XLIX

I am still in disbelief at what I saw on TV Sunday night, and no, I'm not talking about a Viagra pill falling into a car's gas tank...  I'm talking about the play call to end all play calls - the one that ended the Seattle Seahawks season in misery.  I don't even need to rehash what's been written everywhere by now - we all knew they were going to hand the ball to Marshawn Lynch, who was going to score a go ahead touchdown. Of course, that didn't happen, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Anyway, not that anyone asked for it, but here is my opinion.  The New England Patriots did not beat the Seahawks. They beat themselves. And before all of the Patriots life-long and bandwagon fans get on my case, I wasn't rooting for either team.  In my mind, to BEAT an opposing team, is along the lines of the 55-10 victory the 49ers had over the Broncos. Or their 49-26 win against the Chargers. Seattle, they beat themselves.  Kinda like The Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV.  I don't feel that the Giants beat them when Scott Norwood's field goal went wide right, the Bills lost. When the game ends on a play which potentially could have won the game for the other team, I don't feel they got beat. They simply lost. In the case of the Seahawks, they were lucky to be in a position to win. If the Green Bay Packers hadn't rolled over and played dead for 5 minutes 2 weeks before, they wouldn't even have been in the Super Bowl. And then the remarkable catch by Jermaine Kearse to give them the ball at 5 yard line with just over 1 minute left... 2 plays later, inexplicably, The Patriots had the ball, retaining their 4 point lead, and won the game.  Pro Football Hall Of Famer Deion Sanders called it one of the worst play calls in Super Bowl History.  Emmitt Smith went even further. calling it the worst call in the history of football. Deflategate? That term can now be used to describe the hearts and souls of every Seattle Seahawk fan - deflated.