Carroll shoulders blame in loss

Feb 2, 2015 - 5:54 AM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Seattle Seahawks were a yard away from tasting the rainbow for a second straight year.

All they had to do was give it to their beast.

At least you'd think so ... right?

Instead, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll elected to throw a slant pass to Ricardo Lockette and it was intercepted by New England rookie Malcolm Butler, sealing a 28-24 Patriots' victory in Super Bowl XLIX.

"That's my fault totally," Carroll said of the peculiar play call.

Marshawn Lynch, who carried the ball 24 times for 102 yards and a touchdown in a bulldozing performance toting the rock, didn't get his chance to reach the end zone after powering for four yards the play prior.

Rather than giving it to his All-Pro running back, the Seahawks went to a receiver with 18 career receptions.

As Butler cut in front of Lockette, a dejected Carroll dropped his head and fell to his knees.

He was as visibly numb during his postgame press conference.

"I can't even feel it," Carroll said. "For it to come down to a play like that, I hate that we have to live with that, because we did everything right to win the football game at the end."

With Seattle trailing by four after Tom Brady tossed a go-ahead 3-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman with 2:02 left, Russell Wilson lofted a 31- yard completion along the left sideline to Lynch.

Wilson hit Lockette for a gain of 11 on a 3rd-and-10 to move the ball into Patriots territory and Jermaine Kearse hauled in a miraculous 33-yard reception a play later to set up the goal-to-go situation.

"They made one more play than we did," Wilson said.

It was only a couple of hours earlier that Carroll reaped in the rewards of a courageous decision.

Seattle faced a 1st-and-10 at the New England 11 with six seconds to go in the opening half after Lockette snagged a 23-yard reception and Patriots cornerback Kyle Arrington was whistled for a facemask penalty.

Carroll elected to take a shot at the end zone, and Wilson connected with Chris Matthews on a back-shoulder throw in the front left corner to tie the game at 14-14 going into the break.

Except nobody's going to remember that gutsy call. Not anymore.