Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl rematch recalls the 9 dumbest decisions in the Big Game's history

When we think of the Super Bowl, we want to think of the glory and genius, not the glitches and gaffes.

We want to remember Mario Manningham’s ridiculous sideline catch to help the Giants beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. We want to remember Joe Montana tricking everyone and throwing to John Taylor for the winning touchdown, rather than Jerry Rice, as the 49ers defeated the Bengals in the closing moments of Super Bowl XXIII. Or Terrell Davis steaming through the Packers defense for 157 yards and three TDs in Super Bowl XXXII.

Thing is, Dumb Stuff happens in the Big Game, as well.

There have been nearly as many memorable blunders as sensational plays.

Some of them were coaching moves, or lack thereof. Some were playing decisions made in less than a second. Some were executed by relative nobodies. Some resulted from the work of Hall of Fame coaches or players.

And here they are, the nine dumbest decisions in Super Bowl history:

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Nine dumbest decisions in Super Bowl history

1. “The worst call in Super Bowl history”

The moment Marshawn Lynch was declared down at the New England 1-yard line, the game clock at Super Bowl XLIX read 1:01. The Seahawks needed a touchdown as they faced a 28-24 deficit. Lynch had carried the ball 24 times for 102 yards, four of them on the play that put them within 36 inches of a second consecutive Lombardi Trophy.

“Do you let them score?” NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth asked on the telecast.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick, curiously, didn’t even call timeout, though he had two available.

Maybe he knew Seattle would do something ridiculous. Like not hand the ball to the man they called “Beast Mode” and challenge the Patriots to stop him. Like line up with three wide receivers – instead of multiple tight ends or an extra offensive lineman – and attempt a pass over the middle.

Patriots DB Malcolm Butler knew exactly what was coming, charging up from his position a few yards into the end zone, eluding the traffic wideout Jermaine Kearse attempted to create as he came off the line and blasting receiver Ricardo Lockette just as the ball arrived. It floated out of Seattle’s reach and toward Butler, who gathered it before falling to the ground for the game-clinching interception.

The headline on Seattle Times columnist Jerry Brewer’s analysis of the game: “Seahawks lost because of the worst call in Super Bowl history”.

“We had it. I don’t understand how you don’t give it to the best back in the league on not even the 1-yard line,” linebacker Bruce Irvin told Brewer – and, yes, Irvin played for Seattle. “We were on the half-yard line, and we throw a slant. I don’t know what the offense had going on, what they saw. I just don’t understand.”

After the game, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said the team didn’t have the correct personnel in the game to run the ball, with three wideouts on the field against the Pats’ goal-line D. But they’d had fullback Will Tukuafu in on the prior play, the one Lynch ran from the 5 to the 1. So, like, why take him out?

In researching this, I actually found someone who tried to argue that passing the ball was the correct call.

And, shocking, his last name was not Brady or Belichick.

MORE: Inside Malcolm Butler's road from Pats hero to high school coach

2. “You better turn it on, or he’s gone”

Desmond Howard officially was listed on the Packers 1996 roster as a wide receiver. He caught 13 passes in 16 regular season games. He caught none in Super Bowl XXXI against Bill Parcells’ Patriots. And Howard was MVP of the game.

Adam Vinatieri and the Patriots special teams saw to that by placing a kickoff with 3:27 left in the third quarter and the Packers ahead by just 6 points into Howard’s hands at the 1-yard line.

His menace as a return man was no secret. He’d taken three punts back for touchdowns in the regular season, and another in the playoffs. He’d won the Heisman Trophy in part for his ability in that forum. Instead of directing the kick away from him, though, Vinatieri drilled the kickoff directly into the middle of the field, where Howard was waiting. He was touched just once as the sprinted for the score that put the Patriots in a hole from which they couldn’t recover.

"We were worried about him,” Parcells said, “but you can't cancel the game."

Nah, but you could have kicked away from him. That was an option.

3. “The message sent was thunderous”

The Steelers trailed the Cowboys, 10-7, just before halftime of Super Bowl X, when Pittsburgh advanced to the Dallas 19 for what should have been a chip-shot field goal. But Roy Gerela missed his attempt, and Dallas safety Cliff Harris, who was next to the kicker as they watched the ball fly outside the target, mockingly patted Gerela on the helmet. Gerela was not pleased and began to push at Harris, and they briefly became entangled .

