Pete Carroll loved his early Christmas gift from Mike McCarthy

Pete Carroll loves him some Mike McCarthy

And that brings us to the higher power. Surely the football gods rewarded Carroll for his difficult season by striking Packers coach Mike McCarthy insensible. How else do you explain his terrible judgement? No, I’m not talking about Lockett’s catch. First, I believe he had control, so it was a legit catch.

Second, it was ruled a catch on the field. From Rule 15, Section 9, Article 93 of the  NFL’s official rules, “A decision will be reversed only when the Referee has indisputable visual
evidence available to him that warrants the change.” There was nothing close to indisputable evidence, so McCarthy would have burned his last timeout for nothing.

No, McCarthy’s egregious sin – and his gift to Pete Carroll – came in the form of his decision to take the game out of the hands of his six time Pro Bowl and double MVP winner Aaron Rodgers. Yes, Rodgers had been sacked five times by that point. Yes, he missed a couple of wide open receivers, and even tried to kill a gopher two feet in front of his receiver on a critical third and two play.

Make that critical third and two with a little over four minutes left in the game. McCarthy was faced with fourth down at his own 33, trailing 27-24. Rodgers had missed two of his last three passes. The Seahawks had sacked him four times in the second half, and Rodgers clearly looked uncomfortable. Probably because his knee is held together with Popsicle sticks and Gorilla Glue. Regardless, Rodgers just didn’t look his best in the fourth quarter.

That is, assuming you ignore his spectacular 57 yard strike to Davante Adams. For the life of me, I cannot understand not giving Rodgers the chance to convert on fourth and two even deep in your own territory. McCarthy clearly believed the Packer defense had a better chance of reigning in the Seahawks than his quarterback did of picking up two yards.