You're missing the point.

Would-haves and Could-haves isn't the issue.
It's that they were throwing the ball...or throwing it down the middle of the field...at all at that point.
2nd and 1...just run the ball...and get a first down...and then run the ball or safe passes to get some yardage and keep the clock running.

Here's a quote I found attributed to Leonard about that play:
“It was a completely bad read,” Leonard said of the interception. “That single high safety was attached to the inside post. I thought he wouldn’t attach again. Bad eyes, bad feet, bad ball. That resulted in a pick. Can’t happen. Completely my fault.”

Bad read? How about lousy, short pass no matter what the safety did?

I'm sure we've all heard the quote about there being 3 things that can happen when the ball is passed...and 2 of them are bad.
Well...the worst thing happened....at probably the worst time in the game.