The Seattle Seahawks (1-1) will travel to Nashville to battle the Tennessee Titans ( 1-1) in a pivotal game for both teams. After season-opening losses, both teams rebounded with wit two wins. The Titans put up 37 points in their 37 to 16 road win at Jacksonville. An impressive effort after the 26 to 16 home loss to the Oakland Raiders. The Seahawks are coming off a gritty and unimpressive 12 to 9 home win over the San Francisco 49ers.
The two head coaches held their weekly press conference on Wednesday to discuss Sundays game.
TITANS HEAD COACH MIKE MULARKEY
(On what have you seen out of the Seahawks in general through film and expectations of them) “Very well coached team, disciplined and experienced team. Guys that have been together for a while. I know there is a couple new faces, but for the most part it’s the same team in all three phases. I have some experience again earlier from my other meetings with them, but a team that plays extremely hard, physical, fast…good football team.”
(On importance of getting the turnover differential in the positive) “Well it cost us games, especially early on. Our opener last year, we lost because of two turnovers for touchdowns. That is the one thing we are trying to minimize. We had multiple turnovers for touchdowns last year and that is difficult to overcome, typically your percentage of winning aren’t very good. So a big emphasis on that started in April and our guys are buying into it and we work on it every day.”
(On overlapping in Minnesota as a player with Pete Carroll for a couple years and do you have any memories of him as a young assistant coach) “Yeah, lot of energy just like Pete is today. Same, very good, very good coach. You are talking a long time ago, like 1985, Bud Grant’s second go around with the Vikings was when Pete came in, if I’m right saying that. But it’s been good. I’ve known Pete and been friends for a long time. But a lot of energy and players really respect the way he coached them, even back then.”
Heres what Peter Carroll had to say about facing theTitans.
(Opening) “OK, so we got a big matchup coming up here. This is a really good looking team. Titans got all kinds of fire power. They got a bunch of good, young talent and starting with the quarterback and really across the board. They got a nice scheme. When you have Dick LeBeau on your side, you got defensive scheme that doesn’t end. So this a really good tough matchup. We are going to have to play really good football if we want a chance against these guys. So it is a good challenge for us this time of year.”
(On Dick LeBeau’s defense being the same it was in Pittsburgh and the same it’s been for years) “No, he’s evolved. He’s never gotten stagnant. He continues to add stuff. I’ve seen it for so many years and studied it for so many years. He is doing new things and you don’t know what he is going to do, you just have to wait until game time and adjust during game time. He makes it very difficult.”
(On how much have you studied off LeBeau in the past) “Shoot, I go way back to the start of my coaching career, seeing stuff and watching stuff they were doing. They were doing pressure concepts that were new at the time, zone pressures and stuff like that, that other people weren’t doing. So I’ve been studying him forever.”
(On what have you seen looking in on Marcus Mariota throughout his career) “He is a really good player. First off, he is a terrific athlete, all around, he can do everything. He can run, he can throw it. He throws the ball on the move very well. He finds guys in open field. He is a good scrambler, effectively run and pass. But is an adept runner. He is real fast, under 4.5, so he’s got the kind of speed that can really make you pay if you give him an opening. They know it, so they have structured the offense to utilize him in those ways as well at times. I think one of the things, if you look at his red zone numbers, his red zone numbers are like phenomenal as far as touchdowns and turnovers and all that. That is a really good sign for what you have. The guy has a great conscience, a great awareness, in the most difficult area to throw the football, he is really good at it. He is really efficient, so I think it bodes really well for him. He is going to have a longtime career, I don’t think there is anything to hold him back. But it’s 3 years now I think that’s right, is it 3 years? He is just going to continue to get better. I’ve tried to show you how Russell [Wilson] continues to improve and see and do more things and all that that happens with the young quarterbacks. He is going to be really good.
