Seahawks Pete Carroll, “ We Are All Trying To Do Our Part”

With the Seahawks coming off a second straight loss in which the offense shut down in the second half  Pete Carroll and his coaching staff have circled the wagons in the name of team unity.

“ The guys in the locker room, we’ve been through a lot. The leadership can speak on a lot of different topics and help understand how things go. The course of seasons and how many games are left, all that kind of stuff. We have really, really good voices in there to help. I’m trying to do my part; the coaches are trying to do their part to just be realistic and not follow the storylines that come from outside of here. We’ve got to take care of business in here.”

While the players believe in each other and the direction of the team the same cannot be said of the  12’s.  As expected, the Seahawks fan base is in the burn the house down mode.   The question is who exactly is to blame for the Seahawk’s disappointing 1-2 record? Is it the offense’s inability to score late in the game, or the defense which cannot seem to stop opponents in the second half? When you are on a two-game losing streak there is plenty of blame to go around.

ANOTHER  SECOND-HALF OFFENSIVE   MELTDOWN

 The Seahawks have scored six second-half points in their last two games. In both games, the Seahawk’s offense seemed to be humming along then come to a catastrophic breakdown. In the loss to the Titans, the Seahawks scored 24 first-half points but managed one touchdown. On Sunday against the Vikings, it was 17 first-half points and zero in the second half.

THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS ARE A PROBLEM

One glaring stat in both Seahawk’s losses has been the third-down conversion rate.  Last week the offense was 3 of 8 against the Titans and a week before that it was  4 of 12. In the week one win over the Colts the Hawk’s offense was 4 of 9 on third down. Carroll was asked about the team’s woeful third-down conversion rate contributed to Sunday’s loss to the Vikings.

“I have strong feelings about third-down conversions. On both sides of the ball, it’s clear. It’s a common theme, this is kind of how the game works. Offensively in the second half, we had two shots on the first two drives that we didn’t convert, and it made a big difference. I think we had a sack situation in there that made it a really long third down situation. Those are crucial because the other team was able to convert. They held the football and did a nice job of keeping it away. If you had told me that we would give up nine points in the second half, then I would have felt pretty good about that but not with the way it happened because our offense wasn’t able to get on the field.

They had three long drives, I think you mentioned they were five, seven, and eight something. Those were long possessions, and we are sitting there and waiting. I think the offense had the ball twice and then got the ball back with 4:30 in the game. That’s third down conversions on both sides of the ball and we have to work together much better than that. It tells the story unfortunately.”

LACK OF DEFENSIVE  STOPS LATE IN THE  GAME

Flipping the third-down script to the defensive side of the ball only makes things worse.

The Seahawks defense was gashed for 24 second-half points in the loss to the Titans and gave up three second-half field goals last week. On both occasions, the Seahawks defense was powerless when it came to stopping the opposing offense when it mattered.

 Tennessee converted 6 of 14 third-down attempts. The Vikings converted 9 of 14 third-down attempts. While the defense gave up three second-half field goals in the Vikings game the three scoring drives ate up 21 minutes of the game clock.

The Seahawk’s three possessions from the Vikings scoring drives resulted in two punts and a failed fourth-down attempt. The Seahawks had another drive, but it started at the Seahawks one-yard line with 23 seconds left in the game.  

NO EXECUTION AT THE POINT OF ATTACK

The Seahawk’s defense seems to get more and more confused with each game. In the Titans game, it was run game gap management. Against the Vikings, it was clear there was widespread confusion on how the linebackers and cornerbacks should defend the Vikings mid-range passing game. The  Vikings receivers were finding pockets behind the Seahawks linebackers and in front of the Safeties and cornerbacks. The result was poor execution and a lack of game-changing plays by the Seahawk’s defense. Carroll was asked if there was some confusion on defense when it came to defending the Viking’s passing game.

“The game turned out, we kept them in front of us. We a had lot of respect for the receivers, but that’s kind of how the game went. It felt like they threw the ball underneath us quite a bit. We didn’t do much to disrupt that. I thought they played a solid conservative game but didn’t make any plays that could’ve changed it for us. We could’ve used a couple here and there. Unfortunately, we didn’t get anything from any of the guys on that side of the ball.”

BIG TAKE

The Seahawks have played two good teams and one that is mediocre at best. The 1-2 record is not a big surprise. How they got to  1-2 is the surprise.  Undisciplined football, lack of execution, and inability to make simple plays has the players questioning their own judgment.  There is plenty of football to be played and  Pete Carroll has been here before. The team has a strong leadership base that will lead the players out of the unexpected but not surprising deficit.