The Seattle Seahawks topsy-turvy season came to an abrupt end Sunday night at CenturyLink Field when Blair Walsh’s 48-yard field goal attempt with 37 seconds remaining on the game clock sailed wide right giving the visiting Arizona Cardinals the 26 to 24 victory. The missed field goal exemplified the Seahawks season, a lot of effort that fell just short of the intended goal.
The Seahawks will watch the NFL playoffs for the first time in the last five years. Here is what head coach Pete Carroll and selected players had to say about the abrupt end to the teams season.
HEAD COACH PETE CARROLL
(Opening…) “I think the first thing I want to say is that this has been a really challenging season for us. We saw a lot of things happen during this year that we needed to overcome and endure and get through. I think this game today was almost a microcosm of this season. The slow starts, the getting in our own way, making it hard on us at times when it wasn’t about the opponent, it was about us. There is a lot of stuff that kind of showed up again today. Us roaring back in the second half and coming back, well, that doesn’t surprise anybody. We know we can do that, not that it still isn’t exemplary to do stuff like that, but it took that today, and our guys rallied, and we came roaring back and gave ourselves a chance to win the football game all the way to the last moment. That’s not surprising. It’s disappointing, though, that we weren’t able to change the narrative of the way the games went. So, we looked terrible in the first half today. Then, we came roaring back, and it didn’t even look like the same team. I would like to say it’s the halftime speeches, but there’s something about us. It’s a good thing. The good thing is that we can come roaring back and we got it in us to play well. I’m happy, in a way, for Bruce. He’s a had a terrific career. I don’t know what he’s going to do, but it kind of seemed like they were hugging it up like it was over.
I don’t know. We’ll find out. It’s more about moving ahead. I say it’s a difficult year, and that’s because of the guys that we were unable to keep with us. They were in the locker room today, but they couldn’t help us. It’s just unfortunate. We weren’t quite there to get it all together the way we want to. I understand that Atlanta won today and we weren’t going to have an opportunity to move on, but really that wasn’t a factor at all in the way we played or the way we prepared. I’m so surprised that we played like we did today because we were so ready and we practiced so well and prepared so well.
It just didn’t come out right until the end. It’s unfortunate. It’s a difficult time for our fans. I’m disappointed for them, because they came out there ready to crank it up and win a big game today with the highest of hopes as we did, and we didn’t synch it up the way we wanted to.”
(On the message he gave to the team after the game …)
“That the way that they showed the fight and the belief and the resolve to keep coming back despite everything and all the odds that we had stacked up against ourselves in the first half, and they turned it. They turned it and came right back and you could feel the energy and the juice and the change and all of that shift that happens so classically for us in this stadium, and the fans felt it, and we rode the energy and all that. I was really proud that it happened again. But, unhappy that at the end of it, we got in our way again and didn’t finish the game like we wanted to.”
QB RUSSELL WILSON
(Opening…) “Personally, I just hate losing and I know there are a lot of guys in the locker room that do, too. It’s disappointing, we put so much work in. I think about this offseason, I think about all the work that guys put in together, and all the straining, all the movies, all the early mornings and everything in the offseason. Then you come back together and you’re looking forward to something great in the OTAs and all that. Then you go away for a little bit in the summer time, you come back for training camp, and a lot of blood sweat and tears go into training camp, and you do everything you can. Then, you begin the season with very, very high hopes and everything else, and you battle. Some of our great players went down, and everything else, and they were still great leaders.
Then, you have guys step up into certain roles and play great. When I think about this season, I think about guys like Shaq Griffin, I think about him stepping in and making great plays. I think about Dion Jordan and I think about what he did to get back on a football field again, just to play again. I think about all the things he was fighting to do, to be able to play football again, and the great player that he was and that he came back to be this year. I think about the guys like Shead, and guys stepping up. I think about guys like Mike Davis, stepping into a role that he didn’t know he was going to be in, but played great in.
Getting guys like Duane Brown on our football team that were great leaders and great people and great professionals. I think about guys like Jimmy Graham and the plays that he’s made all year and the exciting plays that he’s made in the end zone. And Doug Baldwin making some great catches like tonight. I think about Paul Richardson’s season and all the times this past offseason that we got to throw together and work together and train together. Tyler Lockett fighting back from injury, and all the things that he did. I think about Cliff Avril, the man that he is and the family that he has and the things that he’s had to battle through the past few months. Guys like Kam Chancellor and people like that. Richard Sherman, who is one of the greatest football players that has ever stepped on a football field. So those are the things that I think about right now. I think about those guys. I think about the things that we’ve done, and try to do together, and tried to overcome. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to the playoffs and do the things that we wanted to and set out to do.
But I know that the group of men that we have and the people that we have on this team. I have the greatest job in the world, because I get to do it with those guys in the locker room, and I’m just grateful. I’m grateful that I get to play in this city. I’m grateful that I get to do the job that I love more than anything else. Like I said, I always lay it on the line for you guys and I’m just grateful for the players and the teammates and the people I get to be around.”
WR DOUG BALDWIN
(On if he views the season as a disappointment…)
“When you don’t make the playoffs, yeah. If you don’t win a super bowl, it’s pretty much a disappointment. That’s what we do this for. That’s what I do it for and I bet the whole team feels that way too. That’s what it’s about.”
(On if there was an emotional letdown on the final drive on Bobby Wagner’s personal foul penalty…)
“Not an emotional letdown, it just probably wasn’t a good call. That’s pretty much it. There isn’t much more of a deeper thought than that. Bobby was playing hard as he always does until the end of the whistle. [It’s] a quarterback league, what can I say.”
