Carroll: “We’ve got a lot of work to do”

By Liz Mathews

Seahawks starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson played into the fourth quarter against Denver Saturday night, and was somehow able to walk off the field under his own power.

The Seahawks fell to the Broncos 23-20, after Denver scored the game-winning field goal as the clock expired.

“The inability to protect the quarterback was so clear in the first half that it just disrupted everything,” said head coach Pete Carroll in his post-game interview.

Jackson managed to complete 13-of-22 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown, despite very little protection from the offensive line. Sacked five times by Denver, he was able to scramble from harm’s way on a number of occasions.

“It really has been a little bit of a tone with the first group, with Tarvaris in there in all three games,” said Carroll. “We have a real clear area of our football that we have to work real hard at. And whatever that takes to get that done. It wasn’t just one guy, it was a number of guys who had problems and there was enough pressure, that they really just ran through us.”

The offense had to settle for a field goal in the first half to finally put some points on the board. The 52-yard field goal by kicker Jeff Reed was his first in a Seahawks uniform.

In the fourth quarter, Jackson was able to connect with tight end Dominique Byrd for a 1-yard touchdown pass, after moving the ball effectively against the Broncos’ second-string defense.

“I thought it was an interesting sequence to see when Tarvaris has enough time, how easy it was for him,” said Carroll. “He did a really nice job throwing the football and going downfield, taking what was given to him, and he did it just right.

“I think that is an indication to us of what we see in practice that he has command and he has control of the football and he can make the decisions and all that kind of stuff.”

The highlights of the game included defensive end Chris Clemons’ interception in the first quarter and rookie wide receiver Doug Baldwin’s 105-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth.

“We’re still working,” said Carroll. “I know we’ve got a lot of work to do, but we were real clear where our issue is. We’ve got to get a way to get the quarterback some time to throw the football. We need to. And with that, I think a lot of things will come together.

“So that’s where it is.”