'Hawks Lose

The call that made the Pats the Super Bowl champs is going to be dissected, analyzed and critqued to death. A mere 1 yard from the touchdown that would virtually cement Seattle’s second consecutive Super Bowl win, Russell Wilson threw and an undrafted afterthought named Malcom Butler stepped in front of the intended receiver and ended what looked like another remarkable, unlikely comback. 

Howls will be heard, accusations hurled about and they will mostly all say the same thing: “What a stupid call.” “Just run ‘beast mode,’ send Lynch into the mosh pit and take the Lombardi trophy home to Seattle.”

But here’s the thing: Everybody knows that Seattle’s gonna go beast mode. The Pats know it, the fans know it, the pundits know it. And here’s what good football strategy is all about: When everybody knows you’re going to do X, do Y.

I think the decision to go with a pass was the right call. An interception was wildly unlikely (about as unlikely as Kearse’s catch of a pass that bounced off his leg and stomach while he lay on the ground). And, if the pass failed, there were still two downs for beast mode.

It didn’t work. Life’s like that. Regroup for next year. Like Brady said in a press conference, “This isn’t ISIS. No one’s getting killed.”

It was a football game — and it was a damn good one and this message, my friend, is from a Seahawks fan.