Super Bowl XXXXIIIVI something or other

[BigEd76]

4th year in a row and 10 of the last 11 where the team wearing the white jersey won

[PhillyPhreak54]

Wow.

This was a great game. Awful play call (and Bevell said that lockette should've been stronger to the ball - um, no. You should've run it dickhead)...awesome catch by Kearse....great drive by Brady

The party I was at was fantastic too. Tons of good food and booze...and two hot lesbians flirting hard and fooling around.

[Rome]

4th year in a row and 10 of the last 11 where the team wearing the white jersey won

Racist.

[ice grillin you]

five times this season marshawn lynch ran it from the one yard line or less and four times he was stopped

[Rome]

If an Eagles coach did that you'd spend the rest of your life reminding anyone who'd listen how stupid the call was.

[ice grillin you]

it was a bad call...i would have run russell wilson on a read option but its not the end all be all like people are trying to portray...it wasnt throwing it to thomas tapeh for example

[Rome]

It was infinitely worse.  They lost the biggest game in the world because they decided to get cute.

I'm good with it because farg em, though.  Just wish it wasn't the Pats on the receiving end of a gift that generous. 

[ice grillin you]

the call itself isnt better or worse because of the enormity of the game....the loss becomes much worse but the call is the call....it was a bad call period....but it was a much better defensive play than it was a bad call...i would have literally given butler the mvp...it was imo the single best play offensive or defensive in sb history

[SD]

It was a horrible call because they threw it in the heart of an 8 man front, it was an even worse throw. You throw that pass you need to hit the receiver in the chest not lead him.

[General_Failure]

If you look closely you can actually pinpoint the exact moment his heart breaks in two.

[PhillyPhreak54]

The call to throw versus run cannot be remotely defended. Butler made a great play and it is def in the top three of SB all time plays.

But you run it three times there. If you want to change it up and not pound Lynch all three times then you go read option. I would've gone read option on 2nd down and then Lynch on third down and fourth down

[PhillyPhreak54]

If you look closely you can actually pinpoint the exact moment his heart breaks in two.

I can't stop watching that lol

[ice grillin you]

the seahawks loss is a lot easier to swallow having won the superbowl last year

for example in the last 365 days the seahawks have won half as many superbowls as the eagles have ever played in and have appeared in double the amount of superbowls as cleveland

[hbionic]

Who gives a farg, who gives a farg, who gives a farg.

The Seahawks and patriots can all go swallow their trophies.

I knew it was over when Kearse dropped that pass when they were up by 10...driving.

[ice grillin you]

Russell Wilson became the first player to throw an interception from the 1-yard line this season.

The biggest play of Super Bowl XLIX was the Seahawks' pass play on 2nd-and-goal from the New England 1-yard line with 26 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Russell Wilson's pass to Ricardo Lockette was intercepted by Malcolm Butler.

Was it the worst play call in Super Bowl history, as some have said, or was it a smart decision with poor execution? We go inside the numbers on both sides of the debate.

WHY THE SEAHAWKS SHOULD HAVE RUN

Over the past five seasons including the playoffs entering last night, teams on the opponent's 1-yard line ran the ball on 71 percent of all plays. On those plays, teams scored a touchdown 54 percent of the time while turning the ball over 1.5 percent of the time.

When passing from the 1, teams scored a touchdown just under 50 percent of the time while turning the ball over at a slightly higher rate.

The Patriots allowed five touchdowns on six rushes from their 1-yard line this season, including the playoffs (83 percent). Only the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington tater skins (both 100 percent) allowed touchdowns on a higher percentage of rushing plays from the 1-yard line.

If Seattle ran on 2nd down, called a timeout and ran on 3rd down, based on the league average touchdown percentage, two rushes would have resulted in a touchdown 79 percent of the time.

WHY THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE RUN

For starters, interceptions on pass plays at the 1-yard line are very rare. Wilson's was the 109th pass attempt from the 1-yard line in the NFL this season and the first to be picked off.

Over the last 10 seasons including the playoffs, quarterbacks have thrown 270 passes on 2nd down from the opponent's 1-yard line. They combined for 129 touchdown and just five interceptions with Wilson's being the fifth.

Additionally, Marshawn Lynch has not been particularly good at punching it in from the 1-yard line over the past 5 seasons.

Among 39 running backs with at least 10 carries from the 1-yard line in the past 5 seasons (incl. playoffs), Lynch's touchdown percentage (45 percent) ranks 30th. Also consider that this season Lynch scored a touchdown on one out of five rushes from the 1-yard line.

Passing from the 1-yard line

Last 5 seasons including playoffs


Pct of Plays
2014 35%*
2013 33%
2012 32%
2011 25%
2010 29%
*TD on 61% of pass att


It is important to note the change in philosophy from the 1-yard line for offenses in the NFL over the last five seasons as well. Teams have been throwing more often and had their most success throwing in 2014, as the chart shows.

A bigger question could be the play call. As Darrelle Revis said after the game, "I think the run's coming with Marshawn. I just figured that they were just going to try to pound it with Marshawn Lynch for the touchdown, and they did not and it was in our favor."

If most players on the Patriots expected run, why not throw in a play-action fake like on the Doug Baldwin touchdown from the 3-yard line? In the last five seasons, teams have scored a touchdown on 57% of their pass attempts from the 1-yard line after play action and 45% without a run fake.

Wilson was 6-for-7 with 132 yards and a touchdown on play-action passes Sunday, but did not use a play fake on the final offensive snap for the Seahawks.