How about a Super Bowl 49 thread?

It is, but if I remember correctly, they only called it once all night and both teams were doing it quite a bit. Not much to complain about with the officials. Brady should have been called for intentional grounding once, but if I remember correctly, that was right before Wagner's interception. Should have been interference on the Pats when a defender fell down and reached out to trip a Seattle receiver (I think it was Kearse) with seven minutes left, but that's about it.

 

What's not being discussed is, despite the fact that they've three Super Bowls in recent memory, there is no guarantee the Seahawks will get back here for a good long while.

 

Yeah. You're trolling me!

The wisdom of time has settled me a little bit off of that. 2014 was an unforgettable year for the team of my youth. I still wish they would have sent Gordon (because Salvy Perez was next) but I know he would have been thrown out 80% of the time.

 

I'm a Giants fan and that play about gave me a stroke. But Gordon would have been an easy out. Of course you can hope Crawford makes a bad throw. But I doubt he would have.

The Seahawks were so much closer. Lynch would have got that yard.

 

Is it possible Carroll knew by going to Lynch, a TD would've made Lynch the MVP and then there'd be another speaking to the media controversy? Even then, he could've put Turban in and given him the ball.

 

Joe Pisarcik's fumble and Red Right 88 certainly come to mind. But, obviously, neither of those were as big as this one.

 

I wasn't sure before, but now I know I'm right.

 

This is the part that I think has gone underdiscussed. It wasn't just that they called a pass that made it such a staggeringly stupid call, it's that they really didn't even call a low risk pass play. Instead, they threw hard right into the center teeth of the defense. There's so much that can potentially go wrong there, even if Butler doesn't make that break on the ball, there's still a significant chance someone else might INT it off the deflection or miss if it's not thrown and caught cleanly.

I cannot believe million dollar coaches called that when they had Marshawn Lynch, their timeouts, and the clock on their side. Maybe the all time forever WTF? play call.

 

2014. Champions.
That's it. That's all.

 

If you're gonna try a surprise pass there, run a bootleg.
Wilson could run or pass to score, or throw the ball away if needed.
And it's a two-on-one option if the play unfolds as planned.

 

Malcolm Butler is a hell of a story (and, at the risk of outing myself, our hometown guy, so guess who's been in scramble mode for the last two hours?)
He played two seasons of high school ball in Mississippi (freshman and senior years), got kicked out of his junior college following an arrest, and then went to work the drive thru at Popeye's. He kept seeing all of his old classmates come through asking what he was doing, and decided he didn't want to do that the rest of his life. So he got his act together, went back to school, got another shot at the juco and by all accounts has been a model citizen ever since. Went to a D-II school because he figured he'd have a better chance to play and was a two-time all-conference player.
He's said getting kicked out of the juco was the best thing that ever happened to him, so that ought to give you an idea of where his mind and attitude are at. Very humble, very gracious guy who realizes how fortunate he is to be where he's at right now.
Last summer he was undrafted and had two free agent offers -- from the Jets and the Patriots. The Jets' offer was better, but he signed with New England and blew everybody away in training camp to earn a roster spot.
And now he'll be on every Super Bowl highlight reel for the rest of eternity and is a Boston sports legend.
I know we're supposed to stay neutral in this business, but damn am I happy to see him have a moment like that.