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Malcolm Butler deflated an elated (Danger)Russell Wilson more dramatically than the Pats could (allegedly) lower the air pressure of a Wilson football with a pump and a needle.

Quarterbacks will always be the casual fan’s central focus, but candid cornerbacks were the fulcrum that kept the gears of the past league year spinning.

Richard Sherman served as the mouthpiece for a conspicuous trio of blossoming cornerbacks including Patrick Peterson and Joe Haden who were rewarded with record-breaking contracts.

The Legion of Boom adorned the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Super Bowl issue looking more like New Edition than the league’s top secondary in a generation. New Patriot additions Darrelle Revis and former Seahawk Brandon Browner were New England’s attempts to replicate the physical press coverage Seattle manhandled the league with en route to the Super Bowl last January. It was Jeremy Lane’s broken arm at the end of his interception return that put second-year pro Tharold Simon and gave Brady an opening to abuse him for the next three quarters, including on the game-winning connection with Julian Edelman.

However, the image of the 2015 season which will resonate longest will be that of an undrafted free agent who made the league minimum picking off Wilson at the 1-yard-line.

The last time Butler picked off  a pass, he was a senior in 2013 at Division II Alabama and there were 843 people in attendance.

The first interception of his NFL career was seen by a few 100 million more, but what wasn’t noticed by most was Browner jamming Jermaine Kearse at the line of scrimmage, allowing Butler a free path to drive on Wilson’s target to Kevin Lockett.

After tossing five interceptions against Green Bay in the conference title game, Wilson steered clear from turnovers until he threw the first interception out of 109 passes by league pass masters from the 1-yard-line this season. If Wilson’s pass had reached its destination, it would have been the 67th touchdown thrown from that close since they kicked off their campaign on Thursday night against Green Bay.

The Patriots allowed a touchdown on rushing plays from the one yard line at a higher percentage than any team besides the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins.

Mophie’s outre All-Powerless Super Bowl ad, which featured a man walking a dog, a blizzard in Africa and an assortment of planetary anomalies caused by God’s dead Iphone 6 battery may have summed up the bizarre final sequence better than Pete Carroll or offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell’s rationalizations of their final offensive playcall.

“We sent in our personnel. They sent in goal-line [defense]. It’s not the right matchup for us to run the football, so on second down we throw the ball really to kind of waste that play. If we score we do, if we don’t, then we’ll run it in on third and fourth down. Really, with no second thoughts or no hesitation in that at all. And unfortunately, with the play that we tried to execute, [Butler] makes a great play and jumps in front of the route and makes an incredible play that nobody would ever think he could do. And unfortunately that changes the whole outcome.” Carroll explained to the media horde afterwards.

“A very, very hard lesson. I hate to learn the hard way.”

God’s phone dying would explain Bevell calling a quick slant into the center of a congested goal line after Lynch rumbled down to the 1-yard line.

Otherwise, the man upstairs would have gone Old Testament, given the Seahawks a theophany and whispered Lynch’s name into the headsets of the coaching staff (or Wilson) as he did to Moses from the burning bush.

Wilson who thanked God after the Seahawks’ miracle finish in the NFC Championship Game, remained devout in the aftermath.

Faith in the Seahawks coaching staff may be flimsy for a while though. Whether it was Bevell or Carroll that drew up that strategy on the half-yard line is irrelevant. Seattle’s coaching brain trust suffered a catastrophic cerebral infarction just short of basking in the glory of a 2-peat title.

For most of Wilson’s career, the Seahawks have been touched by angels. Fail Mary, Kearse’s deep hauls in the 2013 and 2014 NFC title games have all gone his way. Kearse’s circus catch of the evening was just the latest divine incident for a team blessed with good fortune.

The origins of Wilson’s credentials as a masterful clutch performer actually date back to a victory during his rookie season against Brady’s Pats when he tossed two touchdowns in the final eight minutes of an Week 6 matchup. In cultural zeitgesit, it was also the birth of Richard Sherman’s heel character after he was seen shouting “You Mad, Bro?” in Brady’s grill as the crestfallen quarterback slumped off the field.

This loss transcended the Super Bowl. It was one of the most “deflating” end-of-game moments in sports history.

