Even a decade later, we all know what should have happened. On second-and-goal from the one-yard line with less than a minute to go in Super Bowl XLIX, the Seattle Seahawks should have called a play where running back Marshawn Lynch ran the ball. If the play didn't work, Seattle should have done the same thing on third down. The New England Patriots were unlikely to keep him from scoring.
As 12s know, the play was seemingly never called. Instead, quarterback Russell Wilson threw a pass that ended up in the arms of Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler for an interception. The Patriots ran out the last few seconds of the game to win, while Seattle missed on its last best chance to get another Super Bowl victory.
Immediately following the game in the years since, the blame for the play call has fallen on former offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, former head coach Pete Carroll, former wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, or Wilson. Bevell seemingly called the play, Carroll failed to change the call, Kearse failed to run a good route, and Wilson threw the ball.
Brandon Mebane places blame for the Seahawks Super Bowl loss to the Patriots on Russell Wilson
Former Legion of Boom member Brandon Mebane has a different take, though. Speaking with Gee Scott on the podcast The Reset, the defensive tackle said the play was actually an option. Wilson could have simply handed the ball to Lynch. Instead, Wilson saw the multitude of defensive linemen the Patriots had on the field, and not linebackers, and thought a pass was Seattle's best option.
According to Mebane, Wilson changed the call before the play. To be sure, the kind of play Seattle was trying to run had worked perfectly during the regular season. Not just for the Seahawks, but every team in the league. Patriots coach Bill Belichick had prepared for the play leading up to the game, though, and was not surprised by what Wilson was trying to do.
Mebane said, "(The offense was) in the huddle. Here we go. Right here. One-yard line. Easy money. And, as good as our defense was, I don’t think we would have stopped our offense from one yard out. I don’t think we could have stopped Marshawn back there...(on the sidelines, backup quarterback )Tavaris Jackson says, ‘Nooo! Don’t run that play.’ He turns his back and walks up the sideline away from the play. And I’m like, ‘Where is he going, and why did he say don’t run that play?’"
Of course, if the play was truly an option, then that would imply Bevell did not call a pure pass play so Carroll would not have moved to change the call. The onus of which play to run would have fallen squarely on Wilson. According to Mebane, the quarterback is at fault for what happened because Wilson wanted to throw the ball.
The next morning during breakfast, Mebane said that Wilson approached him to discuss what happened. Mebane told Scott, "Russell pops up and said, ‘Man, they was in goal line (formation), that’s why I threw the ball.’ I said, ‘Oh, OK,’ and then I walked off. So, pretty much, Russell changed the play. It was one play. Russell changed the play to that play and then what happened happened."
It is doubtful that Carroll, Bevell, or Wilson would ever corroborate Mebane's statements. No one wants to be seen as the one who is truly to blame for what occurred. Still, Mebane has no reason to make anything up.
