Chris Carson’s absence is glaring as Seahawks finish with just 57 yards on 17 carries in loss to Bills

The Bills defense entered the game Sunday against the Seahawks ranked 26th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed at 4.7 per attempt, and Seattle seemingly hoped early on to exploit that.

Seattle got 27 yards out of four carries from its running backs in the first quarter.
But the Seahawks got little more out of the backs the rest of the way, and their early deficit meant Seattle had to throw it a lot.

The upshot was Seattle had just 30 yards on 11 carries from its running backs in the final three quarters and finished with 57 yards on 17 attempts, which, even in a season when the Seahawks are throwing it more than ever, was a season low by a wide margin — the previous low was 84 in the season opener at Atlanta, and Seattle had 98 or more in every game since.

Of course, this was the second consecutive game without both Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde, which meant the second consecutive start for rookie DeeJay Dallas.

Dallas had 27 yards on three attempts in the first quarter but took a hard shot to the head after one play and was out for a while, and then got just 4 more yards on four more carries the rest of the game — including a 4-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

Travis Homer, used again mostly as a third-down back, had 16 yards on six carries (though also 64 yards receiving on three catches on three targets) while newly-signed Alex Collins had 5 yards on two carries.

Carroll said Dallas was not hurt and his time on the sidelines was about wanting “to see other guys. Wanted to see Homer, get a couple shots from Alex. That’s kind of what we did. That’s all. Just mixing guys.’’

Seattle is hoping Carson and Hyde can make it back for the game Sunday against the Rams in Los Angeles. But the Seahawks reportedly are bringing in Bo Scarbrough — who was with the team in 2018 and 2019 — for a visit.

Eventually, Seattle hopes 2018 first-round draft choice Rashaad Penny will return from the physically unable to perform list. He hasn’t played since Dec. 8, 2019, when he tore an ACL against the Rams. But there’s no clear timeline yet for Penny.

Injury report

While defensive tackle Jarran Reed left the game late with an apparent issue with his leg, Carroll said he was not on the injury report. Reed said only that he was “fine’’ when he talked to reporters afterward.

Carroll said three players suffered ankle injuries — defensive tackle Bryan Mone, linebacker K.J. Wright and defensive back D.J. Reed.

But he said it was unclear the severity of any of the injuries.