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SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
Pete Carroll

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll defends failed fake field goal, challenge in loss to Falcons

SEATTLE — Seahawks coach Pete Carroll defended his decision to call a fake field goal at the end of the first half of his team’s 34-31 loss to the Falcons on Monday night, saying it was a chance “to make a big play.”

Pete Carroll's Seahawks are currently outside the NFC playoff field.

Trailing 24-17 with seven seconds left in the second quarter, Seattle lined up for a 34-yard attempt but had holder Jon Ryan make a quick shovel pass to tight end Luke Willson in hopes he could either score a touchdown or pick up a first down. Neither happened, as Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett tackled Willson 4 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

“It would have been a really good call if we would have made it,” Carroll said. “It was a terrific opportunity, right where we wanted it. The defensive tackle made a better play. He wasn’t supposed to be there.”

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It wasn’t Carroll’s only baffling decision.

He also threw his challenge flag to review a pass to Doug Baldwin that was ruled incomplete. Baldwin argued for the challenge and was backed up by the CenturyLink Field crowd, but replays clearly showed the tip of the ball hitting the turf.

The Seahawks lost a timeout when the on-field ruling of an incomplete pass was confirmed, a stoppage they clearly could have used at the end of the game when a few more yards would have helped Blair Walsh, whose bid for a game-tying, 52-yard field goal near the end of regulation fell just short of the crossbar.

“Doug and I have been through this for years, and he’d been right a bunch of times,” Carroll said. “The ball may have touched the ground, but he knew he had secured it. That’s what he said, and I believe him. I trust him.”

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Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones

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