Needing a yard, Seattle hands off to Marshawn Lynch - and he's stuffed

For seven months, Pete Carroll has been questioned for the Seattle Seahawks’ play-calling against the New England Patriots in the closing moments of Super Bowl XLIX. The Seahawks could have handed off to Marshawn Lynch, they could have had Russell Wilson run it in, they could have thrown a fade.

Instead Wilson looked to Ricardo Lockette on an inside slant, and rookie cornerbacl Malcolm Butler intercepted the pass.

But seven months of questions had no affect on Carroll: in his team’s first game after that fateful Arizona night, Carroll and the Seahawks attempted an onside kick to open overtime against the St. Louis Rams, the division rival they’ve struggled to beat in St. Louis in recent years, a gutsy call that showed faith in his defense

Or was it? According to Seattle Times reporter Bob Condotta (@bcondotta), Carroll wanted the kick to go downfield and it wasn’t executed properly by kicker Steve Hauschka.

Either way, the Rams recovered the ball near midfield, and Seattle held them to just a field goal, giving Wilson and the offense a chance to win the game.

And then when the opportunity arose that the offense needed a yard to keep things going, on fourth-and-1 from Rams' 42, this time Lynch got the ball – and was stuffed by defensive tackle Aaron Donald, ending the game and giving the Rams the 34-31 victory for the third time in the last four years they’ve pulled out a close win against Seattle at the Edward Jones Dome.

Pass it with a yard to go, run it with a yard to go, neither works – Carroll just can’t win.

Seattle’s defense put the team in position to win, holding the Rams scoreless for the first 14 minutes of the fourth quarter as the offense worked to tie the game, and provided the go-ahead touchdown when cornerback Cary Williams strip-sacked Nick Foles with under five minutes to play.

Williams scooped up the loose ball and return it 8 yards for the score, putting Seattle up 31-24.

But with just under a minute to play in regulation, Foles threw deep down the left sideline for tight end Lance Kendricks, and Kendricks found himself wide open when safety Dion Bailey stumbled and fell to the turf.

Bailey got the start in place of Kam Chancellor, who is holding out in a contract squabble with the Seahawks.

All in all, not the start the defending NFC champions were looking for.