Middle linebacker Jack Lambert was on the field as part of the protection unit. He saw what happened, ripped Harris away from Gerela and threw him to the turf and pointed at him. No one remembers what he shouted, but Harris saw who had affronted him as he rose and wanted no part of a further confrontation. He pointed to the ref, asking for a personal foul penalty. The ref wanted no part of that.

“I think the message sent was thunderous,” Steelers safety Mike Wagner told NFL Films. “No one is going to intimidate any of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And if you don’t understand that, we’re going to show you that.”

The Cowboys offense scored more points for Pittsburgh than themselves over the next 28 minutes; they had a punt blocked that resulted in a Steelers safety. Dallas didn’t get another field goal or touchdown until they were behind 11 points and time was running out to mount a comeback.

ESPN ranked it No. 13 on the list of greatest Super Bowl moments.

But not if you were Cliff Harris, it wasn’t.

4. “This is what Matt Ryan couldn’t afford to do”

Julio Jones produced one of those legendary Super Bowl moments, like Giants’ David Tyree with the “helmet catch” or Max McGee’s one-handed grab for the Packers. His sideline catch with 4:38 remaining was the sort of athletic absurdity we see periodically with some of the best NFL receivers, but only on the rarest occasions do we see this on the biggest stage.

The Falcons led 28-20 when he landed at the NE 22, having surrendered 17 straight points after taking a 28-3 lead. They were in position to lock up the game on that drive. They were looking at a 40-yard field goal to make it a two-score game.

On second down, though, after Devonta Freeman had lost a yard on a toss sweep, Atlanta QB Matt Ryan lined up in the shotgun, with no back behind him. He was going to pass? For real? The almost-giddy Patriots overwhelmed the Falcons’ protection scheme, with Trey Flowers blowing through center Alex Mack and sacking Ryan for a 12-yard loss.

A holding call against Atlanta’s Jake Matthews on the subsequent play pushed them entirely out of field goal range, which meant a punt to the Patriots with plenty of time to mount a tying drive, which they did, which was followed by Patriots’ success in the OT period. So there were a lot of dumb decisions by a lot of different Falcons in that sequence. On the Fox telecast, analyst Troy Aikman initially held Ryan responsible for not getting rid of the ball and taking the sack.

But the real culprit wasn’t wearing a helmet.

Kyle Shanahan now is considered an offensive genius. You wouldn’t have known it in that fourth quarter. His decision not to merely pound away at the Patriots’ interior line and kick a clinching field goal was ridiculous. But not indefensible. Because the Patriots had no issues defending against that decision.

5. “What a kooky play that was!”

The Dolphins of 1972 are remembered for perfection.

What might be forgotten from their drive to finish undefeated is a play that could be described as perfectly hilarious.

Miami led Washington 14-0 late in the fourth quarter and drove to the opposing 34, where they faced a 4th-and-4 situation. Instead of trying to convert the first down and end the game, coach Don Shula decided it would be poetic to kick a field goal and complete a 17-0 season with a 17-0 victory in the Super Bowl.

Kicker Garo Yepremian’s attempt was too low, and Washington’s Bill Brundige blocked it – but the ball deflected to Yepremian’s right, and he gathered it off a bounce. The wise thing to do at that point would have been to fall on the ball, aware Washington wouldn’t have nearly enough time to manufacture two touchdowns. He wouldn’t be on this list if wisdom had been involved.

Instead, he rolled to his right and attempted a pass. Kind of. The ball slipped from his hand and fell toward his waist, and from there he struck it with both hands and knocked it skyward. As the ball descended, Mike Bass grabbed it and returned it for a TD.

It was legendary NBC announcer Curt Gowdy who called it a “kooky play.”

Washington chose not to attempt an onside kick, but they still got back the ball with 74 seconds left to try for a game-winning score. The Miami defense held. Had it not, even Pete Carroll couldn’t have made it to No. 1 on this list.

6. “How many Philadelphia fans are screaming at the TV?”

With the Eagles trailing the Patriots by 10 points in Super Bowl XXXIX, Philadelphia forced a punt and began a drive on their own 20 with 5:40 remaining. That was plenty of time to conjure a way to ring up two scores.

It wasn’t forever, though.

When Philly’s first play concluded, a short pass from Donovan McNabb to L.J. Smith, the clock read 5:36. When they snapped for their second play, it was 5:10, and another short pass consumed just four seconds. But even after a successful challenge upheld that catch, Philly didn’t snap on third down until the 4:52 mark. After converting there with another short pass to Terrell Owens, Philly didn’t snap again until 4:20. They’d spent a minute to go 15 yards.

“How many Philadelphia fans are screaming at the TV, saying ‘Hurry up’?,” Joe Buck said on the Fox telecast.

