Calling the NFL a game of inches is cliche, but when you consider that a single play from the 1-yard line managed to alter the course of history for two franchises, it's not that far-fetched a phrase. Super Bowl XLIX is one of the great games ever played, and it culminated in a stunning interception of Russell Wilson by Malcolm Butler, which only happened because the Seahawks threw from the 1-yard line instead of handing Marshawn Lynch the ball.

Appearing on the excellent "Dave Dameshek Football Program" podcast this week, former Seahawks defensive end turned KJR radio analyst Cliff Avril admitted the play caused the Seahawks' core to become disrupted and caused players to check out on the message from Pete Carroll.

Such stories are not new, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've heard a member of those teams admit the issues that a single play created. Avril believes Seattle wins not just a second but a third Super Bowl if it punches the ball in against New England.

"Sometimes it's tough, because two is better than one, obviously," Avril said. "You think about what could have happened -- if we win that Super Bowl, I think we probably would have won another one in the two years that went by."

"I do think the team would have bought in more to what Coach Carroll was saying, instead of going the opposite way of, hey, this is what we thought the foundation of the team was, and that's not what happened in that particular play."

He believes that Carroll -- who ultimately took the blame for former offensive coordinator calling a pass instead of a run -- ended up with veterans in the locker room "questioning him."

"So I think guys started questioning him more, more so than actually following his lead, if we'd won that Super Bowl," Avril said. "The situation sucked regardless of who took the blame. It's just the fact that we were so close and we weren't able to get it, so I think a lot of guys got turned off by the message."

Again, this is fascinating to hear from someone who was a part of the proceedings. Seth Wickersham of ESPN penned a profile in 2017 of the Seahawks that detailed schisms in the locker room -- multiple players, including cornerback Richard Sherman, came out and denied the claims.

Avril even called it "fake news" at the time.

Sherman, of course, would come out this offseason, after signing with the 49ers, and say the Seahawks "lost their way" and complained about Carroll's message growing stale. Avril's comments confirm as much too.

Danny Kelly of The Ringer joined me on the Pick Six Podcast Friday to talk about the Seahawks and accurately pointed out just how different the Seahawks legacy would have been with a win there. They would have taken down Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in back-to-back years with one of the all-time great defenses.

"Everybody could see it, Seahawks fans could see it, the team sort of fell apart after that. The whole Falcons blowing 28-3 lead sort of took the pressure off the Seahawks for losing that Super Bowl," Kelly pointed out. "But for a while it was pretty much acknowledged as the worst play in NFL history. It robbed them of what could have been an amazing legacy and what could have been another run at a Super Bowl.

"If you think about it, the Seahawks would have won their second straight Super Bowl ... in five or 10 years from now we'd look back at Pete Carroll as the architect of the teams that beat Manning and Brady in back-to-back Super Bowls. Man, you talk about dynasty. Manning and Brady in back-to-back Super Bowls. That's the Seahawks defense that could have been, but that play derailed the whole narrative or legacy or whatever and it all just unraveled from there.

"It's definitely fascinating, big picture, just to look at how one play can change everything."

It would have changed things for New England too. If you take away the Super Bowl 49 ring from Brady and Belichick, do they definitely find their way back to the Super Bowl two years later to beat the Falcons? Losing Super Bowl XLIX would have been devastating for the long-term legacy of the Patriots, who were already catching grief for not winning a Super Bowl since SpyGate (something people forget now that they've got two more wins in the last decade).

And what are the Seahawks with two rings, much less three? They become a defensive dynasty during a stretch of time when offenses exploded around the NFL.

Instead, they become an ultimate case of "what if" for anyone looking back and wondering what could have been for Seattle if they just gave Marshawn the ball near the goal line.