Tag Archives: Pete Carroll

Playoffs: At Dallas, The roster

Roster review as Hawks prep for Dallas

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logo-playoffsWell, that finale against Arizona wasn’t pretty. But this is all that matters: The Seahawks are headed to Dallas for a playoff game Saturday.

The last time they faced the Cowboys, the Hawks were just rediscovering Pete Carroll’s long lost preferred formula for winning.

It worked in that Week 3 game: The Seahawks hit the magic 50 (runs and completions), were plus-three in turnover differential and won the third-down battle in a 24-13 victory in Seattle.

The Seahawks didn’t run the ball very well (2.9 yards per carry), but they kept pounding it anyway (39 times) and Russell Wilson took advantage of some coverage holes for a pair of TD passes.

“We didn’t really kill it that day. We had a hard game against those guys,” Carroll said. “I think Chris (Carson) rushed 32 times in that game for 100 yards. That wasn’t what became a little bit more standard, what we were shooting for during the season, but it was a step in the right direction and the commitment came through. We were just getting started.”

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Playoffs, Week 17: Arizona

Hawks should be rooting for selves & Rams

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logo-arizonaThere seem to be far too many Seahawks fans calling for Pete Carroll to rest a bunch of guys against Arizona on Sunday. Fortunately, Carroll is much smarter than that.

The Seahawks absolutely should prefer to go to Dallas rather than chilly Chicago in the wild-card round. To do that, they have to beat Arizona, or Minnesota has to lose to the Bears, who are angling for the No. 2 seed.

Dallas would easily be the best postseason matchup for the Seahawks, who then would head to New Orleans if the No. 3 seed (Chicago or L.A.) also won in the wild-card round.

Of course, if the No. 6 seed (Minnesota or Philadelphia) were to win, that would send Seattle to the No. 2 seed. And that’s why the Hawks should be rooting Sunday for the Rams to beat the 49ers (or the Bears to lose).

The Seahawks just don’t want to go to Chicago in mid-January, when temperatures are as frigidly unfriendly as you can get. They surely would prefer to play the division rivals they came close to beating twice earlier this season and probably are well suited to beat in a prospective third matchup in sunny California.

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Coaches, State of the team, Week 16: Kansas City

With Carroll re-signed, playoff-bound Hawks ‘just getting started’

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Logo -- Kansas CIty“It feels like we are just getting started.” — Pete Carroll

Consider the Seahawks’ next Super Bowl window officially open.

A day after Pete Carroll led the Hawks to the playoffs for the seventh time in his nine seasons, he signed an extension keeping him in Seattle for three more years.

It does indeed feel like the Seahawks are just getting started — both this year and beyond.

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Week 13: San Francisco

Seahawks blow out Sherman’s 49ers, move into playoff position

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san-francisco-logoA week after the Seahawks put together their defining win of the season, at Carolina, they added an exclamation point with a 43-16 win vs. former Seahawk Richard Sherman and the undermanned 49ers.

Russell Wilson threw a season-best four TD passes, each one marked by the receivers’ celebration skits (including an homage to Sherman’s famous Tip); Bobby Wagner played easily his best game of the season, setting a team record with his 98-yard pick-six; and the Seahawks moved two games over .500 for the first time this season — happy to show Sherman they are not a “middle of the road” team as they beat the 49ers for the ninth straight time.

The Seahawks officially moved into playoff position, where they can remain if they beat Minnesota next week and win the final three. (Even dropping one game probably wouldn’t hurt them that much.) If the season ended today, the Hawks would be the No. 6 seed.

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Week 13: San Francisco
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CHAWK LINES -- Sherman returnsRichard Sherman’s return to Seattle is one of the bigger reunion games the Seahawks — or any of the city’s teams — has ever had. Here’s a look at everything being said about it:

Doug Baldwin still hates the way Sherman’s Seattle career ended. Might have to recycle this quote next year if/when Baldwin leaves.

Bobby Wagner had some great good-natured digs at Sherman. Pete Carroll called him a “challenge” to coach but also expressed great respect for Sherman. Shaquill Griffin admires Sherman for mentoring him last year: “That wasn’t in his job description. He didn’t have to do that.”

Sherman basically stuck to the same criticisms of Seattle he made when he was cut. And he also made clear what he thinks of Russell Wilson as a QB (ICYMI: They’re not buds).

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Franchise history, State of the team, Week 12: At Carolina

Hawks’ run defense is historically bad

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Logo -- At CarolinaWhile everyone else marvels over the fact that the Seahawks are over .500 this deep into the season, we’re more concerned about how Seattle’s historically bad run defense might prevent the team from advancing in the playoffs.

We have always projected the Hawks to be above .500 at this point (they actually have underachieved by a game in our eyes), and it speaks well of their developing offense that they have been able to stay in games against high-powered offenses such as the L.A. teams, Green Bay and Carolina — rallying to beat the latter two.

But Seattle’s defensive line has proven to be more of a liability than we thought it would be. No one expected the pass rush to be very good outside Frank Clark — and that largely has proven true (Clark has 10 sacks, Jarran Reed a mildly surprising 5.5 and the rest of the team 12.5). But the run defense has been a major disappointment.

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Week 11: Green Bay

Will clutch rally end Wilson’s inconsistency?

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Seahawks at Packers helmetsRussell Wilson had not rallied his team to a comeback victory all season. And the way he played for most of Thursday night, it didn’t look like he was going to pull it off vs. the Packers either.

But he did. And maybe that is all the hope he and the Seahawks need to find some consistency and make a run to the playoffs.

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Week 9: L.A. Chargers

Wilson, Hawks throw away another

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Logo -- Los AngelesThat’s two games Russell Wilson has thrown away for Seattle this season.

Just like Week 2 in Chicago, he threw a pick-six against the Chargers that basically put the exclamation point on an inexplicably poor performance by Seattle’s offense in a 25-17 loss.

Everyone expected Philip Rivers and the high-powered Chargers to put up yards and points on the Seahawks’ young defense, and they did for a while. But this loss really has to be pinned on Wilson and company, who — good rushing numbers aside — looked a lot like the Week 1-2 offense that failed to win in Denver or Chicago.

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Schedule, Week 9: L.A. Chargers

Time for Hawks to prove they are contenders

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Logo -- Los AngelesThe last time the Seahawks faced Philip Rivers, four years ago, they lost the day’s battle but won the season’s war (or came a yard short anyway).

Coming off a stunning 36-16 blowout of the Packers in the 2014 opener, the Seahawks went down to San Diego and melted in the heat against Rivers and the Gates of Hell. They stumbled to a 3-3 start that year, but they survived an early gantlet of great quarterbacks and rallied to reach the Super Bowl for the second straight year.

Now, here they are again — trying to pull away from 3-3 and make a deep playoff run, with a string of excellent QBs and offenses looming. It’s the perfect test for this team to prove it is a real contender.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 8: At Detroit
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CHAWK LINES -- Hawks at LionsThe Seahawks will honor Paul Allen with a uniform patch for the rest of the season.

The Seahawks will see three Super familiar faces in Detroit.

The Lions, who rank 30th against the run, brought in Snacks to help. Golden Tate welcomed Damon Harrison and also gave a throwback nod to his NFL career.

The Hawks will get their own defensive help. The return of K.J. Wright should allow Bobby Wagner to start making more plays. Wagner is close to the No. 2 spot on the franchise tackles list.

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