“Just walking up to the line of scrimmage,” he said later.

When Philly finally scored, on a 30-yard pass from McNabb to Greg Lewis, only 1:48 remained.

The Eagles had no choice then but to attempt an onside kick, and it failed.

“Well, we were trying to hurry up,” coach Andy Reid told reporters after the game.

Yeah, and I tried to dunk the last time I walked across a basketball court.

7. “Tom Flores just smiled”

There were 12 seconds left in the first half of Super Bowl XVIII, and Washington had the ball at their own 12 yard line. They trailed the Raiders 14-3 but were scheduled to receive the opening kickoff of the second half.

Any football fan can do the math on that and call the proper play.

Take a knee.

Washington, coached by the great Joe Gibbs, chose to call a screen pass. With so little time before half, several Raiders’ assistant coaches already had begun to depart the press box to take the elevator to the locker room. It was video coordinator John Otten who noticed running back Joe Washington in the game and picked up on the possibility of the screen call, and he alerted defensive coordinator Charlie Sumner.

Star DB Marcus Haynes recalled the shouts: “Be ready for that screen!” Washington QB Joe Theismann took the snap and looked to his right as Washington drifted toward the left. Theismann never saw linebacker Jack Squirek dashing toward the play; he stole the ball right before it reached Washington and could have crawled the 5 yards to the end zone.

Raiders announcer Bill King mentioned Flores’ reluctant smile after it all happened, and yes, he inserted his trademark, “Holy Toledo!” call after Squirek crossed the goal line.

The Raiders allowed a TD on Washington’s first possession after halftime, but instead of a 14-10 game, it was 21-9 (after a missed extra point). The Raiders dominated from there to win, 38-9.

8. “Picked off, look out!”

Peyton Manning won five MVP Awards, made All-Pro seven times and ranks among the top three NFL quarterbacks ever in completions and yardage.

But he did have some rough moments in the postseason – a career record of 14-13 as a starting QB – none more so than what occurred with the Colts trailing the Saints by a touchdown with 3:24 remaining. Manning faced a 3rd-and-5 at the NO 31, and he did a lousy job keeping a secret that he was looking to Reggie Wayne to convert the first down.

Austin Collie began the play well toward the sideline, but he motioned slightly inside in an attempt to distract Wayne’s defender. The two Saints DBs on that side merely switched assignments, leaving Tracy Porter on Wayne.

Wayne never had a chance. Porter saw the throw coming immediately and jumped in front, picking off an interception and returning it 74 yards for the clinching score. CBS announcer Jim Nantz saw the clear field ahead of Porter and immediately declared, “Look out!”

Had Manning noticed Porter lurking and looked just inside, Collie was wide open beyond the sticks.

“I thought the Colts lost this game as much as the Saints won it,” wrote the great Peter King.

That adds up.

9. “He’s being chased by Beebe! Watch out!”

You might remember the Bills lost four Super Bowls in a row between the 1991 and 1994 seasons. Some of that was the product of bad luck on a single play (wide right, all that). Some of that frustration was the product of superior opposition.

That certainly was the case on Jan. 31 1993, when the Bills played in Super Bowl XXVII at the Rose Bowl and were behind 52-17 when quarterback Frank Reich was strip-sacked on a relatively meaningless fourth-down play in Dallas territory.

Cowboys defensive tackle Leon Lett picked up the ball and dashed, with no Buffalo player ahead of him, toward a Super Bowl touchdown. Lett was so proud of himself he slowed at the 5-yard line and palmed the ball in his right hand, pointing it toward the sideline and then extending it toward the turf. Bills wideout Don Beebe chose not to surrender on the play, and he continued to sprint as Lett decelerated. He was able to reach Lett and knock the ball from his grasp just before, in the officials’ judgment, he crossed the goal line. Touchback, not touchdown.

“Look at Lett: If they call that a no-touchdown, he’s going to dig a hole and crawl out of this place from there,” NBC’s Dick Enberg said on the broadcast.

“He’s gonna need a big hole,” said analyst Bob Trumpy.

It made no difference to the outcome. It has made a difference for many young people since.

Beebe became a high school football coach and later moved to Aurora University, a private university in Illinois that competes in Division III.

“Here’s why I made the play. Two words: My parents,” Beebe told Ourlads Football. “I tell guys all the time, and I tell parents all the time … just raise your kids up right. And part of that ‘right’ is to teach them to never give up. Because life is going to be tough. And the ones that hang in there … are the winners.”