TIME AND WAVE OF INJURIES TAKING TOLL ON SEAHAWKS
Pete Carroll opened his weekly press conference with a recap of the Seattle Seahawks win over the hapless San Francisco 49ers on Sunday before he fielded a couple of softballs about the ’Hawks offensive line and Russell Wilson’s heroics in the fourth quarter this season.
Question 3 was then asked about the long-term health of Seattle safety Kam Chancellor, the all-pro who’d just been shut down for the season because of a neck injury. Questions 4 through 6 were in a similar vein before Carroll was asked about defensive end Cliff Avril, another all-pro the Seahawks had just lost for the season.
That one was batted around for a while before an agitated Carroll muttered: “Let it go.”
The co-operative media then trained its sights on Chris Carson, the rookie running back who’d started the season in promising fashion before breaking his ankle in Week 4. Carson is now one of six running backs to start for the ’Hawks this season, including Eddie Lacy, Thomas Rawls, C.J. Prosise and Mike Davis who’ve missed playing time with injuries.
Carroll would be asked about all those running backs. He was also asked about the health of rookie corner Shaq Griffin, tight end Luke Willson, defensive end Dion Jordan, rookie defensive tackle Malik McDowell, DB Deshawn Shead and a couple of others.
In all, Carroll spoke for 17 minutes and 17 of the 28 questions concerned injuries to Seahawks and their ripple effect on the lineup.
Question 27, just so you know, was about the challenges presented by the 10-1 Philadelphia Eagles, the Seahawks opponent in a crucial NFC matchup at Century-Link on Sunday.
“It’s a really good team,” Carroll said after ticking off the Eagles’ obvious strengths, which includes a relatively healthy lineup. “It’s no wonder they’re 10-1.”
Actually, the wonder is the Seahawks still have playoff aspirations despite their nightmare of a regular season. Now they just have to beat the NFL’s best team with a lineup which is held together with duct tape and hope.
All we can say is good luck there.
Sunday, in what could very well be the last stand of Carroll’s mini-dynasty, the Seahawks face an Eagles’ team that’s everything they used to be.
Philly has a charismatic young quarterback in Carson Wentz. They have playmakers all over the field on both sides of the ball. They lead the NFL in scoring, sit third in scoring defence and have established themselves as Super Bowl favourites.
The Eagles. Who knew. To counter this juggernaut, the Seahawks have quarterback Russell Wilson, a decent set of receivers and a lineup which, well, you’re never really sure who’s going to show up on Sunday.
Oh, we know Chancellor, Avril and cornerback Richard Sherman are done for the year. That’s three all-pros on defence if you’re scoring at home. Beyond
that, the players change on a game-to-game basis but, somehow, someway, the Seahawks have managed to stay relevant.
For this, they can thank Wilson.
To be sure, there are quarterbacks with better numbers. There are also quarterbacks with higher efficiency ratings and Wilson’s eight interceptions are troubling for an elite signalcaller.
But, in terms of the totality of his work, there isn’t a player outside Tom Brady who means more to his team. Wilson leads the Seahawks in rushing by almost 200 yards and is second among NFL quarterbacks to Cam Newton. He’s third in passing yards and touchdown passes but here’s the most remarkable stat: 14 of his 23 touchdown passes have come in the fourth quarter where he also leads all quarterbacks in passer rating by a wide margin.
By the strictest definition of the term, in fact, the 29-yearold pivot should be leading the MVP race. As it is, he gives the Seahawks a chance every week despite the insane run of injuries.
Now, the pity of all this is Carroll’s team had loaded up for one last shot at a championship and virtually every move has been made with another ring in mind. Before the season they shipped Jermaine Kearse and a second-rounder to the Jets for D-lineman Sheldon Richardson. They sent a second- and thirdrounder to Houston for offensive tackle Duane Brown. They even brought old folk Dwight Freeney in for four games before releasing him.
You don’t have to be Bill Walsh to understand each acquisition was made to help the Seahawks win in 2017. The problem is they’ve all been neutralized by the injuries which started in the off-season when McDowell, their first draft choice, crashed his ATV and was lost for the season. Offensive tackle George Fant then tore his ACL in pre-season and he’s gone. In addition to Sherman, Chancellor and Avril, all-pro safety Earl Thomas has missed playing time this season.
The result? The defence which finished fifth, second and first in the NFL the past three years now sits 12th.
Still, the Seahawks soldier on, hoping they get enough magic from Wilson and enough defence from whoever’s upright to make a difference. Thus far it’s brought them to 7-4 and a win over the Eagles sets up a potential showdown with the L.A. Rams for first place in the NFC West. Given the injuries, that would be a remarkable feat. But there’s another part of this story which is more troubling to Seahawks’ fans.
The Hawks and GM John Schneider built the guts of their Super Bowl teams with three extraordinary drafts from 2010 to 2012. Taken collectively, those three drafts rate with the best runs in NFL history. The problem is those players are starting to show liver spots and you can draw a straight line from the Seahawks’ age to their injury woes. Chancellor and Sherman are 29. Avril is 31. All told, the Seahawks have eight starters who are 29 or over and there are a lot of hard miles on that group.
Carroll was asked if the thought Chancellor and Avril have played their last games for him.
“I don’t know,” he answered. “I don’t speculate on guys.”
Understandable. But that isn’t going to stop everyone else from speculating on the Seahawks’ future.