By Cameron Heffernan

The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl yesterday. Yet, there’s a bigger story to discuss: That dumb-dumb play Pete Carroll ran instead of the right one, RUN THE BALL WITH MARSHAWN LYNCH.

The Patriots won the Super Bowl on a miraculous interception from Malcom Brown in the waning moments of the fourth quarter.

It was the play of the century in a game for the ages. But, as apparent this season with controversy at every turn, there’s another storyline that needs to be discussed (and has, ad nauseam): Why didn’t Pete Carroll run the ball with someone who is affectionately referred to as “Beast Mode”?

This was the play that set up the first and goal for the Seahawks. As if a golem of David Tyree had wandered onto the field to destroy the hopes of Patriots faithful. 2008, 2011 and at the time, 2015 was looking to be another year where the Patriots let another title slip away. Yet again the karmic laws of the universe were going against Brady, Belichick and their supposed cheating ways.

We know now, according to Carroll himself, that after the first run-play that went for a yard, he decided to go against New England’s apparent goal line set and throw the ball. This ended in the aforementioned interception sealing the Patriots fourth Super Bowl in 14 years.

Why is this stupid? Well, let me take you down a road of pure dominance – or “Beast Mode” – and show why it was inherently the stupid thing to have passed the ball on second down, on your opponents one-yard line, rather than run it with the best running back in the league.

The origins of “Beast Mode” began before the earthquake inducing run in Seattle, in a 2011 wild card playoff game. This was the world’s introduction to it, and Marshawn’s cataclysmic determination was what made it so special:

But special is usually relegated to a singular moment. “Beast Mode” is not a singular moment though:

“That’s not enough proof,” you say. “Pete Carroll is the coach and you aren’t. So don’t pretend like you know what’s going on. Like you could have made a better decision.” I could though. All you have to do is look at these other videos:

Yet another game saving touchdown run. And that was in this year’s playoffs. So to even imply he’s not trustworthy, or maybe over the hill, is absolutely ridiculous. There’s no reason why the Seahawks should not have run the ball until fourth down on Sunday. It was a horrible call from a lucky-as-hell coach. Pete Carroll, who’s had nothing but talent around him and been afforded the greatest opportunities, now has two coaching blunders under his belt like no other. Blunders that had no right to happen. They were the obvious “don’t do that play,” much like his other blunder was running prevent defenses against a Heisman winner who can run and pass, who did exactly that on his way to a national championship.

The entire week we’ve heard, on repeat, about how the Patriots cheat and don’t deserve to be in the Super Bowl. When the ticker-tape was falling down, and Roger Godell was forced to hand a trophy to a man who demanded an apology from him and his league for their mishandling of the “Deflategate” debacle. It wasn’t deflated footballs or stolen signals that won the day for the Patriots. It was the guy on the other sideline. And anyone who tells you otherwise, and stands by that passing play, has to look at a video like this a few times: