. KC play with video posted earlier was an example of the type of play that should have been called here.