Seattle has issues
NFL PLAYOFFS: Coach Carroll shrugs off list of concerns hounding NFC West champs
The woeful Seahawks running game turns to Thomas Rawls, who’s had one more touchdown (three) than broken limbs (two) in the last year.
As they head into their wildcard meeting with the Detroit Lions on Saturday, there are some indications the Seattle Seahawks aren’t exactly peaking in time for the post-season.
For starters, Pete Carroll’s team went 3-3 over their final six regular season games, including a homefield loss to the sub-.500 Arizona Cardinals in their penultimate contest, which cost them a first-round bye. The running game, long a staple of their offence, is ranked 25th in the NFL this season and now turns to Thomas Rawls, who’s recorded one more touchdown (three) than broken limbs (two, an ankle and a fibula) in the last calendar year.
What else? Well, the Hawks’ much-vaunted defence has struggled in the absence of all-pro safety Earl Thomas, who broke his leg a month ago, and All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman seems to have become unhinged in Thomas’s absence. The offensive line has also been a source of concern all season. And while quarterback Russell Wilson had a commendable season, he threw the highest number of interceptions and ran for the fewest yards in his five years in Seattle.
So confronted with incontrovertible evidence that the Seahawks have some issues as they prepare for the Super Bowl tournament, Carroll took stock of his situation and offered a predictable response this week.
“Everything that’s already happened doesn’t matter at all,” the Seahawks head coach said. “Everyone wants to project how it’s going to go based on the finish. You can’t tell. It’s how you deal with it, how you go about your business and then, when it comes to game time, how you execute.
“We’re comfortable with this opportunity. The voices that are the strongest in the locker-room are sending a message.”
There was a time when that was enough. The question is: Has that time passed for this team?
The Seahawks, of course, are making their fifth straight playoff appearance in the Carroll-Wilson era and virtually every other NFL team just wishes they had the Hawks’ problems. They finished the regular season with a 10-5-1 mark, good for first place in the NFC West. On Saturday, they meet the Lions at CenturyLink Field, where they’ve won four straight playoff games under Wilson and went 7-1 this year.
But since winning the Super Bowl in 2014, this team has also been judged by a different standard and they failed to measure up to their championship pedigree this season. The good news is the core of the Super Bowl team is still intact and still at, or close to, its prime.
The more sobering news is the Seahawks are now almost two years removed from the catastrophic, last-second Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots and more and more it seems like Malcolm Butler’s goal-line interception was a turning point for the franchise.
Carroll and his players, as you might have guessed, don’t endorse that theory. They talk about the extraordinary connection in the core group, which has averaged 11 wins a season since 2012. They talk about the talent in their locker-room and the culture Carroll has established.
“Ultimately our goal is to win games and become champions again,” said receiver Doug Baldwin. “It’s like the Golden State Warriors breaking the record for number of wins during the season. All those accomplishments are great, but if you don’t win it in the end, it just feels like it’s all for naught.”
“There are 32 teams that try to get here every year,” said Wilson. “I think about what we’ve been able do as the Seattle Seahawks for the past five years — to go to the playoffs five years in a row, to win 10-plus games — it’s a real thing.”
Yes it is. But the lack of a running game? That’s a real thing. This season, five different players carried the ball at least 30 times for the Seahawks and their leading rusher Christine Michael was released in mid-November.
Last year, Rawls looked like the heir apparent to Marshawn Lynch before he broke his ankle. He’s since suffered a hairline fracture to his fibula, a concussion and a shoulder bruise, which limited his action at the end of the season.
Rawls did run for 106 yards and two touchdowns in the Seahawks’ 40-7 beatdown of the Carolina Panthers on Dec. 4.
“We’re counting on running the football and we’re going to keep on doing it,” said Carroll.
The Seahawks defence, meanwhile, remains formidable, but it’s not as intimidating as it was two years ago. This year they finished fifth in total defence, eighth in passing yards and seventh in rushing yards.
Again, it’s pretty good, but is it good enough to get them back to the big game?
“I feel like we have the right mindset,” said defensive end Cliff Avril. “I feel like we have the right personnel and the right scheme. Now we just have to make it happen. I think if you start playing into the records and statistics, you might as well not play because it doesn’t feel the way it felt two years ago.”
Two years ago, he knew how it felt. He’d like to recapture that feeling one more time.
“We’re counting on running the football and we’re going to keep on doing it.” — Pete Carroll