Pete Carroll made a call to go for a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter that left many — including Bill Belichick — surprised.
The Seahawks were up 31-24 after scoring a touchdown late in the game and decided to go for two instead of kicking an extra point. Patriots coach Bill Belichick was surprised by the decision:
The thinking was if they failed to convert, the game would go to overtime if the Pats scored because New England would likely just kick an extra point, or Seattle would have a chance to stop a 2-point conversion and win. However, if Seattle converted, they would have gone up by two scores with 4:24 left, which would have been a tough deficit for the Pats to overcome.
Former Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy was among the critics who disagreed with Carroll’s call:
I know what Pete Carroll was thinking going for 2 to make it a two score game. But trust your D and force NE to score a TD and a 2 pointer.
— Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) November 14, 2016
Even though Seattle failed to convert, their defense came up huge with a goal-line stand at the end of the game.
The Seahawks’ decision to go for two actually made sense. The surprise was seeing an aggressive, outside-the-box thinker like Belichick question it, especially when he’s been responsible for similar choices like this.
