Seahawks coach Pete Carroll raved about the play of the offense in bouncing back from last week's debacle at Tampa Bay with a 40-7 win over Carolina Sunday.
Here’s all that Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had to say after Sunday’s 40-7 win over the Carolina Panthers.
(Opening…) “It was a really terrific night at the stadium. It was a big show by the fans being ready, the 12s were crazy tonight. We got the offense rolling, and had a big first half, 300 yards in the first half, and the running game was alive and rolling and Thomas was on. I think it really demonstrated how important Justin Britt has been to us, his coming back in there really cleaned things up this week. Tyler Lockett had a terrific night all around, with all the yards and the plays that he made. Russell had a really good solid night tonight. The guys caught the ball, Jimmy had a good night. Doug Baldwin, all those guys. So, it was a really good night across the board. But I think the best thing about this is the play of the offensive line, and to see the running game go like that, so we’re really fired up about that. On the other side of it, to hold these guys to 7 points, and we made a mistake, we didn’t have to give them 7, that’s a big deal, because these guys have dynamic football players, and a dynamic thrower, and all of that, and the defense played great tonight. It was a very, very good night, and I’m very pleased about it.”
(On why the offense did so well tonight…) “We were able to do what we needed to do in the running game. I think that was what felt so good. We really had good continuity. Different styles of things that we did worked. Guys blocked really well. Thomas looked like Thomas. I think this was the first time. I was trying to let you know that there was something different this week about his preparation and the way he felt. He finally got his legs back underneath him, and he looked great. So, I think the combination of him being on and how the guys blocked up front.”
(On whether this game affirmed that week was just a bad game…) “We were so much different, and so far off [last week], it was obvious that that was the case. The great thing is that we answered it and came back. We had a great week. You could tell by their focus, and I never know at gametime, but once we got going in the game, things just got cooking. It turned out great.”
(On the play of the defense ….) “I rave about that running game, because of the complexities of it. Our guys were on it all night long, until the end when they got some yardage. We played a terrific game at the line of scrimmage. We weren’t able to get to the quarterback, but the pass defense was very good. The guys made a lot of plays, guys were around the ball a lot on their routes. All in all, it was a fantastic night, to give up 7 points on those guys. ”
(On the injury to Earl Thomas…) “He broke his leg tonight. I don’t know what that means. It’s always six weeks anyway, I don’t know how severe it is. It was very unfortunate; he ran into Kam. Kam’s made of steel, so it’s going to hurt, and it sure did. ”
(On whether there is any chance Earl Thomas could be back…) “I don’t know that. I don’t know.”
(On how Steven Terrell played tonight… ) “He did very well. He had a great pick. The first play he was in they got on top of us and made that big play. The other stuff he had a chance to do after that was very much in line, and I thought he did very well. He played well last week, in replacing Earl, so he’ll be the guy going. At least he’s got a couple of games under his belt. We think we can count on him in a big way.”
(On the difference with Thomas Rawls tonight…) “The difference was all through the week. His preparation was right on point and his mentality and the physical side, you could see him, he was just quicker from Wednesday on. Every day he was at practice he was on it. You could see it, you could just tell it was coming. I kind of talked about him in the team meeting last night, that we could see Thomas really go and explode because he had had such a great week of preparation. I think he finally felt like he was fully back. He demonstrated it. I thought his runs were fantastic tonight, all kinds of different styles. He made some cuts that were just crazy. It was great to see that. That’s the imaging that’s got to happen, we’ve been imagining this, and finally tonight we got to feel it.”
(On the impact of losing Earl Thomas…) “Earl’s been a fixture here for a long time. He had missed two games in his life playing football. We’re going to miss him enormously. Like I said, Steve Terrell knows how to play the game. He knows what we’re doing, he knows how to give us what we’re looking for, and he’s played very well. We’re all going to miss the heck out of Earl because we love having that guy back there, but we don’t get to. Steven will step up and we’ll count on him to come through for us.”
(On the touchdown to Ginn…) “We just made a mistake on it, we didn’t do it right. We screwed it up.”
(On the play of Tyler Lockett…) “I think he took advantage of the opportunities. He is well, he’s healthy now. It took him a long time, probably the last couple weeks he’s been right. Some people in the media were saying some stuff like maybe we shouldn’t be going to him, or we’re missing or whatever. He’s a great football player. Give him the opportunity and he’s going to show you that. I don’t know that I’ve seen a guy look faster than when he finished that run tonight. Griffin was going to run him down for a second. He know he had an angle on him and Tyler didn’t let it happen. He looked just unbelievably fast to me from the sidelines. It was a thrill to see that play.”
