Game Theory in the Super Bowl
http://www.economist.com/blogs/gametheory/2015/02/game-theory-american-football
As many people witnessed, the Seattle Seahawks seemed to have made a very uninformed and brainless decision in the final seconds of this years Super Bowl. With less than a minute to go, the Seahawks were on the one-yard line and on the brink of overcoming a massive deficit in order to win. The Seahawks decided to pass the ball and not run the ball and ended up turning the ball over to the Patriots and losing the game. This provided a lot of commentary on whether the Seahawks should have just simply run the ball in.
This article provides a detailed explanation as to why the Seahawks thought about, and attempted the pass from the one-yard line. In many situations, the offense would simply run, and with arguably the best running back in the league on your team, this would seem to be the case. The Patriot’s believed this and sent as many people into the middle to stop the run and the touchdown. After thinking about this, the Seahawk’s couch most likely decided to pass because he understood that the run could easily be stopped when the defense is playing to the run.
This play brings up the question over the Nash equilibrium. The defense obviously believed the offense would run, and would have been able to stop the offenses best option. With the offense not running, the “players” did not reach this equilibrium and therefore the play could have gone either way and not been the optimal strategy for either team, either the Seahawks would score, or the Patriot’s would force a turnover. Unfortunately for the Seahawk’s, the Patriot’s play had still covered the receivers and the defense read the play to perfection. If the teams had played to their strengths and the offense had ran the ball, the question remains as to what would have been the outcome since many factors play into how a play turns out.