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


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
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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.
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play