Former San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh has defended the Seattle Seahawks's call to throw on the goalline which led to their Super Bowl defeat to the New England Patriots.

Harbaugh enjoyed a fierce rivalry with the Seahawks during his time with the 49ers, but he feels that the criticism aimed at head coach Pete Carroll is wrong.

The 51-year-old is adamant that the only reason Seattle lost the match is because Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler made an exceptional play to win the game for his side.

"I really thought they had a good play call," Harbaugh told The Tim Kawakami Show. "That was an insightful play against the goal-line defense. A really neat combination that they had, was an inside pick play.

"It really was open and that young man from the New England Patriots made a play, that is a play the stars of the game don't make, and he made a play that was - at best that ball gets knocked down and incomplete.

"But to make an interception on that play was, what a phenomenal play. That was a play of a lifetime and all credit to him for making it."

Harbaugh also revealed that his exit from the 49ers at the end of the season was not as mutual as first believed.