Category Archives: Week 7: At St. Louis

Carroll relays what NFL said about last play

October 20, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The ball settles under Richard Sherman in a pile on the last play of the Seahawks-Rams game (via FOX)

Pete Carroll said the NFL called him Monday to talk about the last play of the Seahawks’ 28-26 loss in St. Louis.

With about one minute left, the Rams fumbled the ball on the play and Richard Sherman appeared to recover the ball for the Seahawks.

“I got a call from them this morning, just to see if I had any questions about it,” Carroll said. “What I was concerned about was: It was such a crucial moment in the game, it was such an unusual situation, why wouldn’t they take all the time that they needed to make a clear-cut decision?

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Week 7: At St. Louis

Just a Seahawks fact: ‘We’re playing the referees, too’

October 20, 2014 cc Leave a comment

In a loss like the Seahawks suffered in St. Louis — rallying from a horrible first half to lose by two — it is easy to assume that any complaint about the officiating is simply sour grapes and poor sportsmanship.

But Earl Thomas merely stated the obvious when he said, “We’re playing the referees, too.”

We are not just referencing the controversial final play to the game in which the Rams fumbled and Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman appeared to recover with about a minute left.

The St. Louis game was the third in a row in which NFL officials have quite obviously favored Seattle’s opponent.

In those three games, Seattle has been flagged 32 times for 237 yards. Their opponents have been penalized a mere 11 times for 96 yards.

For the season, Seattle opponents have been flagged a league-low 29 times — and it certainly isn’t because they have committed just 29 fouls. They have been called for 51, which is tied for seventh most. They led the league in penalties last season.

“If you really look at some plays, we’re playing (against) more than our opponents,” Thomas said. “We’re playing the referees, too. I don’t care what anybody is saying. Something is wrong. That needs to be brought up.”

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Week 7: At St. Louis

Special teams had been Hawks’ rock, but it got rocked by Rams

October 20, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks’ special teams had been the rock of the team all season — the main reason Seattle had been in every game. And then they went to St. Louis, where the Rams have a history of beating the Hawks on special teams.

Punter Jon Ryan had been a huge factor all season for Seattle. He was the regulation MVP of the overtime win over the Denver Broncos, flipping field position with booming kick after booming kick. He was a big reason the Hawks still had a late chance to win in San Diego. And he helped make sure Washington never started past its 20-yard line in Seattle’s Monday night win.

He and Ricardo Lockette had become their own special battery, Ryan pitching fastballs to his speedy catcher, who typically made it downfield in time to prevent any kind of runback or to keep the return to a minimal gain.

Ryan had punted 18 times, and opponents had returned three of them for a total of 21 yards. Denver returned just two of six punts, and Washington didn’t have a single return on six kicks.

On top of that, Ryan had converted a big fourth down on a fake field goal in the fourth quarter of the win in Washington.

The Hawks had been just as good on kickoff coverage, yielding just 16.6 yards per return. In all, they were one of the league’s top four or five special-teams units.

And then they went to St. Louis, where Jeff Fisher’s staff once again outsmarted Pete Carroll’s. And, once again, the Hawks left with a close loss, 28-26.

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State of the team, Week 7: At St. Louis

Seahawks showed folly & wisdom in Harvin saga

October 18, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks’ stunning trade of Percy Harvin says a lot about John Schneider, Pete Carroll, Darrell Bevell and the entire franchise.

They were naïve, hopeful, enabling and nearly self-defeating, but they also realized what a colossal error it was and probably made a great move — however shocking it was — in order to save their offense and season.

The ill-advised decision (we said it then, so we can say it now) to trade for Harvin and give him a $67 million contract last year was easily Schneider’s biggest gamble since he and Carroll arrived in 2010. And, unsurprisingly, the GM lost big time.

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Injury report, Week 7: At St. Louis

Six players out; Harvin & Willson questionable

October 17, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks — largely healthy for the first month — suddenly are suffering through an avalanche of injuries.

When they play in St. Louis on Sunday, they will be without four starters and two reserve defensive linemen and might be down to one tight end as well.

Already out were tight end Zach Miller (ankle), center Max Unger (foot) and linebacker Bobby Wagner (turf toe). Joining them is cornerback Byron Maxwell (calf) and D-linemen Jordan Hill (ankle) and Cassius Marsh (broken foot).

On top of that, wide receiver Percy Harvin (thigh) and tight end Luke Willson (groin) are questionable.

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Week 7: At St. Louis, X's & O's

Bevell: ‘I can do a better job … but execution is what it comes down to’

October 16, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Darrell Bevell has taken a lot of heat this week for the terrible performance by the offense in Seattle’s 30-23 loss to Dallas on Sunday.

Among the biggest failings, Marshawn Lynch carried the ball just 10 times (despite gaining 61 yards) and Percy Harvin netted minus-1 yard on six touches. That had many people pointing the finger at the play calling.

Bevell laid most of the blame on poor execution by the players, but he also admitted he needs to get the ball to Lynch more.

“It’s overall execution. There’s not one thing,” he said. “I can do a better job. I can get us into some better situations. We can run the ball more like everyone’s asking. … But overall execution is what it comes down to.”

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The roster, Week 7: At St. Louis

Don’t expect to see young skill players much

October 15, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Pete Carroll has been complaining about the NFL’s roster rules all season, lamenting the fact that he has had to sit young skill players for most of the year.

Last Sunday, second-round wide receiver Paul Richardson joined fellow rookie receiver Kevin Norwood and second-year running back Christine Michael on the inactive list.

Carroll said he will try to get the league to change the game-day roster rule next offseason, but — as roster choices are being questioned in the wake of the offense’s ongoing struggles — he said he is not going to change his game-day personnel.

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Injury report, Week 7: At St. Louis

Primarily good news about the secondary

October 15, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks’ move to release defensive back Steve Terrell and bring back D-lineman Greg Scruggs on Tuesday appeared to be a sign that the Seahawks feel much better about their secondary this week than they did last week.

And Pete Carroll’s words today seemed to confirm that, as he said cornerback Byron Maxwell might be able to play Sunday in St. Louis.

“He’s made a big jump, and we’ll see,” Carroll said of Maxwell, who suffered a strained calf vs. Dallas last Sunday. “We’re going day to day with him and will see what happens. He’s shocked the guys that he’s back as quick as he is to this point. We don’t know what that means until the weekend.”

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Injury report, Week 7: At St. Louis

Sherman jinxed Wagner

October 15, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Richard Sherman jinxed Bobby Wagner.

At his media session last week, Sherman stumped for the middle linebacker to be voted into the Pro Bowl — and now it looks like Wagner will have no chance to make it.

Coach Pete Carroll said Wagner is likely to miss several games with a sprained toe suffered in the loss to Dallas on Sunday.

It’s the second straight year Wagner has suffered a significant injury that has cost him games. Last year, he missed two games with a high ankle sprain, which affected him for a couple of games beyond that.

Wagner has played very well ever since he got over the ankle injury, and his 50 tackles this season are 13 more than No. 2 tackler Kam Chancellor and 15 more than K.J. Wright, who will now take over Wagner’s spot in the middle.

Malcolm Smith will start at weakside linebacker, with Bruce Irvin at strongside. Both of them have been off to slow starts after offseason surgeries.

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