I agree with the points others have made in this thread about what actually happened. I'll add this: If someone was trying to throw the game, presumably so gamblers could clean up, there would have been much better ways of doing it.
Consider that, on the play before the one that drew all the flak, the Seahawks were at the 5-yard line. Lynch ran the ball and was stopped at about the 1-yard line. If the coaching staff was in on the supposed fix, but Lynch wasn't, they were taking a huge risk that he would make that extra yard and put Seattle ahead with almost no time left. They would have done better to call the pass on that play and hope for the interception.
If Lynch was in on a fix, it would have been easy enough for him to fumble on one (or even two) of his numerous carries earlier in the game.
If Russell Wilson, the Seattle quarterback who threw the interception, was in on a fix, he too was taking a huge risk by waiting until the last minute of play to throw an interception. On the play that got them to New England's 5-yard line, he had completed a long pass to Kearse. If Kearse was not in on a fix, there was a risk that he would catch the ball and make five more yards for the touchdown. A hypothetically crooked Wilson should have overthrown him. If Kearse was in on a fix, it would've been very easy for him not to catch the ball at all without arousing suspicion. In fact, the play-by-play announcer at first said that the pass had been broken up by the Patriots defender, not realizing that Kearse, after juggling the ball and getting a couple of lucky bounces, had managed to end up with it. All Kearse has to do is not catch that pass and the Seahawks are more than thirty yards from the end zone.
I just don't see any credible scenario for throwing the game that accommodates everything that happened (and didn't happen) in more than 59 minutes of football before that play call.
= new reply since forum marked as read