Jackie Smith’s third down end zone drop in the waning seconds of Super Bowl XIII, would have tied the game.

Scott Norwood’s shanked kick against Dallas in Super Bowl XXV doesn’t compare because any sea mariner that’s circumnavigated the football seas understands the fickleness of field goals.

Ask Boise State. Four years ago, Brotzman’d became an official addition to the vocabulary of Boise State fans who watched Kellen Moore flick a miraculous throw 53 yards to a diving Titus Moore, only for the NCAA’s active career points leader, Kyle Brotzman to miss the winning field goal at the end of regulation and the game-tying kick in overtime.

Seattle’s emotional rollercoaster was the definition of getting Brotzman’d.

What makes this one so hard to swallow was the sudden bout of amnesia at the most inopportune, high-pressure moment of their season. This wasn’t a Sophie’s Choice. The 1-yard line isn’t much of a decision when Lynch is in the backfield.

According to ESPN’s Stats & Info department, opposing teams rushed on the Patriots defense six times this season from the 1-yard line and allowed a touchdown on five of those attempts. Personnel or not, favor fortuned the run and the Seahawks operate out of a power running scheme.

God’s dead phone battery in Mophie’s All-Powerless ad is symbolic of the crisis in faith towards Pete Carroll. Carroll is the most revered figure in Seattle, but after Super Bowl XLIX, the visceral emotions created dissent within the locker room.

“We beat ’em, bro. We beat ’em… I’m speechless. Best back in the league, and the 1-yard-line? It wasn’t even the 1 — it was like half a yard. I will never understand that, bro. I will never understand it. I will never understand…” Outside linebacker Bruce Irvin contemplated afterwards.

“When Jermaine caught that ball, I felt it was meant to be for us. Oh, no doubt — we’re gonna score. Beast Mode. Beast Mode! Best back on the (expletive) planet. That’s crazy!” Irvin continued.

One anonymous player in the Seahawks locker room muttered a conspiracy theory to NFL.com’s Michael Silver, based around the idea that Carroll was more interested in making Wilson the hero, rather than the cantankerous Lynch.

It sounds asinine, but what the final play of Super Bowl XLIX does is increase Lynch’s leverage at the negotiating table this offseason—even though Seattle has an offer that would double his projected $5 million 2015 salary.

Wilson has unquestionable steadiness under pressure, but Marshawn is the linchpin of the Seahawks offense.

The impending negotiations over the immensely popular Lynch’s next contract, coupled with Carroll’s call has the potential to create locker room division, but for inspiration, the Seahawks can look to the shores of another sport for how to respond from the depths of despair.

When the wound has been sutured and the stitches have dissolved, Carroll should have two clips spliced together as an inspirational tool to disseminate among his returning players.

In the summer of 2013, Gregg Popovich made the most boneheaded tactical move of his NBA career when he removed Tim Duncan from what should have been the Miami Heat’s final offensive possession of the 2013 NBA Finals.

 Chris Bosh’s offensive rebound and quick toss to a backpedaling Ray Allen, as he sank a game-tying three in the short corner would have been averted if the Spurs—no if Pop — had kept their best offensive rebounder and top-10 great on the floor. Whenever the Spurs were defending the arc on a crucial play, Pop had a history of removing Duncan to insert quicker, perimeter defenders. What he didn’t account for was a quick shot and offensive rebound opportunity.

Pop acknowledged his error after the Heat defeated San Antonio in seven games. That play was used as the electricity which powered San Antonio’s run to a 2014 NBA Finals dismantlement of Miami.

The Patriots may or may not have sucked the air out of a few Wilson footballs against Indianapolis, but Wilson wasn’t deflated by the result.

Upon further review, the logic behind the call isn’t as absurd as God searching for a power outlet to reconnect him with outside world, however, momentum and scheme dictated Lynch was the most prudent option, whether the Pats stacked the box or not.

Typically, Super Bowl runner-ups falter in the regular season during the next campaign, but there are exceptions to the norm. Seattle can either use this loss as a catalyst to re-charge and come roaring back with vengeance or as the instrument of their 2015 demise. It’s their call.