Two days later, thousands continue to question the decision of Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell to call for a slant pass instead of a run from Marshawn Lynch with a second straight Super Bowl hanging in the balance. Some Seahawks have openly questioned the decision.
Quarterback Russell Wilson hasn’t. And Wilson won’t.
“I had no doubt in the play call,” Wilson told reporters on Tuesday. “I still don’t to this day.”
Wilson explained that the right talent was on the field, but that the Seahawks simply didn’t make the play.
"[W]e’ve got Doug Baldwin in the game, we’ve got Jermaine Kearse, we’ve got [Ricardo] Lockette in the game and we’ve got Marshawn Lynch and we’ve got Luke Willson, one of our other tight ends in the game and then obviously, I’m in the game, too, so it’s a tough personnel to stop,” Wilson said.
But stop it the Patriots did. Appearing on PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio, Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon of the Seahawks Radio Network said the call was fine but the execution wasn’t. And Moon blamed Wilson for the throw, Lockette for not getting through to the ball, and Kearse for not shedding Patriots cornerback Brandon Browner and executing the rub/pick on Patriots defensive back Malcolm Butler.
Peter King of TheMMQB.com likewise criticized Kearse on PFT Live for not cutting off Butler -- and King also argued that the Seahawks shouldn’t have worried about having enough time to run two more plays if Seattle had run the ball on second down, fallen short, and called a time out.
Wilson seems to be ready to forget about those details and to look forward to the next game that counts.
“I think that’s where our mindset is, that’s where my mindset is, ‘Okay, how can I move on in the future?’ Just like last year when we won the Super Bowl -- I was already thinking about the next opportunity,” Wilson said. “Even though we lost the game, we felt like we should have won it. Okay, now it’s to the next opportunity that we had and that’s how we’ve always been ever since I’ve been here and thinking about it. . . .
“I always kind of write down stuff and I wrote down this, ‘Let’s keep the focus on the future, not what’s behind.’ I think that’s a really, really important thought in terms of staying positive. What can I do for the next opportunity that I have? What can I learn? Good or bad -- if we had won the Super Bowl or if we had lost in the fashion that we had. I would still be thinking the same way and I think keeping that consistent approach to life in general and this is a lot bigger than obviously, losing the game is tough but any life circumstance -- losing my dad. What do I do next? How can I learn from the lessons of losing him? And obviously losing a game is completely different than losing a family member. Those are the type of things that I think about. That’s how I try to prepare my mind for the next opportunity that I have -- the next thing that I have in my life that comes up.”
Wilson still can’t go forward without looking backward; Wilson said he’s already watched film of the Super Bowl loss 12 times. That’s the kind of resolve everyone in the locker room will need if the Seahawks are to follow one of the most devastating losses in Super Bowl history with a second NFL title in three years.