One of the signature plays of the Seattle Seahawks victory over the Philadelphia Eagles was a trick play where receiver Doug Baldwin threw a touchdown pass to quarterback Russell Wilson (watch here).
Prior to the play, Baldwin was seen giving the middle finger towards someone on the Seattle bench. Following the game, that someone was revealed to be offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.
“We’re in the f—ing red zone, and you want me to throw the ball? Throw me the ball,” Baldwin said, via ESPN’s Sheil Kapadia. It’s more funny than it is anything. [Bevell] knows that when we get in the red zone, I want the ball thrown to me. I want to score touchdowns. And so, it’s like in that situation, him flipping the bird to me because now he’s got me throwing the ball to somebody else.”
Bevell has certainly come under some fire for his play calling in the past. Most famously, he had Wilson throw a risky pass on the goal line at the end of Super Bowl XLIX. That resulted in a Malcolm Butler interception, sealing the win for the New England Patriots.
With that said, Baldwin’s comments and actions are a little off base.
Bevell’s job isn’t to try to make Baldwin (or any player) happy. Baldwin may want the ball in the red zone, but Bevell’s job is to call a play that will score. If that appease’s Baldwin, so be it.
Baldwin is also Seattle’s best receiver and along with Jimmy Graham, is the team’s most prominent red-zone target. So, the Eagles had to be expecting that the ball might go his way. This play obviously caught Philadelphia’s defense off guard.
Of course, we have the benefit of hindsight. When Baldwin channeled his inner Stone Cold Steve Austin, he didn’t know how the play was going to work out.
But unlike the Super Bowl, the Seahawks had the lead. They were up 16-7 prior to that play. Even a completely disastrous play would not have been disastrous for the team.
In this situation, the play was fine. Baldwin should have realized that. Disagreeing with the call is one thing. But in this case, his actions were off base.