(On whether the return of Justin Britt impacted the play of the O-line….) “I think that was as much as anything. I think we were just way off last week, it was obvious, and let’s just leave it at that. But this week they practiced really well together. By the end of the week, they were really in synch and really sharp, it was obvious on Friday’s practice. We made comments to the coaches on how clean they looked and how prepared they looked. It just carried over. In a young group of guys, they’re really counting on Justin, so without him it was difficult on them the week before, and that just made everything look somewhat out of synch. I think it was pretty obvious when you see the comparison this week. ”
(On whether there was a difference on the sidelines tonight…) “I think the guys had a blast. This was really fun playing football tonight. This is what you hope to have games like this every once in a while, and you can’t get them every week. Our guys enjoyed the heck out it. Guys were crossing over and cheering for each other. I was excited to see guys do something. Boykin jumps in a makes a couple plays. Troy Pope jumps in and makes some plays. The guys were really fired up for those guys to do stuff, so it was great.”
(On Tyler Lockett battling through his injuries…) “He’s a great competitor. This is one of the most competitive guys on our team, by the way he works and how he applies himself. He is so consistent. He’s just a beautiful illustration of the kinds of guys we love on our team. There is nobody that will outwork him, there is nobody that’s on the field longer than him, and that’s been since the day he got here. He’s never wavered. When he was hurt, he worked his way through it. He never felt like he was going to miss. He made the adjustments he had to make to play when he wasn’t quite 100% and still contributed and played well. It just shows in his play; he’s always ready to make something happen. Now that he’s back and going, this was a great night to demonstrate that.”
(On Earl Thomas potentially contemplating retirement…) “I would say that a lot was running through his mind when he said that. I think he told you exactly what he was talking about, what he felt. I saw him in the training room tonight at halftime. He’s OK, he’s going to be all right. I’m not so sure about that right there, but I’m not surprised that he said something like that, though. Earl’s apt to say something that might surprise you, and he did.”
(On how to keep an injury like Thomas’ from impacting the team…) “The truth. Going right back to the truth. We’ll come out on Monday, we’ll be alright. He can’t play now. We have to move ahead. Our guys are very mature about stuff like this. They’ll handle it. They’ll miss the heck out of him. But, they will immediately will start pulling for Steven to do his thing. They know that that’s the way it has to go. I think these guys are mature, they love the kid and they care about him, but they also know that this is part of the things that happen, and we have to deal with it properly, and we will.”
(On how the players were able to move past last week’s loss so well…) “I think we do have a pretty clear understanding of kind of what we’re capable of. These guys have a pretty good sense of who we are, and they realized that was a terrible demonstration, and there was no reason to dwell on it. Put it behind, and let’s get going, let’s get back to the real and the truth, and that’s exactly what they did, and they showed it in fantastic fashion tonight.”
(On how much to dwell on this win…) “I’m glad you asked me that. We won’t dwell on it at all. It’s already done. We’ll come back to Tell the Truth Monday and we’ll get right at it, and then we’ll be beyond. Russ as he was breaking down, he was already on it about next week and putting together another great week of work. I can’t wait to start talking because this is fourth quarter time now for us. Four games left, and this is a moment for us to take a turn to try to finish this season on a great note. I love when the fourth quarter gets here, and it had nothing to do with just happened. Whether it was last week, as terrible as it was, or this week, as good as it was, we have the same mentality, and we hold the same discipline intact. We move forward and go ahead and leave what happened behind us. You never know until you get to that challenge, but we’ll show you. We’ll show you where we are on that.“
(On Jarran Reed and George Fant…) “They came out fine.”
(On Mike Morgan’s interception…) “Mike Mo. Isn’t that something? His first interception ever on the first play of the game. That was great. We made a big deal about Mike coming back, he’s been out for two weeks. He’s a real favorite on this team. He’s a real pro. So, the guys were cheering for him in the locker room after the game, just because he made a big play and all that. He’s just been a great factor and personality on this team, and that was awesome that that happened for him, that was great. As a matter of fact, this was “MikeMo Week.” You guys don’t know that, but it was MikeMo Week, and the great MikeMo Challenge was going on all week long, so we’ve made a bigger deal about it than you think. And I’ll leave it at that so you don’t know what I’m talking about.”