He dropped back and put the ball in the air and the intangibles took over. The firestorm of criticism that ensued made every critic and armchair coach an expert on what “should” have happened. Few remember the undrafted rookie who made the play of the year down on the one yard line, an improbable interception with time expiring, stopping the opponent’s touchdown that would ensure victory with just seconds left during the most watched Super Bowl in history.

Sure, just hand the ball off to Marshawn Lynch, he’s the man — no he’s a BEAST! Don’t over think the obvious, trust who got you there, put the ball in the hands of your best players when it counts and let them make plays! You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again, until the Seahawks get back to another Super Bowl — but the question will linger — WHY?

We think momentarily as fans and critics of the game, we are results-oriented, we have the comfort of replays, slow motion and color-commentators that critique every play called, every penalty flag thrown and every off-field demonstration of a player’s humanity. Given that the game we watch each year is populated with the chosen few who have earned the right to play and the coaches who do their best to help them execute plays that, upon further review, seem beyond the restrictive reality of mere mortals.

This is where we must pull back on our fanaticism and keep things in perspective. Those who have ever coached a sport know the myriad of decisions that go into just about every single decision made both on and off the field. Nothing is guaranteed and the intangibles of our all-too-humanness can get the best of us sometimes.

So let’s revisit the game… “Wilson hands off to Lynch, cuts left-side, the balls on the ground, the balls on the ground, the Patriots recover the fumble — Super Bowl number four for Tom Brady – UNBELIEVABLE!!! But you gotta ask why you hand the ball off on second down when everyone knows you’re going to your star running-back… I’ll tell you what… it’s gonna be a long offseason for those guys that called that play… I mean put the ball in the air on an easy slant — the Patriots have their run-stop defense in and you take advantage! Wow! What an exciting end for the Patriots — too bad for the Seahawks.”

The “what-ifs” only get a coach so far. Look back at how the Seahawks got to the big game this year and you will realize that they were living on the intangibles that eventually got the best of them. What a game, what a game, oh ya — it was just a game and the best team on that given Sunday won — fair and square!