Tag Archives: Pete Carroll

Did the Hawks really need that onside kick?

January 22, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Now that we all know the Seahawks’ onside kick was legal — like there should have been any question — let’s answer this question: Should the Seahawks have done it?

Seattle came up with several long-odds plays to beat the Packers in the NFC title game, but did the Seahawks actually make it too hard on themselves at the end?

Did they really need an onside kick, two-point conversion and overtime? Wouldn’t they have had at least the same chance of winning if they had kicked the ball deep after Russell Wilson’s touchdown run?

Continue reading Did the Hawks really need that onside kick? →

Coaches, Super Bowl XLIX

Dan Quinn’s swan song — and then what?

January 20, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seattle defense apparently will have some added incentive to put forth a stellar Super Bowl performance on Feb. 1: Sending coordinator Dan Quinn to Atlanta with a win.

The Falcons interviewed Quinn for a second time Monday in what reportedly was more of a formality as they already have decided to hire him. They reportedly had hoped to bring him out to Atlanta this week to announce the hiring, but his Seattle defense shut down Aaron Rodgers and the Packers for most of the game Sunday, giving Russell Wilson and Jermaine Kearse a chance to redeem themselves and send the Hawks back to the Super Bowl.

The Falcons reportedly already are securing Quinn’s staff — starting with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan — and likely will name him their coach the day after the Super Bowl.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll knows all of this, of course, and is not concerned a bit about losing Quinn or about it being a distraction leading up to the Super Bowl.

Continue reading Dan Quinn’s swan song — and then what? →

Contracts, Playoffs: Green Bay

He’s quiet, but Lynch sure generates a lot of noise

January 19, 2015 cc Leave a comment

For a guy as quiet as he is, Marshawn Lynch sure does make a lot of noise.

And he made a lot of it over the weekend.

It all started with a report Friday that he was going to wear $1,100 gold-plated cleats against the Packers, followed by a report Sunday morning that the NFL would not let him play if he did so.

As it turned out, he played in shoes that had blue and green tops and gold soles. And he made a lot of noise with them, running for a team playoff-record 157 yards and a touchdown in the 28-22 comeback win that vaulted Seattle into the Super Bowl for the second straight year.

It remains to be seen whether the No Fun League fines Lynch for the gold shoe bottoms — or for another crotch grab while scoring. Not sure why he insists on doing that — it’s such a teenage maneuver. But, hey, if Lynch wants to be a dick, that’s his choice.

Speaking of choices, another report Sunday indicated that the Hawks now are leaning toward keeping Lynch.

Continue reading He’s quiet, but Lynch sure generates a lot of noise →

Super Bowl XLIX

Super Bowl XLIX: The proving ground

January 19, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Super Bowl XLIX — with the matchup many of us projected before the season started — will be a proving ground in so many ways for both the Seahawks and the Patriots.

Going against the man who succeeded him in New England, Pete Carroll will have a chance to prove he is every bit the coaching genius that Bill Belichick — long the NFL’s best coach — is. What better way to do it than head to head?

Continue reading Super Bowl XLIX: The proving ground →

Playoffs: Green Bay

The hallmarks of that win: Redemption, trust and resilience

January 19, 2015 cc 1 Comment

Redemption, resilience, trust, teamwork.

Other than a trip to the Super Bowl, those were the themes of the Seahawks’ historic comeback win over the Green Bay Packers, 28-22 in overtime, on Sunday.

For much of the game, Russell Wilson, Jermaine Kearse and Doug Baldwin were the Three Stooges — taking turns poking each other in the eyes, hitting each other in the head and tripping over each other.

Wilson threw four interceptions — all on passes intended for Kearse, who had two go off his hands — and Baldwin fumbled on a kick return and dropped two passes himself.

But all three redeemed themselves on the winning drive in overtime — Wilson hitting Baldwin twice for 45 yards and then finding Kearse for the winning 35-yard touchdown.

After the game, Wilson and Kearse were overcome with emotion after their rollercoaster day.

Continue reading The hallmarks of that win: Redemption, trust and resilience →

CHAWK LINES, Playoffs: Green Bay

January 14, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Kam Chancellor is the man of the hour and the talk of the town and the NFL as the Seahawks get ready to beat the Packers to head back to the Super Bowl. So let’s start with a bunch of stuff on him:

Pete Carroll talked about Lawyer Milloy’s influence on Chancellor in 2010.

