Tag Archives: Pete Carroll

On their backs: Hawks short on RBs and CBs

October 7, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Seattle’s injury report is “backed” up.

Five of the seven players who did not practice Wednesday are “backs”– running backs or cornerbacks – leaving the Seahawks pretty thin at those spots.

Not practicing – and therefore questionable at this point for Sunday in Cincinnati – were running backs Marshawn Lynch (hamstring) and Fred Jackson (high ankle sprain) and cornerbacks Tharold Simon (toe), Marcus Burley (thumb), and Tye Smith (hip). Joining them were defensive lineman Demarcus Dobbs (shoulder) and linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis (hamstring), who both missed the win over Detroit on Monday.

On the bright side, Brandon Mebane (groin), Ricardo Lockette (breath) and Steven Terrell (hip) all returned to practice, and Pete Carroll said he is “pretty hopeful” that Mebane will play.

Carroll said Lynch is “day-to-day” and “it will take us all the way to the end of the week before we know. He did make a lot of progress last week and was able to run around some and all that. He’s worked really hard at it, so we’ll see if we can get it done.”

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State of the team, Week 4: Detroit, X's & O's

Wilson carried offense until he dropped ball

October 6, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Before Kam Chancellor and the referees combined to steal the headlines in Seattle’s win over Detroit on Monday, the biggest story was the play of Russell Wilson.

With Marshawn Lynch out and almost no help from his blockers, the quarterback did everything he could for three-plus quarters to keep the Seahawks ahead. And then he dispelled all of that magic with one huge fumble that was returned for a touchdown and put Detroit in position to go ahead in the final two minutes.

Wilson was sacked six times — two or three were his fault for holding the ball too long — and was almost constantly on the run. He is on pace to be sacked 72 times, which would tie Randall Cunningham (1986) for No. 2 in NFL history (David Carr was sacked 76 times in 2002).

Despite the pressure, Wilson completed 20 of 26 passes for 287 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions. He ran his Monday night record to 5-0, with 10 TD passes and no picks.

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State of the team, Week 4: Detroit

Carroll and Cable preach patience with developing O-line

October 5, 2015 cc Leave a comment

As the Seattle Seahawks finish the first quarter of the season, their offensive line is still a major work in progress.

But that should come as no surprise. Coach Pete Carroll and offensive line coach Tom Cable are satisfied with the steps the unheralded unit has taken, knowing it was always going to take half the season for Russell Okung, Justin Britt, Drew Nowak, J.R. Sweezy and Garry Gilliam to jell.

“They’re growing and they’re working at it hard,” Carroll said, leading up to the game against the Detroit Lions. “Their confidence is gaining and we’re going to see them continue to improve. I don’t think we’re going to know for another four, five weeks, maybe the halfway point of the season.”

Cable has said several times that this is the most talented group of linemen he has coached.

“I still think they’re going to be the best group (he has had),” he told 710 ESPN last week. “All they’ve done in three games now is get better and better and better.”

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CHAWK LINES, Week 3: Chicago

September 29, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Pete Carroll doesn’t really care that the Seahawks’ offense is struggling in the first half. Jimmy Graham does, though.

Doug Baldwin doesn’t like the offense’s performance either: “We’re awful on third down right now.”

Baldwin also said he doesn’t want to find out how the Hawks would do without Marshawn Lynch, who is questionable for Monday vs. Detroit with a hamstring injury after a calf injury sidelined him to start the game vs. the Bears.

Golden Tate, former Hawk now with the Lions, said defenses know what Detroit’s offense is doing before it does it.

The Lions and 49ers are running very simple offenses, allowing defenses to beat them consistently, John Clayton surmised.

The Seahawks are getting big contributions from rookies for the first time since 2012.

The Seahawks are again chasing the Cardinals in the NFC West. Here’s a good look at the factors in that race by Bob Condotta.

The Bears were good medicine for the Seahawks’ defense, which improved from 17th to third in overall defense and 21st to second in pass defense.

NFL teams set a record for penalties through the first three weeks, but the Seahawks were a small part of that — tied for the second fewest penalties (18), if you can believe that.

State of the team, Week 3: Chicago

Is this the beginning of the end for Lynch?

September 29, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Is this just a minor injury hiccup for Marshawn Lynch or are we seeing the beginning of the end?

Back issues have dogged him throughout his career, but the Hawks have managed him well and he has not missed a game since 2011. Now he is dealing not only with that recurring issue but a hamstring injury that could keep him out Monday against Detroit.

