What They Said: Seahawks talk blowout defeat in Baltimore

Nov 5, 2023, 2:40 PM | Updated: 2:58 pm

Pete Carroll of the Seattle Seahawks looks on against the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 5, 2023. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

(Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

BY BRANDON GUSTAFSON

Seattle Sports

Week 9 went about as bad as it could have for the Seattle Seahawks in Baltimore.

Baltimore Ravens 37, Seattle Seahawks 3: Instant Reaction | Box score | Recap

To say the Seahawks were overmatched would be quite the understatement as they fell 37-3 to the Ravens.

The Ravens outgained the Seahawks 515 to 151, and much of that damage came on the ground, where Baltimore rushed for 298 yards. That’s the fourth-most rushing yards the Seahawks have allowed in franchise history, and the most the Hawks have allowed since Pete Carroll took over as head coach in 2010.

Geno Smith had maybe his worst game since taking over as Seattle’s starting quarterback last year, completing just 13 of 28 passes for 157 yards. He threw an interception, lost a fumble and was sacked four times in the one-sided loss.

With one of the worst losses in recent memory in the books, here’s a look at what the Seahawks had to say about Sunday’s blowout defeat.

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll

As you might imagine, this loss didn’t sit too well with the Seattle Seahawks head coach.

“This was about as unfamiliar as it can get here coming out here out east and playing a game on the road like this and not being able to play football the way we needed to,” Carroll said.

• Geno Smith’s day

Smith had a rough game, but Carroll stressed that the loss wasn’t all the fault of his quarterback.

“I don’t think this is about Geno at all. It’s about our football team did not answer the bell here,” he said. “We couldn’t get it done. We came in here to slug it out and they did a better job than we did, and it was all of us. When they’re rushing the passer, that’s not Geno. This is not a one-guy deal here.”

When asked how Seattle could help its quarterback more, Carroll pointed to the Seahawks going just 1 for 12 on third down.

“We have to convert on third downs, which is everybody. We got rushed pretty good today,” Carroll said. ” … We just have to find our way to make first downs … You can’t play offense like that and expect anything. That’s as hard as it gets.”

The run game was unable to help in that regard as the Hawks rushed for 28 yards, but that was also the result of short drives.

“We wanted to (get it going early). You guys know this line of thinking: If you don’t convert (first downs), you don’t the chances and you’re off the field. No matter how much you want to do something, it doesn’t matter when you’ve got to sit down,” Carroll said. “You can’t call your plays on the bench. We’ve got to get off some winning third-down plays.”

• Two more turnovers

The Seahawks turned the ball over twice, with Smith throwing an interception and also losing a fumble.

With the interception, Carroll didn’t think there was a communication error between Smith and receiver Tyler Lockett.

“He overthrew it. Tyler didn’t think he had a chance to get the ball is all I know,” Carroll said.

GENO TO GENO❗❗❗❗

Tune in on CBS! pic.twitter.com/MrNUAHCGun

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 5, 2023

The fumble was more of a back-breaker for the Seahawks as they had just forced a turnover and had a chance to score late in the second quarter ahead of halftime.

Instead, Smith was sacked and lost a fumble, and the Ravens kicked a field goal to extend their lead to 17-3.

“We didn’t handle what happened right before the half very well and didn’t take advantage of the turnover that we had,” Carroll said. “… It just wasn’t the right way to finish the half for us, and then they went to work and we couldn’t stop them. We couldn’t make any first downs and we couldn’t convert on third down, so it was a really long, hard day against a really good team and they took it to us.”

The Seahawks have now had nine turnovers in four games since a Week 5 bye.

“I’m concerned about that,” Carroll said. “… That’s not the direction for us to be going in. Up until this game, it took us to first place … and we didn’t play like a first-place team today. With those kinds of turnovers, it’s really hard to win.”

• Run D’s major struggles

The offense was stuck in the mud, but the defense gave up nearly 300 yards on the ground. Carroll thought the second half was more of an issue than the first half.