Milloy then talked about Chancellor (and more) on 1090 The Fan.

Bobby Wagner told Chancellor “a pick-six would be great” just before the safety did it, per this NFL.com video feature.

And, for good measure, Gregg Bell wrote a nice comprehensive piece about just how important Chancellor is to the Seahawks.

Continue reading →

Playoffs: Green Bay

Packers-Seahawks got interesting 15 years ago

January 14, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Newer Seahawks fans — and there are plenty of them — might think the Packers-Seahawks series consists of two games: the Hawks’ infamous Fail Mary victory on a Monday night in 2012 and Seattle’s 20-point win in the opening game of this NFL season.

But this series was full of great matchups back when Mike Holmgren and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck were leading the Hawks against their old team — led by Brett Favre — and this will be the 11th meeting, the third in the playoffs, since 1999.

Continue reading Packers-Seahawks got interesting 15 years ago →

Playoffs: Carolina, State of the team

Max protection: Unger makes a difference

January 12, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Max Unger sets up in pass protection vs. Carolina as Russell Wilson receives the center's snap (Seahawks.com) — Max Unger sets up in pass protection vs. Carolina as Russell Wilson receives the center’s snap (Seahawks.com)

Max matters.

Just ask Russell
Wilson and Pete
Carroll. Oh, and the stats.

In Seattle’s 31-17 playoff win over Carolina, center Max Unger returned from a six-game absence and helped the Seahawks’ offense surpass 30 points for just the fifth time this season while leading a line that protected Wilson as well as it had since the first month of the season.

And Unger survived a scare when he got his just-healed ankle rolled up on late in the game.

“I’m excited to have Max Unger back in there,” Wilson said after the game. “… Max Unger played a phenomenal game tonight. ”

Carroll wasn’t quite as effusive, but he was pleased to have the former All-Pro center back and knows he will only get better.

“He was real solid — pass protection was really good,” Carroll said, referencing the fact that Wilson was hit just twice — one of the cleanest games the Hawks have had up front all season.

“Our consistency, just like we had hoped, was there, along with the communication,” the coach said. “So it was a good start back for him. He hadn’t played in a long time, so you have to kick the rust off a little bit.”

Continue reading Max protection: Unger makes a difference →

Playoffs: Carolina

A look at Wilson’s best playoff performance yet

January 12, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Russell Wilson has almost always played well in the playoffs — six games and counting — and his performance Saturday against Carolina was his best yet.

The third-year quarterback buried the ghosts of his poor home games earlier in the season with a nearly perfect outing that also was probably his best game of the 2014 season.

He threw a postseason-career-high three touchdown passes and tallied a 149.2 rating, completing 68.2 percent, while tying Matt Hasselbeck for most playoff wins in Seattle history (five).

Wilson now has nine TD passes and just one interception in six postseason games, and his passer rating has been over 100 in four of them. In fact, his postseason passer rating of 109.6 is the best in NFL history (hat tip to Hawk Blogger for first reporting that stat).

So why was Wilson so good vs. the Panthers? (1) His offensive line kept him clean, (2) he was perfect on third downs, (3) he got the ball out quickly when he could and (4) he trusted his receivers to come down with long passes.

Continue reading A look at Wilson’s best playoff performance yet →

Playoffs: Carolina

Like Easley, Chancellor is heart of defense

January 11, 2015 cc Leave a comment

It was only appropriate that Kam Chancellor had perhaps the best game of his career on the day Kenny Easley raised the 12th Man flag.

Just as Easley was once Seattle’s best player, Chancellor — who, like Easley, is from Virginia and once dated Easley’s daughter — has been this team’s MVP the past two years.

Yeah, that’s a loaded statement on a team that includes so many star players — fellow Legion of Boomers Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman, linebackers Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright, defensive linemen Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril, quarterback Russell Wilson, running back Marshawn Lynch.

Everyone likes to say Lynch is the heartbeat of the team — embodying the tough, relentless style Pete Carroll wants his guys to play with.

But the defense is the backbone — the reason Wilson has won more games than any quarterback in his first three seasons — and Chancellor has been the heart and soul of that unit for the past two dominant years.

Continue reading Like Easley, Chancellor is heart of defense →