A “hard night” for Seahawks’ Tharold Simon in surprise start
Jan 12, 2015, 3:48 PM | Updated: 6:02 pm
"He had a lot of work and he had no help at all," coach Pete Carroll said about cornerback Tharold Simon, who was thrown at repeatedly by Carolina. (AP)
(AP)
BY
Former Seattle Sports Lead Editor
Tharold Simon was a late insertion into Seattle’s starting lineup on Saturday, and after a game in which he saw a whole lot of passes thrown at him – and completed on him – coach Pete Carroll was asked for his assessment of how the second-year cornerback had played.
“I thought it was a hard night,” Carroll said.
Simon learned shortly before kickoff that he’d be filling in for starter Byron Maxwell, who was limited to special teams due to lingering effects of an illness. Simon spent much of the night covering Carolina’s Kelvin Benjamin, a 6-foot-5 rookie who had topped 1,000 yards receiving during the regular season to lead his team.
And as you’d expect knowing all that, Carolina went after Simon. Repeatedly and with quite a bit of success.
Cam Newton was 23-36 for 246 yards and two touchdowns in all Saturday night. He completed 10 passes for 114 yards and both of those scores to receivers that Simon was covering.
More coverage of the Seahawks’ playoff win over Carolina
| • Recap | Stats | Photos | Interviews | Carroll Show | • O’Neil: What we learned | • O’Neil: Kam Chancellor helps put away Panthers | • Henderson: Third-down success for Wilson | • Moore: Luke Willson burns Panthers again | • Stecker: Newton can’t reverse fortunes |
While it certainly looked like Simon was picked on and picked apart, the defensive strategy that Seattle was employing should be taken into consideration. What Carroll was referring to when he called it a “hard night” for Simon was how at times he was left on the proverbial island when Seattle loaded up to stop Newton and the Panthers’ running backs, which took one defender out of coverage.
“He had a lot of work and he had no help at all,” Carroll said. “Scheme-wise, we were so tucked in for the running game and all of the things that Cam presents to us that he had to hang out there all by himself and they worked it pretty good and did a nice job.”
Simon had a chance to end his night on a positive note but misplayed a fade pass near the corner of the end zone, resulting in Benjamin’s second touchdown.
“It’s too bad he didn’t make the play in the end zone because that’s a play he’s really good at, and just mistimed it a bit,” Carroll said. “Other than that, he survived the game and his confidence was strong. He knew it was a hard night because they kept working the ball underneath him, and we had no problem with that.”
