That makes no sense, actually. The correct answer is "I called the play that I believed gave us the best chance to win the game, and it simply didn't work." Nobody throws a pass they expect to be incomplete so they can run the ball one or two plays later. That's just stupid.
I'm not saying it makes complete sense, but based on what I've read from both Carroll and Bevell a big part of their thought process after the Kearse catch was to score, but not to leave Brady and the Patriots enough time to drive for the tieing FG. With this comes the over-thinking that is common with coaches and play callers at all levels. Here's my rough interpretation of what was probably going on with the Seattle coaches after the catch.
1st down and a little over a minutes left after the catch, Seattle comes out with 2 back I formation with 1 TE and 2 WRs. They run zone/lead to the TE side which gets them inside the 1 and runs clock. Sure, if they score they are happy, but this was probably their ideal result from that play. After the play you have a little under a minute left and the ball inside the 1 yard line with 1 timeout. In their minds they probably had an ideal scenario where they could score, but leave the Patriots with under 30 seconds and they were probably hoping for under 20. Granted, now the play calling process becomes more dicey. The danger in staying with the same personnel and running the ball again is that if you are stopped you end up using your final timeout with around 20 seconds left. Then you are probably stuck with 2 passing plays (even from the 1 yardline) to end the game because if you run again and get stopped, then you run out of time. All of this may sound like a dumb thought process, but I guarantee you these types of things were discussed between Carroll and Bevell during this time.
So now its 2nd down and goal from the 1. Because of the 1st down play, Seattle is able to run the clock down to under 30 seconds. They sub out the fullback and insert and additional receiver, but NE keeps the same goalline personnel. Once they saw that New England didn't really change their personnel and kept numbers at the LOS the quick slant/pick play was ideal. I'm sure its something they've gone to in goalline situations a lot. In theory its a very safe play because a) you won't give up a sack and b) you shouldn't give up an INT because even if NE plays it well you throw an incomplete pass. Then you have 3rd and goal from the 1 with around 20 seconds left and a timeout, so you have your full goalline playbook available. I would also guess they had 2 plays called or an easy check based on how NE lined up. When NE lined up with man coverage and 2 DBs over the 2 receivers this call was a no brainer. If NE had lined up 3 DBs over the 2 receivers, then you run the ball because you have numbers inside the tackles or you go to the opposite side where the TE and other receiver are lined up.
Butler simply read the rub/slant and broke more quickly than Wilson anticipated and beat the receiver to the spot. It really was a phenomenal play on his part and great coaching/anticipation of the routes. Carroll and Bevell thought the possibility of Butler making that play was very remote if not impossible. Sure, they thought there was a possibility they might score still giving them the around the time they wanted to give the Patriots (less than 25 seconds), but worst case scenario would be an incomplete pass. Then they could go to another power formation and run Lynch, using even more clock and winning the Super Bowl in dramatic fashion.
