Tag Archives: Pete Carroll

Week 2: At Los Angeles

This offense looks as bad as the 2011 crew

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at-los-angeles-logoPete Carroll said last week that his team was ahead of where it was at this time last year. He’s probably rethinking that opinion after the Seahawks scored just three points in yet another loss to the Rams on Sunday.

While the defense is playing to the right standard, giving up just 19 points in the first two games, the offense has reverted to 2011 levels. That’s right: Russell Wilson and company are actually worse than they were early last season, scoring as poorly as the pre-Wilson 2011 unit, which was led by Tarvaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst.

The Seahawks have scored 15 points in two games. The last time they had two-game stretches that bad was in 2011, when they scored 13 total in a split with the Steelers (24-0 loss) and Cardinals (13-10 win) and then 15 in losses to the Browns (6-3) and Bengals (34-12).

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State of the team, Week 2: At Los Angeles

O-line on Plan C as Hawks face Rams’ stud D-line

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“The best-laid plans of mice and men (oft go astray)” — Robert Burns, “To a Mouse”

at-los-angeles-logoAfter getting pushed around by the great defensive fronts of the Rams, Panthers and Vikings last season, the Seahawks knew they needed to beef up their offensive line if they were going to win the NFC this year.

So they signed 6-foot-7, 331-pound J’Marcus Webb and 6-7, 309-pound Bradley Sowell and then drafted 6-6, 324-pound Germain Ifedi, 6-4, 314-pound Rees Odhiambo and 6-2, 299-pound center Joey Hunt.

The original plan was to pair Ifedi and Webb on the right side to, as Pete Carroll put it, “get as big as you can get in football.” That, along with moving Justin Britt (6-6, 315) to center, was their strategy for dealing with the great defensive fronts they were set to face in 2016 — the Rams, Panthers, Dolphins, Jets, et al.

But, Robert Burns’ poetic proverb has proven true for the Hawks, who are on to Plan C — and possibly D — as they take their first crack at Aaron Donald, Robert Quinn, Michael Brockers and the rest of the Rams’ deep line.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 2: At Los Angeles
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CHAWK LINES -- Seahawks at Rams

Pete Carroll developed transcendent credibility on and off the field in L.A.

Russell Wilson will not be limited vs. the Rams.

The Rams have been a tough matchup for the Seahawks, mainly due to their defensive line’s dominance of Seattle’s offensive line.

Bob Condotta’s Seahawks to watch include most of the offensive line — J’Marcus Webb is questionable.

Jimmy Graham “had his best week” and is “ready to play in all situations.”

No. 1 pick Jared Goff was promoted to second string by the Rams.

Tharold Simon is the latest failure from Seattle’s 2013 draft class.

State of the team, Week 2: At Los Angeles

Rams have lost clock edge on Hawks

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rams-clockIt’s going to be a big party in Los Angeles on Sunday when the Rams and Pete Carroll return to play an NFL game there for the first time since 1994.

Carroll and the California Seahawks are excited to make the return for obvious reasons, but there’s another, more significant, factor that makes the Seahawks very happy and gives them a better chance to win.

As Darrell Bevell said, “I think we get to play at a normal time.”

That’s right: No more 10 a.m. starts for the Hawks when they play the Rams. This game will be played at 1:05 p.m., and every other game going forward will be no earlier than 1 p.m.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 2: At Los Angeles
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CHAWK LINES -- Seahawks at Rams

Russell Wilson said he will be “ready to roll” against the Rams.

The trip to Los Angeles will be special for Pete Carroll and all of the California Seahawks.

Carroll explained this week’s roster decisions at corner and fullback.

Earl Thomas said he was so upset about his play vs. Miami that he quickly left without showering.

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Franchise history, NFL history

Remember the Seahawks’ L.A. story?

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behringIt’s only appropriate that the Seahawks are going to be the first team in 22 years to play the Rams in Los Angeles.

L.A. fans are excited – or were before Monday’s debacle — about the return of the Rams, and plenty of people are making a big deal of Pete Carroll’s return to the site of his USC glory.

But this also marks a pretty major anniversary for the Seahawks, who actually were the last franchise to reside in Los Angeles – if only for a couple of unauthorized months 20 years ago.

As you may or may not recall, Ken Behring tried to move the Hawks to L.A. in 1996, just a year after the Rams and Raiders left. And it was that move that basically led to Paul Allen buying the team – and leading it to three Super Bowls and counting.

Here’s the Seahawks’ L.A. story from my book, “The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly: Seattle Seahawks”:

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State of the team, Week 2: At Los Angeles

Hawks ‘have a lot of stuff to clean up’

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After Week 1, the Seahawks look like the third-best team in the NFC West. The good news is they face the fourth-best team this week.

The Rams melted down Monday night in San Francisco, which means either the 49ers are much better than we thought they would be or the Rams are much worse.

Of course, the Seahawks had their own issues – almost all on offense — in their nail-biting win over Miami, and they will need to fix those if they are going to beat the Rams in the first game in Los Angeles since 1994. (It will be Seattle’s first game vs. the Rams in L.A. since 1988.)

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CHAWK LINES, Week 1: Miami
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“You can hardly tell anything is wrong with” Russell Wilson, Pete Carroll said.

Cliff Avril sent Wilson a message praising his toughness.

The Seahawks have been in contact with Tarvaris Jackson. They also signed Jake Heaps to the practice squad.

Thomas Rawls and Jimmy Graham are going to get more playing time.

Cassius Marsh rebounded from a big mistake to have his best game as a pro.

Seattle’s running game stumbled in the opener.

Here’s everything Pete Carroll said in his Monday media session.

The Seahawks will wear all-neon green for the “Color Rush” Thursday night game in Week 15.

Marshawn Lynch went “Running Wild with Bear Grylls.”

Injury report, State of the team

‘How could you think’ Wilson will miss a game?

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Seahawks bandagesIf you think Russell Wilson is going to miss a game with his sprained ankle, you underestimate his moxie, his toughness, his drive, his resilience.

Remember, this is a guy who has never missed a practice or a meaningful play.

As Pete Carroll told 710 ESPN on Monday, “He will make it through. How could you think otherwise?”

Wilson himself tweeted out, “See you in L.A.”

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Injury report, State of the team

Curse of first-round linemen continues

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Seahawks bandagesIt’s no wonder John Schneider and Pete Carroll had developed an aversion toward drafting offensive linemen in the first round: They always get hurt.

After going back-to-back with first-round linemen in 2010-11, it took them five years to try again. Now it might be another five years before they do it again.

We can only hope Germain Ifedi’s high ankle sprain, which is expected to sideline him for at least three weeks, will not send him down the same injury path traveled by Russell Okung and James Carpenter.

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