Many Seahawks players didn’t hold their thoughts to themselves in the wake of Sunday’s Super Bowl loss to the Patriots and openly wondered why the team didn’t give the ball to running back Marshawn Lynch when they had second down on the New England 1-yard-line with a little more than 20 seconds to play.
Russell Wilson threw an interception on that play, of course, and the reaction on the sideline wasn’t too different. Paul Burmeister of NBCSN’s Pro Football Talk was on the Seahawks sideline at the fateful moment and told Mike Florio on Monday’s PFT Live that he was standing near two defensive starters who peppered their musings about the Seahawks having “Marshawn Lynch and you don’t run the ball” with four-letter words.
He also recounted watching coach Pete Carroll throw down his headset after the play and what he saw when Wilson came to the sideline.
“I was able to see a lot in that one minute. I went right from watching Pete to looking for Russell Wilson. He conducted himself the way you would expect. Helmet off, didn’t throw it and didn’t swear, just walked right over to Pete. I read the words ‘what happened’ and think he was explaining what happened to Pete Carroll,” Burmeister said.
Burmeister also reported seeing Lynch walk off the field with a grin that he described as “not the kind of grin when something is funny” but one worn when you can’t figure out what’s going on around you. It’s a feeling that plenty of people watching the game are likely familiar with and there’s not much reason to think that it is going to start making much sense anytime soon.