Takeaways from what Seahawks’ Pete Carroll said about 30-29 win over Rams
Oct 4, 2019, 12:10 PM | Updated: 12:10 pm
Pete Carroll's Seahawks are 4-1 to start the season after Thursday's win over the Rams. (Getty)
(Getty)
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has won national championships and a Super Bowl, and now that his team is 4-1 following Thursday night’s 30-29 win over the Rams, they may be in the driver’s seat once again in the NFC.
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But Carroll is just like any of us. He fights things about his own personality, something he surprisingly addressed during Friday morning’s Pete Carroll Show on 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny and Gallant.
“When you’re just fatally optimistic, it’s hard to think that you won’t make it,” Carroll said when asked about what goes through his head when deciding whether to punt or go for it in a fourth down situation.
“That’s what I have to battle against. I wouldn’t call them demons, but they’re issues and there are conversations going in there that I have to work with,” he added with a laugh.
See – football coaches are people, too.
Let’s take a look at a few other notable things that stood out from Carroll’s discussion with Danny O’Neil, Paul Gallant and former Seahawks wide receiver Michael Bumpus.
Chris Carson exactly where Seahawks need him to be
For the second straight week, Seahawks running back Chris Carson eclipsed the 100-yard mark on the ground. He also didn’t fumble, making it two games in a row without one after he lost a fumble in each of Seattle’s first three games.
Only four days after Carson rushed for 104 yards on 22 carries in Arizona, he was relied upon ever more Thursday against the Rams, turning 27 attempts into 118 yards.
His coach could not be happier with what he has done over the last five days.
“I felt like he just picked up right where he left off. I thought he was magnificent last week, and his aggressive style that we love so much, it was just on display again,” Carroll said of Carson. “He lifts us. He lifts us with his effort, in his finish, in his creativity, just his toughness – you can’t deny it.”
Carroll said that, once again, Carson was the perfect example of what Seattle’s run-first mentality is all about.
“It was a beautiful thing because you could see our running game. Last night you could see our running game. That’s exactly what it’s supposed to look like, and Chris was right in the middle of all of that as well as the other guys.”
Let’s talk that touchdown to Tyler Lockett
There was no shortage of standout plays in the Seahawks’ win, but the most impressive probably goes to Russell Wilson’s touchdown throw to Tyler Lockett. It was a tremendous play that required unbelievable athleticism and precision on both players’ parts. Wilson was on the run, threw across his body and had the tiniest of windows to complete the pass to his receiver. Lockett, meanwhile, had to contend with a defender who had him covered, the rapidly approaching sideline in the corner of the end zone, and he had to have enough body control to make the catch while keeping both feet in the end zone.
All those things came together for one of the most improbably TDs you may ever see.
INCREDIBLE. 😱
TOUCHDOWN, @TDLockett12!! pic.twitter.com/iLhTn1tbiZ
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) October 4, 2019
“As good as I can ever remember. A great, great play,” Carroll said. “… It was a perfect play by those two guys.”
Carroll shared a coach’s insight on the TD pass.
“(Wilson) threw the ball there in hopes that Tyler would react, because Tyler’s reacting about the same time the ball’s going. It’s just an exquisite, athletic play by Tyler to just put all that together in such a short amount of time and hit it just perfectly right. … It’s amazing how little ground Tyler really covered. There wasn’t that much space for Russ to even evaluate how he could find him.”
The Curse of CenturyLink Field’s North End Zone
There was something that jumped out to Danny O’Neil on Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein’s missed field goal that allowed the Seahawks to escape with the one-point victory – where it happened.
That would near the north end zone of Seattle’s CenturyLink Field. Being the intrepid reporter that he is, O’Neil put together a list of all of the crazy things that have happened in that general area over the years that have gone the Seahawks’ way, such as Golden Tate’s so-called Fail Mary against the Packers and former Giants kicker Jay Feely’s very bad day all the way back in 2005.
Believe or not, when O’Neil brought up how weird things tend to happen to Seahawks opponents down there, Carroll thought he was onto something.
“I agree with you, Danny. There’s a real feeling about it, particularly these night games,” Carroll said. “There’s been so many of them (night games) that have been so great and so much fun to be a part of. You just kinda get accustomed that something’s gonna happen, and there’s been a lot of delays and then the response, wait for the call. You know, the great play we made down there with Golden against the Packers. Those kinds of moments seem to show up at the ‘Link, and I think we all kind of look forward to anticipating, ‘Oh, here comes another one.'”
You can listen to the full Pete Carroll Show in the player embedded below or download it at this link.
Follow 710’s Danny O’Neil, Paul Gallant and Michael Bumpus on Twitter.
