“When I first joined the Patriots in ‘14, they had just lost to Denver in a playoff game,” Lombardi said, “and one of the things that they were really bad [at] that season was in the red zone [and] goal line defense. So Belichick was obsessed with trying to find a goal line defense that could stop the run. And so that became the three corner defense. That defense was practiced all spring, was practiced all during the fall, never called until the Malcolm Butler interception play.”
“Get out of here,” Eisen interjected.
“This is true, Rich,” Lombardi continued. “This is true. So when you hear Pete Carroll, people say, well [you have] Marshawn Lynch, it [throwing the ball] was the dumbest play of all time. Why wouldn’t you run the ball? They couldn’t have run the ball. It was a goal line defense. Marshawn Lynch would have lost a yard on the play.
“So when Pete Carroll says they’re in goal line, he sees the goal line front, but they’re in goal line [with] three corners- first time they ran it all year- and Belichick didn’t want to give them time to adjust to what they saw on the field, so that’s why he let the clock play out.”