Carroll wouldn’t let Prosise off the field

logo-at-new-englandPete Carroll has been raving about C.J. Prosise since the Seahawks drafted him last spring. But, because the running back had been hobbled by a bevy of bumps and bruises pretty much since the day he was drafted, the rest of us had no clue why — until Sunday in New England.

He started over a slightly hobbled Christine Michael and did a little bit of everything to tally 153 total yards and help the Hawks pull off a meaningful upset. In fact, Carroll was so happy about his play during the game that he wouldn’t let the rookie pull himself off the field.

“He tapped out a couple times to catch his breath,” Carroll said. “There was a time when I told him, ‘Don’t do that. Get out there. Get your butt on the field.’ He kind of looked at me like, ‘Oh, OK, I guess I can’t tap out.’ So he went back in.”

You can’t blame Prosise. The guy had touched the ball just 17 times in four other games this season — basically his personal preseason — and he got 24 touches in 51 plays vs. the Patriots.

“He’s going to get in shape and all that,” Carroll said. “He can’t be in great game shape; he just can’t be. He hasn’t played enough.”

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Seahawks’ season takes the usual super turn with marquee win

logo-at-new-englandIt was hard to know what to expect in New England. Vegas called the Hawks a touchdown underdog, and most analysts went with that in picking the Patriots in the Super Bowl XLIX rematch.

But the Seahawks bounced back off a short week against the bye-rested Pats and put together their best — though far from perfect — game of the season in a 31-24 upset that Doug Baldwin said evoked a “phenomenal emotional feeling in our locker room.”

That is the feeling that this team has made its typical Second Half Turn and is headed for something special again.

This was not a must-win for Seattle, from a standings standpoint. But it certainly was a big game for Seattle’s psyche — to get even for the XLIX debacle and to measure themselves against the AFC’s best team.

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Can Seahawks overcome O-line once again?

logo-at-new-englandAt the midway point of the season, as the Seahawks prepare for a mammoth matchup in New England on “Sunday Night Football,” we know a number of things about Pete Carroll’s 2016 club:

Russell Wilson is an iron man. Jimmy Graham is a miracle man. The defense can’t be dominant without Michael Bennett. NFL refs love creating controversy during Seattle games. And …

The offensive line is every bit the problem we all thought it would be — and seems to be getting worse. Is there any hope it will improve? And if it doesn’t, will it prevent the Hawks from winning the Super Bowl?

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The Seahawks are big underdogs in New England, where they will see how they stack up against their Super Bowl XLIX opponent.

Here’s a preview of Seahawks-Patriots.

Seahawks.com offers an in-depth look at why the Seahawks and Patriots are two of the NFL’s elite teams every year.

The Seahawks will see Malcolm Butler again, among other matchups.

Some more keys to the game.

C.J. Prosise could start for a hobbled Christine Michael.

Kam Chancellor will return after missing four games.

Michael Bennett will not play, which is good news to Tom Brady, who considers Bennett to be the best defender in the NFL.

Jeremy Lane is ready for a healthy rematch vs. the Patriots.

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Bennett earning that raise while injured

bennett-surgeryMichael Bennett has made a bunch of money the past couple of weeks — without playing a down.

If there were any doubt Bennett deserved a raise on his bargain-basement deal, the past three games have wiped it out.

Long upset over his undervalued contract, Bennett nonetheless had showed up and played great for the last two seasons-plus. But now a knee injury has forced him into an involuntary holdout that has shown everyone just how underpaid he is.

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Pete Carroll said the offensive coaches “cut ’em loose” against Buffalo, plus other observations.

Jimmy Graham was simply awesome vs. Buffalo.

Richard Sherman showed everyone a great photo of him touching the ball on his premature field-goal block attempt.

Kicker Dan Carpenter’s wife went Donald Trump on Sherman. Nasty woman.

Tyler Lockett looked back to health vs. Buffalo, and Tyvis Powell gave him a hell of a block, too.

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Worried? This is just how the Hawks do it

at-new-orleans-logoAs it turns out, Seattle’s offensive problems are not limited merely to their matchups with good defenses. Even the lowly Saints managed to keep the Seahawks to one measly touchdown in a game Seattle really should have won.

Once again, the Hawks put themselves in too many second-and-longs, killing drives. They completed one drive for a touchdown, needing a cool trick play to pull it off, but otherwise had issues with penalties, some bad decisions by Russell Wilson and poor run blocking.

If that all sounds familiar, it’s very similar to what the Seahawks have done the last three years. As usual, their offense is playing poorly at midseason. As usual, they are committing lots of penalties and their opponents are not being called for many. As usual, they are underachieving as we approach the second half.

It’s simply Pete Carroll’s oddball formula for success.

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Russell Wilson talks fatherhood and playing through yet another injury.

Wilson, limited in practice for the first time ever, said he plans to play in New Orleans.

Looks like Kam Chancellor and Kevin Pierre-Louis will be out again this week. Chancellor has missed the past two games.

Sherman Smith basically called out Christine Michael for running out of bounds and not bringing the physical attitude the Seahawks prefer.

Tom Cable said Germain Ifedi made a “big jump” last week and Garry Gilliam needs to be more physical.

K.J. Wright says playing Madden made him a smarter player and he played his best game of the season at Arizona.

Bobby Wagner says hot yoga is part of his recovery routine and he is taking better care of his body than he ever has.

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Offense is standing in way of No. 1 seed

at-new-orleans-logoThe Seahawks put up 90 points in a three-game winning streak that had many thinking they had finally turned it on after tallying just 15 points in a tough first couple of games.

But then along came Arizona’s defense, clamping down on the Hawks the way Miami and Los Angeles did and showing everyone that Seattle still isn’t good enough to beat teams with excellent defensive fronts — no matter how great its own defense plays.

The defense has given up just 15 points to the Rams and Cardinals, but the Hawks are 0-1-1 in those games because their offensive line just hasn’t been good enough. The result: The Hawks scored just nine points vs. those division rivals and are the NFL’s fifth-worst scoring offense, averaging just 18.5 points. They’ve never finished worse than 10th (24.6 ppg in 2014) with Russell Wilson.

The good news is they still have 10 games to straighten it out — and they get a much better matchup this weekend against the Saints’ 32nd-ranked scoring defense (32.5 ppg).

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Wilson is becoming a legendary tough guy

at-new-orleans-logoIn 2011, Tarvaris Jackson earned major props in the Seahawks’ locker room by playing through a pectoral injury for most of the season.

Imagine the locker room cred Russell Wilson is putting together this year, playing through a high ankle sprain that should have sidelined him for several weeks, along with a sprained knee that he said was supposed to keep him out at least four weeks and now his own chest injury.

Has anyone ever won Comeback Player of the Year the same season he was injured? Wilson, showing more resilience than a regenerating five-headed hydra, certainly has been the Seahawks’ No. 1 Tough Guy.

Wilson was listed as limited in practice Wednesday and Thursday — the first time that has ever happened. But there should be no concern about him missing the game in New Orleans this Sunday — or about him playing well there.

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