Seahawks find rhythm with no-huddle offense

Marshawn Lynch flips into the end zone during an 11-yard TD run in the third quarter. (Jane Gershovich/710Sports.com)

By Liz Mathews

The Seahawks finally found their tempo in the second half when they switched to a no-huddle offense. Down 24-7 at halftime, the Seahawks rallied to put 21 points on the board and position themselves for a game-winning field goal that wasn’t to be.

The Seahawks fell to the Falcons 30-28 after Steven Hauschka’s 61-yard attempt came up short in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.

Head coach Pete Carroll regrets not swapping to the no-huddle offense much sooner.

“Of course I regret it, sure,” Carroll said after the game. “I don’t think you can think anything but that right now. As efficient as we have looked when we’ve done it at various times — and you can go all the way back to San Francisco, too — this is something we need to feature, and continue to play like that and put our quarterback in position to control the game.”

Ben Obomanu, left, celebrates with Justin Forsett after catching an a 8-yard TD pass from Tarvaris Jackson in the fourth quarter. (AP)

Tarvaris Jackson was 25 of 38 for a career-high 319 yards passing, and had a season-high three touchdown passes.

Jackson connected with wide receiver Sidney Rice in the second quarter on a 52-yard bomb that first put Seattle on the board. But Jackson was much more effective in the second half, upping his tempo and passing for 186 yards. He found both Mike Williams and Ben Obomanu for touchdowns.

“I guess it takes the thinking out of it,” Jackson said of the no-huddle offense. “We’ve got a whole bunch of guys that are young. I know for me being a young player I tend to think a little bit too much and I’ve got so much stuff going through my head, like all the different looks defenses give us instead of just focusing in on what they’re showing and just try to execute that.”

Jackson said that the no-huddle eliminates a lot of the thinking and tires the defense at the same time. It’s a win-win situation for a team that is finally beginning to find itself, and a comfortable game rhythm.

Seattle’s 28 points were a season-high.

“If that’s how we’ve got to do our offense to score points, I guess we’ll do it,” Jackson said.

Heading into Sunday, the Seahawks’ game plan for Jackson was to allow him the breathing room to find more targets. Behind a noticeably improved offensive line, Jackson was able to locate nine different receivers, with all but two catching at least three passes.

“The ball got spread around, and everybody was wondering if it was ever going to get spread around, and it got spread all over the field today. Everybody caught three balls,” Carroll said. “There were guys making plays that gave us a chance to win the football game, but we just didn’t pull it off.

“It’s about as much as you can take out of a game and getting beat.”

You can listen to all the post-game interviews here.

Seahawks injuries

Wide receiver Mike Williams suffered a concussion while blocking for Marshawn Lynch on his touchdown run. He jogged off the field but didn’t return.

Linebacker Matt McCoy was carted off the field after suffering a leg injury while covering a punt in the first quarter. There are no official updates to his status at this time, although his injury appears to be significant.

Both Anthony Hargrove and Malcolm Smith are reportedly dealing with hamstring issues.