Seahawks coach Pete Carroll explains his terrible, game-losing final play call

(Image credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

last updated 2 February 2015

With 25 seconds left on the clock in Super Bowl XLIX, the Seattle Seahawks were half a yard from winning the game, with probably the best running back in the NFL. On second down, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson... threw the ball, and the Patriots intercepted, ending the game. Seattle coach Pete Carroll was quick to accept the blame for that call, but he explained after the game that the Seahawks weren't trying to win the game with that pass, just run down the clock.

The Patriots put in some big players to stop the rush, "so on second down, we throw the ball really to kind of waste that play — if we score, we do; if not then we'll run in it on third or fourth down," Carroll explained. "We were going to run in the ball to win the game, just not on that down." Marshawn Lynch never got his chance, and Carroll will be remembered for one of the worst calls in Super Bowl history. You can watch Carroll gamely eat crow, and Carroll and Wilson give credit due to Patriots interceptor Malcolm Butler, below. —Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.