Dan Quinn leaves Seattle with respect
— -- GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Dan Quinn won't soon forget his final game as defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks.
After surrendering a total of 13 fourth-quarter points in its previous eight games, including the postseason, his unit was burned for two touchdowns in the final eight minutes of a 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX.
"They're a difficult team to prepare for because one game can be 12 or 13 runs, and the next game was 44," said Quinn, who will be named head coach of the Falcons on Tuesday, according to a report by ESPN.com's Vaughn McClure. "When you go against them you have to be prepared to go any number of ways."
On this occasion, the Patriots relied on their aerial attack, because Seattle lost two key members of its pass defense during the game. Nickel cornerback Jeremy Lane injured his left forearm when he was tackled after intercepting Tom Brady in the first quarter, and pass rusher Cliff Avril sustained a concussion late in the third quarter and did not return.
Brady exploited their absence by completing 13 of 15 passes for 124 yards and two scores in the fourth quarter. Quinn acknowledged that losing Lane hurt, but he said being without Avril was also significant.
"Losing him was a real factor," he said. "We thought we were going to get him back. He's such a factor when we put him and Mike [Bennett] together [in a pass-rush package]."
Without one, it was a struggle. Without both, the Seahawks ran out of answers for the Patriots.
"At the end, they really lit us up and got hot," Quinn said. "We tried a number of different things during both those scoring drives. ? I've got to tip my hat to those guys and how they executed."
Quinn deflected questions about whether he had coached his final game with Seattle, saying: "I'd like to make everything tonight just about our guys. In respect to this game -- what a terrific game we were all a part of. So for tonight I'd like to make the focus all about our players, both teams'. It was a great contest. You could see how hard guys played. As a coach, that's really what you're looking for, great effort first. ? They gave everything they had. You can't ask for more than that as a coach."
Seattle's defensive players expressed great respect for Quinn.
"Dan brought me into the league and he means a lot to me," said Bennett. "We have a deeper relationship than just football. We're real friends."
Added safety Kam Chancellor: "That guy allowed us to be ourselves. He got us to this point. That was our leader of the defense. We're definitely going to miss him, but we have a foundation here. We have standards here. As long as we have the pieces we need, we can plug in the next man up and keep moving."