Pete Carroll’s decision to call a timeout in the final two minutes of Sunday’s 33-31 loss to the Los Angeles Rams backfired.
The Rams had a 2nd-and-8 at their 35 with two minutes left in the game. They gave the ball to Todd Gurley, who rushed for 7 yards. Carroll took a timeout to stop the clock with 1:52 left. The Rams then had a 3rd-and-1 and ran again, but did not pick up any yardage. The clock was stopped for an official measurement that determined the Rams were short.
The Rams had sent out their punt team and were going to give the ball back to the Seahawks, but Carroll had called a timeout to stop the clock. During the timeout, Sean McVay changed his mind and sent his offense back onto the field. They ran a quarterback sneak for the first down and then kneeled out the clock.
Carroll calling the timeout gave the Rams a chance to change their mind and run an offensive play rather than punt, which would have given the Seahawks the ball back with a chance to drive for a potential game-winning field goal. On the flip side, had Carroll not called a timeout, the clock would have restarted after the measurement, and the Seahawks would have only had around a minute left.
In hindsight, Carroll probably would have preferred to have the ball following a punt even if there weren’t much time left rather than see the Rams QB sneak for a game-ending first down.
