Pete Carroll: Worst Choking Coach In Sports History

Why doesn't anyone give Malcolm Butler credit for a great play? Everyone keeps saying what a "high-risk" play it is but look at all the passes from the 10 yard line in for the season and what maybe 10 all year are picked off? It was a great play on his part. It was a dumb call but a fantastic play by a defensive player turned it into a disaster of a call.

I was 6 at the time and I still have nightmares about the '71 Bruins.

However, that wasn't just coaching....

Much of the crying is the need to sensationalize.

New Englander wrote:

Wrong. The biggest choke was the 1971 Boston Bruins losing to Montreal in the 1st round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs during the Bobby Orr era.

Disagree. A hot goalie is a significant game changer. Ken Dryden happened in the '71 playoffs. That was no choke.

I agree. If you watch the video again, Butler makes a tremendous play. Had Richard Sherman done the very same thing against Tom Brady what do you suppose today's headline would be?

Carroll made one of the gutsiest calls to end the first half. They easily could have ended up with nothing there, not even 3. Instead, they got 7 and tied it, which negated NE's TD just seconds earlier.

I can't verify it, but I heard that 5 different times this year, when Seattle ran Lynch from the 1 yard line, he got stuffed 4 times. In other words, not quite as effective on the goal line when the defense is expecting him.

Wilson only threw 7 INT's all season (and 4 of those were in one bad game against Green Bay). He's not a high-risk thrower, but the Pats rookie DB jumped the route in a split second and won the game.

And if Lynch gets stuffed on that second down play, then you burn your third time out and have no choice but to pass on third down. Then on fourth down, anything goes, run or pass.

My call would've been a read option roll out with Wilson. He could pass it or run it in.

Hindsight is 20/20.

a few more details wrote:

My call would've been a read option roll out with Wilson. He could pass it or run it in.

Exactly.

With Seattle having 3 receivers up, the Patriots *knew* it was going to be a pass play. That's why they jammed the receiver setting the pick, and that's why they immediately jumped the route. It was good, smart play by the defense, and a terrible, terrible play call. It's not the fact that it was a pass that is so terrible. It's the *kind* of pass play that was called.

You want to keep a defense on its toes? Roll out a running QB and give him a run/pass option. You don't throw a pass into the teeth of a goal-line defense. Maybe you don't expect that kind of interception, but it's the kind of play where a tipped ball could easily happen; and a tipped ball in the teeth of the defense is really likely to turn out badly.

I agree with most of what is being said. My question is how does a guy like Pete Carroll, who has forgotten more football than most of us will ever know, put himself in a position to be second guessed by pretty much anybody and everybody? To me, this puts him in a category of quite a choke.

Like someone pointed out, Belicheat outsmarting him by not calling timeout with a minute to go must've rattled Carroll. Letting the clock run from a little over a minute to 36 seconds before running a play pretty much gave the next play to NE.

I agree that Belichek is showing master chess skills here. He may have even told the secondary including Butler "if you see any chance to take a risk and go for a pick....do it".

Worst case scenario is the pass gets completed and the patriots get the ball back sooner than they would if the seahawks ran it in 1-2 downs later.

The analysts were saying it appeared that Butler got a very early jump at the pick....he probably jumped way earlier than he should have and stood a good chance of getting faked out.....in this case it was low risk high reward

With the defense all crunched up within 11 yards of the line of scrimmage, yeah, a pass like that becomes riskier. Even if Butler didn't intercept, with the defense that crammed up, the ball could have easily been knocked up into the air and then intercepted.

Regardless of how many receivers they had on the field, they still could have tried a run. Had they put in another tight end or back, the Pats simply would have had more defenders also in the box.

What makes the pass even more idiotic if you look at the video, had the Seahawk caught the ball, there was still a good chance he was going to get tackled outside the end zone.

I don't think Belicheat outsmarted Carroll. I thought Belicheat was foolish not to call a timeout on defense and allow more time for the Pats in case the Seahawks scored. Sure it worked out for the Seahawks, but no one, not even Belicheat, was anticipating a Seahawk turnover on the goal line.

In order to be the worst choking sports in sports history there would have to be multiple examples, yet you don't mention anything other than one play yesterday. Maybe Texas vs. USC would offer some more to your argument.

As I saw the play, the fault lied in order on 1) Pete Carroll or whoever made the call 2) Butler making a hell of a play 3) The WR for not going to the ball or even extending his arms to catch it away from his body 4) Wilson for not reading the coverage ideally. However, those who are trying to say that Wilson made a bad throw are very far off base. I think you are forgetting this is a 1 yard slant pass. Your receiver's job is to use their body to stay between the QB and the secondary - it's not rocket science. You run to the ball and don't let a guy run through your arms, ever.

Sincerely,

Not a fan of either team

Ha ha! If it had worked (and it almost did) you'd all be saying it was the greatest play in Super Bowl history. Sometimes the argument for hero or idiot is settled by luck.

Luckily, Butler read the play brilliantly.

iuoieur wrote:

Ha ha! If it had worked (and it almost did) you'd all be saying it was the greatest play in Super Bowl history. Sometimes the argument for hero or idiot is settled by luck.

Luckily, Butler read the play brilliantly.

Agree.

I don't get how the guy can be called the worst. His team finishes second in the NFL rankings and ran a glorious program at USC. He hardly sucks.

iuoieur wrote:

Ha ha! If it had worked (and it almost did) you'd all be saying it was the greatest play in Super Bowl history. Sometimes the argument for hero or idiot is settled by luck.

Luckily, Butler read the play brilliantly.

Had Seattle caught the ball for a touchdown, not a single person would have described the play or even the call as "the greatest play in Super Bowl history". Everyone would be talking about the guy catching the ball on the ground after it bounced off his crotch.

Mike Mccarthy two weeks ago?

a few more details wrote:

I thought Belicheat was foolish not to call a timeout on defense and allow more time for the Pats in case the Seahawks scored.

I thought this at first (during the game and immediately afterwards), but, as others have pointed out, I think Belichick didn't want to give the Seahawks another time out. He took a huge chance (potentially leaving his offense with little or no time for a game-tying FG), but I think he was fully aware of the clock and ramifications. He forced the Seahawks into re-thinking run, run, run. It would be interesting to know his thought process (was it an intentional gamble or not?), but I'm guessing Belichick would only provide a vague answer if asked about taking his decision to not take a timeout with 50+ seconds remaining.

Craziness. I wonder what percentage of people watching the game had assumed the Seahawks were going to score and win at that point?

yuiop wrote:

[quote]a few more details wrote:

Craziness. I wonder what percentage of people watching the game had assumed the Seahawks were going to score and win at that point?

Well, if you're in 4 down territory at the end of the game in need of a TD, and it's only 2nd down on the 1 yard line, and you've got Marshawn Lynch in the backfield, and 1 timeout remaining, yeah, you pretty much expect Seahawks would score on one of the next 3 plays. Even Tom Brady was surprised and went ecstatic at what happened.

Of course, once Pats had the ball, and needed to take a knee, if the Seahawks hadn't gone offsides, it would have been interesting to see if the Pats would have gotten a safety. Probably nothing would have come of it, but it still would have been interesting to see. At that point, a Seahawk FG could win the game after the free kick.