“We’ve just got to wait and see,” Pete Carroll said Monday, adding, “We really probably won’t know until Friday. The MRI will be important though when we get the results back from that.”

Carroll said Lynch’s “calf thing is resolving” and it’s all about the hamstring, which Lynch injured on his bobbling fourth-down catch at the end of the first half vs. the Chicago Bears.

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Injury report, Week 3: Chicago

Lynch a game-time call, and Hawks tracking data on Chancellor

September 26, 2015 cc Leave a comment

When Kam Chancellor first started telling people he was coming back to the Seahawks on Wednesday, one of the things he said was, “Me and Marshawn started a mission two years ago. I can’t let my dog down.”

It was interesting — and many would say appropriate — that the defense’s heartbeat was recognizing the offense’s thumper as a kindred leader of the team. But, as Chancellor potentially makes his return Sunday vs. Chicago, Lynch might not be with him.

The running back is questionable with a calf injury suffered in Green Bay.

“Yeah, he’s got a calf that we’re working on,” Pete Carroll said. “We’ve been able to condition him some, but we just want to make sure and take care of him during the week, and so he’ll run tomorrow and we’ll see if he’s OK, and it will go all the way to game day on this one though.”

If Lynch can’t play, Fred Jackson would make the start and Thomas Rawls would back him up.

As for Chancellor, the team seems to be planning on him playing.

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Franchise history, NFL history, State of the team

Will Kam be to Seattle as Emmitt was to Dallas?

September 24, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The 0-2 Seahawks have an 11 percent chance to make the playoffs and a 1 percent chance to win the Super Bowl, history says (just three of 204 teams that started 0-2 have done it since the playoffs expanded in 1990).

One of those teams was the 1993 Dallas Cowboys.

Will Kam Chancellor play the role of Emmitt Smith, who similarly sat out the first two games in a contract dispute? Smith came back for Week 3 and the Cowboys won 12 of the final 14 games and earned a second straight Super Bowl win.

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State of the team, Week 2: At Green Bay, X's & O's

Carroll on Graham: ‘We want him to be a big part of the offense’

September 21, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Pete Carroll is just as frustrated as everyone else that Jimmy Graham was invisible Sunday night, especially when the Seahawks planned to have the Pro Bowl tight end heavily involved from the beginning, and the coach promises Graham will be more involved going forward.

Graham caught one pass in the first half of the opener in St. Louis, but Russell Wilson went to him more in the second half and he finished with six catches for 51 yards and a touchdown. But in Green Bay he was thrown to just twice and caught one (for 11 yards).

“I’m disappointed because … we want him to be a big part of the offense,” Carroll said. “(Six) balls in the first game and a touchdown pass. (Six) balls is a pretty good day. This day it didn’t work out. We were trying to go to him four out of the first five passes.”

Asked why Wilson did not throw to Graham on those plays, Carroll said, “There’s all kinds of things that happen. We get flustered here or there, get pushed away from the route where it’s going. There’s all kinds of stuff that happens and it isn’t any one thing. If it was one thing, it’d be really easy. It’s a variety of things that happen in the route.”

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Week 2: At Green Bay

Carroll: Time to get season started

September 21, 2015 cc Leave a comment

“We’re going to go back to work and get the season started.”

— Pete Carroll, after the Seahawks self-destructed in Green Bay.

The Seahawks were their own worst enemy vs. the Packers on Sunday, as they lost by double digits (27-17) for the first time since 2011.

Kind of like the loss to the Rams, the errors came from every corner. Michael Bennett jumped offsides three times, Richard Sherman gave up two big plays, Darrell Bevell and Russell Wilson put together another subpar performance, the offensive line was horrible in the first quarter, Jimmy Graham was nowhere to be found, the Seahawks still can’t run a screen play to save their lives, and the defense once again got picked apart by the short passing game.

After that game, some fans probably are wishing Bennett had held out alongside Kam Chancellor. Bennett led the NFL with 13 pre-snap penalties in 2014, and he now has five in two games this season.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 2: At Green Bay

September 17, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Once again, fans want to lynch Darrell Bevell. Especially Mama Lynch.

Richard Sherman talked about his positions as a spokesman for societal change and as the Hawks’ new nickel corner.

Dave Boling says the Packers are pretending this is not a big game of redemption.

Contrary to reports that the Hawks have offered concessions to Kam Chancellor, Pete Carroll said the team has not been negotiating, and the team apparently wants him to report before it considers making any chances to his deal.

Field Gulls looks at the effect of the absence of Chancellor.

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