Brandon LaFell was assuming -- and hoping -- that his head coach planned to allow the Seahawks to score at the end of Super Bowl XLIX.
"Once (Jermaine Kearse) caught the ball, I was just like I hope the coaches let 'em score," LaFell said Wednesday on NFL Network's NFL AM. "Let 'em score so we can get the ball back, leaves 50, 40 seconds; they haven't been able to stop us the whole fourth quarter."
LaFell was not alone, especially given the precision of Josh McDaniels' offense. Forty seconds would be plenty of time for a game-tying field goal. Even 25 seconds -- the amount of time remaining when Russell Wilson dropped back to pass -- would be concerning.
But more than a week removed, he's relieved Belichick trusted in his defense and a timely substitution before the final play.
He's also quite high on Pete Carroll's play call at the end of the game.
"It was the best play call in history. On my side of the field, I liked it," LaFell said. "The play before, man, (Marshawn) Lynch almost scored! I'm like, 'ain't no doubt in my mind he's going to get the ball again.' The way they handled the ball, man, I was like, 'Yes, man.'
" 'Cause you know, in that situation, in the red zone, it's a tight situation. ... So when they decided to throw the ball, and when you throw the ball on the end line, you gotta throw it low. When you throw it high, it's gonna get tipped. ... Nine times out of 10, it's gonna get tipped, and when it's tipped on the goal line, that's a team meeting: Somebody's gonna get it."
The one thing that no one is talking about this week, though, is that Seattle is internalizing all of this. They have one of the best -- and youngest -- teams in football, and they thrive on reading this sort of material.
For another month or so, Carroll and his players will continue to be the butt of jokes, but does anyone really think Carroll won't be able to turn this around and use it?
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