“We couldn’t tackle them in the second half. We just didn’t tackle them,” he said. ” … It’s just basic plays and we didn’t get them on the ground, and that’s the part I need to look at the most. It’s what I’m most concerned about is why that happened.”

• Turning the page

Carroll shared his message for the team after the loss.

“What I’m telling my guys is this is the discipline it takes for the next challenge. We always talk like that,” he said. “… This game is already over with and done and you can’t do anything about it. It’s about what we do on Tuesday and Wednesday to get back on track and not let this define us.”

Geno Smith

Smith was under pressure all game, and he credited the Ravens’ defense for making his day harder.

“I think they did a really good job,” he said.

That being said, Smith knows he and the Seahawks made too many mistakes on Sunday.

“I think we made it easy on them with the mistakes that we made and obviously they capitalized on those,” he said. “We know every game is going to be tough, man. This is the NFL. There’s great players all across the league. It’s a tough game, it’s a real tough game. You’ve got to go out there and play disciplined football in order to win, and today we didn’t do it.”

• Smith’s assessment of his game

Smith was blunt when asked how he thought he played against the Ravens.

“Not good enough,” he said.

Part of the issue was third downs, and Smith was hardly thrilled with Seattle’s numbers there.

“Just not good enough. Terrible. And that’s not going to get us any wins, so we’ve got to correct that,” he said.

Smith also shouldered the blame for his interception, which he called a “bad pass.” And despite the running game being nonexistent, Smith took ownership of the offense’s poor showing.

“I think you always have to have a balanced attack, especially going up against a great defense,” he said. “Today we didn’t do a great job with that, but like I said, that’s on me. I’ve got to find ways to get better and help out.”

Smith thought a key turning point was the Seahawks failing to convert on the turnover before halftime. Ultimately, Smith was sacked and lost a fumble.

“When the defense gives you those opportunities and you kind of have a chance to steal some momentum right there, you’ve got to capitalize,” he said. “We turned the ball right back over and gave them points. So again, that’s one of the mistakes I’m talking about that we’ve got to get better in those situations.”

DT Jarran Reed

The Seattle Seahawks’ run defense had improved greatly from last year to this season, but it got gashed by Baltimore this week.

“I think they just executed their plays better than we did,” Reed said. “We knew they were gonna come in, we knew (Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson) is a special player, we knew the team was explosive. I think they just out-executed us today.”

“It’s very frustrating. That’s not like us,” Reed later said. “That’s not anything we’ve put on film all season. But it’s the NFL. We’re gonna take it to the chin and get right back Monday and get right back to the drawing board.”

Reed thinks Seattle’s defensive woes were largely self-inflicted.

“I think it’s just stuff where we beat ourselves. Not fitting in the gaps the right way, staying on the back side of plays, staying on the front side of plays,” he saod. “Things that we can’t to beat ourselves, we’ve got to hone in on that.”

Strong safety Jamal Adams

Adams gave Baltimore a lot of props after the game, and had a blunt assessment for how the game went.

“They came out and they hit us in the mouth, simple as that,” he said.

Wide receiver Tyler Lockett

The Seahawks’ longest-tenured offensive player, was nearly at a loss for words at what transpired on Sunday.

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know,” he said when asked why the game happened that way. “I just think you’ve got to go watch film and figure out what happened. I’m sure it was frustrating for everybody.”

Lockett said the Seahawks’ locker room was very quiet after the game.

“People just trying to figure out what happened. It wasn’t a good showing at all for us and I think it was just one of those things for us where it was unexpected,” he said.

Lockett, unlike Carroll, said there was a miscommunication on the interception Smith threw.

“I just think it was miscommunication on both of our parts. On my part, I could have done better,” he said.

Lockett also shared what the message from Carroll was to the Seahawks.

“He just talked to us about getting back to the drawing board and doing what needs to be done to prepare ourselves for the next week and just being able to focus in more and let this game go and move on,” he said.