Tag Archives: Pete Carroll

Franchise history, NFL draft, Trades

Schneider’s future should depend on Adams & Taylor

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The spotlight is on Seattle’s GM this week as the Seahawks and Jamal Adams face the Jets and Darrell Taylor’s future remains a mystery.

John Schneider’s job security, quite frankly, should depend on two things: Whether he re-signs Adams and whether Taylor ever plays. If neither happens in 2021, the last year of Schneider’s deal, the GM should not be re-signed.  

This is not just about the two big moves to get those guys this year — deals that cost the Seahawks five high draft picks. It’s about a GM who has had a lot more failures than successes over the past seven years, who is still living off his historic 2010-12 drafts, who has whiffed at the top of his last eight drafts way too often, who rarely makes good decisions in free agency, who is not very creative with the salary cap and who for several years has been making it up as he goes, with no long-term plan.

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Schedule, X's & O's

1-4 and out? It’s possible if the Hawks don’t fix the offense

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One way the Seahawks could miss the playoffs at 9-7

If the Seahawks don’t fix their offense this week, they are in deep trouble the rest of the way. As in, they could go 1-4 in December and January, finish 9-7 and miss the playoffs.

Washington’s upset win over erstwhile undefeated Pittsburgh on Monday showed the team formerly known as Redskins will be maybe the toughest of the NFC Least clubs the Hawks face. WFT has perhaps the best defensive line in the league, and comeback QB Alex Smith has gone 3-1 as the starter.

The Hawks will go to DC after hosting the winless Jets this week. Then come the tough division games against the Rams in Seattle and the 49ers in a place to be determined (the 49ers are playing this month in Arizona). Those last three games will be challenges for a Seattle team that has been struggling on defense all season and has lost its offensive power over the past month.

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Week 13: NY Giants

Hawks choke at home

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So much for the easy run against the NFC Least.

The Seahawks’ offense continued its horrific slump and Seattle suffered its worst home upset since 2017 and probably lost any shot at the No. 1 seed, as the Giants managed to squeak out a 17-12 win.

The Seahawks’ offensive funk has now stretched over a month as they have put up terrible games against L.A., Philly and now New York. After averaging 34 points in the first eight games, they have scored a mere 19.8 over the past four games, going 2-2 during that stretch.

After a 5-0 start that featured premature MVP talk about Russell Wilson, the Hawks have now gone 3-4. With the Saints moving to 10-2, the Hawks are two games behind in the chase for the NFC bye. It does not seem likely. The Rams (8-4) also beat Arizona to take the NFC West lead back.

If the playoffs started this week, the Seahawks would be playing the Giants again, in New York.

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Franchise history, Injury report

It’s December: time to get healthy

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“We’re in pretty good shape. We’re hoping to keep on this edge on staying healthy. It will really make a difference for us.” – Pete Carroll

December is here, and there is one thing the Seahawks need to do above all else: Get and stay healthy.

December has been a bad month for the Seahawks since 2016. They just have not been able to stay healthy, and it has cost them playoff position and wins. In 2017, when the Legion of Boom blew up, they missed the playoffs entirely.

We said it before this season started: Health will be a key factor in whether they win in December and advance far in the playoffs. Carroll knows that’s the key, as he told 710 ESPN on Friday.

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Injury report, Week 12: At Philadelphia

Three starters return, Shell ‘still hobbling’

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Chris Carson, Shaquill Griffin and Ethan Pocic were back at practice as the Seahawks prepare to travel to Philadelphia for “Monday Night Football.”

Pete Carroll said RT Brandon Shell (ankle) is “still hobbling” and will be a “close call” for Monday’s game.

Carroll said rookie Colby Parkinson will jump right into the tight end rotation to replace Greg Olsen, who suffered a torn plantar fascia last Thursday against Arizona.

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State of the team, The roster

Midseason roster report: Can the defense improve?

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Midway through the season, the Seahawks are a game better than we expected — despite a horrendous pass defense that might be the thing that keeps them out of the Super Bowl.

The Seahawks are off to one of their best starts under Pete Carroll, 6-2 (or better) for the third time. With the easiest finishing slate in the NFL, they look destined for at least 11 wins. The question, as it has been all season, is whether their defense will improve enough to help them get to the Super Bowl.

They have been 6-2 or better just two other times under Carroll. In 2013, they started 7-1 and finished 13-3 on the way to a Super Bowl title. Last season, they started 6-2 and finished 11-5 (knocked out of the playoffs by Green Bay).

They look good for 11-5 this season, too. The second-half schedule is the easiest in the league. The tough part will be the division games: They play the Rams twice, starting this week, and Arizona in Week 11. But they also face three NFC Least clubs, plus the Jets and the decimated 49ers. The very worst they should do in the final eight is 5-3, which would net 11 wins.

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Week 9: At Buffalo, X's & O's

These Hawks can’t afford Wilson’s turnovers

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The Seahawks are making Russell Wilson do too much cooking, and it is starting to burn them.

We know the defense is in shambles, which is why this team is not a Super Bowl contender at this point. And that’s also why it is imperative for the quarterback not to turn the ball over. When he does it three times, like he did at Arizona, or four times, like he did in Buffalo, these Hawks have almost no chance.

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Week 8: San Francisco, X's & O's

Carroll on blitzing: ‘It’s going to happen some more’

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The Seahawks are going to continue to put the heat on quarterbacks via the blitz, Pete Carroll says.

Led by Bobby Wagner’s two sacks and four QB hits, the Seahawks blitzed on 23 of the 49ers’ 45 dropbacks (51%) — their highest rate since 2010, per ESPN Stats & Info. The Hawks had been blitzing about 24% of the time before that this season.

“I thought that the pressure we threw at them helped everybody,” Carroll said. “We just decided to take a little turn. Obviously, we’re trying to figure some things out to get better, and we just put it on the fellas. … With Jamal (Adams) coming back next, it’s going to happen some more.”

That’s good news.

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The roster, Trades

Schneider finally addresses biggest offseason whiff

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Most observers are giving John Schneider major kudos for once again filling a big roster hole by taking advantage of another team’s dysfunction.

The trade for Carlos Dunlap – Schneider’s third October deal in four years — certainly was needed, and Schneider did well to get it done for a mere seventh-round pick and overpriced backup center B.J. Finney, as Cincinnati clearly was eager to get rid of Dunlap. (The GM would do better to add another pass rusher, too.)

But let’s not forget this is the continuation of an ongoing theme: The Seahawks were in this mess because Schneider created it – and then failed to fix it until now, maybe only for now.

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It's bigger than football

Wilson obviously does not understand how dangerous Brown is

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Just like Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson does not get it.

That is obvious based on the quarterback’s words about Antonio Brown, a seemingly mentally ill former NFL star whom Wilson thinks he and the Seahawks can help redeem while getting Brown’s talent in return.

Wilson is a good human, a kind and charitable guy strongly motivated by his faith in God. That faith was evident again Thursday as he talked about Brown, with whom he said he has become friends over the last five years. Wilson said, “I pray that he can continue to grow, just like anybody.” Also true to his Christian faith, Wilson added, “I try not to judge people.”

Wilson, 31, is apparently too young or too religious to understand it is necessary to judge people. You must weigh them against your principles so you know whether you should allow them into your life. If Wilson were wise enough to do that, we probably would not be having this talk right now.

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