Chalk up big loss to chaos

Have you ever been on the sideline at an NFL football game?

If not, you’d be terrified.

It’s chaos, absolute insanity, with huge people screaming at each other.

I’m bringing this up because our readers clearly can’t let go of the Seahawks’ disheartening 26-21 loss to the 49ers on Sunday night.

Fans simply cannot fathom how massively paid professionals – both coaches and players – could screw up so badly that they’d manage to get a delay of game penalty after spiking the ball at the 49ers’ 1-yard line with 22 seconds remaining.

I’ve been in the middle of those late-game sideline circuses before, and all I can tell you is that while what happened to the Seahawks should not have happened, I’m surprised it doesn’t occur more often – all over the league.

But back to Seattle and how it took place…

Pete Carroll took all the blame, which he always does, but I suspect that the main culprit was someone else.

IN THE moments after John Ursua made that clutch fourth-down catch just a yard away from the end zone, the Seahawks had several options ­— but barely any time to sort them out.

Russell Wilson had to make the first decision, which was to exploit all the confusion of players running all over to get in position and just sneak it.

Follow center Joey Hunt, burrow low and shove the ball across the goal line.

Personally, that would have been my choice because it almost always works.

The official reason given for spiking the ball to stop the clock instead of trying a quick quarterback sneak was that Seattle had its entire “skill package” on the field and no running backs.

My argument would be: Who cares?

A sneak doesn’t require anything but a snap and a quick push from the center and two guards. If you get ANY crease at all, a guy like Wilson scores easily.

OK, but Wilson chose not to do it — perhaps worried that in all the rush, people wouldn’t be lined up correctly.

Fair enough.

So he spiked the ball.

THIS IS where sideline chaos begins (or goes from madness to full-blown hysteria), and ultimately it cost the Seahawks dearly.

During the Seattle drive, someone on that sideline would be responsible for making sure every player knew what MIGHT happen and what his role would be.

You only had to look at the clock to realize that if you’re needed, you’ve got to bust your butt to be in place.

Carroll got it right, though, when he suggested that after any QB spikes the ball, it feels a little like a timeout.

Deep breaths.

No rush.

Except that unlike a timeout, the play clock is running.

The Seahawks’ short-yardage group was NOT ready to hustle on the field.

That’s on the coaching staff, not the players.

I’ve seen Marshawn Lynch blamed for not being ready to get into the game, but a heartbeat earlier, it was fourth-and-10 at the 12-yard-line – which made the Beast simply a spectator like everyone else.

After the spike, though, Lynch and the jumbo package were definitely needed, and they were seconds too late realizing it.

Someone other than Carroll or Wilson should have been responsible to have them ready to race on the field the instant Carroll hollered for them.

FROM THE 1-yard line, Lynch would have had two chances to smash into the end zone.

Two, you say?

With just 22 seconds to play?

Sure, because if he didn’t make it — remember that it was second down — we’d be down to around 8 or 10 seconds, and Wilson could have spiked the ball again to create another fourth-down Beast Mode blast.

It could have been bedlam.

CenturyLink Field might have lifted off with the roar.

We didn’t get that magic ending, though, because somebody on that manic sideline was caught up in the excitement and didn’t have the proper personnel ready to race on the field.

Carroll is never going to tell us how it happened, except to say — as he did after the game — that spiking the ball creates a feeling like a timeout.

Maybe it does, among the players.

There are well-paid coaches, however, who are not supposed to go blank, or lose track of time, or forget to have Marshawn Lynch ready if needed.

Somebody who was supposed to combine calmness with urgency didn’t do the job.

That’s what can happen in the mania of an NFL sideline.

The blame I put on Carroll is failing to remind everyone around him to remember their jobs in all that emotion and excitement.

Hell, maybe he did.

Either way, somebody failed and the penalty was heartbreak.

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball each Tuesday or Wednesday.

Steve’s various tales from several decades in sports – “Moments, Memories and Madness” – run on Sundays.