Pete Carroll: Seahawks finished vs. San Francisco, like they expect to

Coach Pete Carroll was certainly satisfied with the way the Seahawks closed out their 20-3 win over San Francisco Thursday night, but he wasn’t going to rejoice in how his team finally finished after failing to do so in all four of its losses this season.

That’s the expectation, Carroll told “Brock and Salk” on Friday.

“I don’t want to make a big deal about finishing right,” he said. “That’s like trying hard. Oh boy, we really tried hard. Well, of course we tried hard. Of course we finished. That’s how we’re supposed to play. I’ve been just utterly disappointed in the fact that we haven’t done that to get two, three wins as well earlier in the year. So that’s the way we know how to play.”

The Seahawks were far from perfect against San Francisco. Their pass protection continued to be an issue and Russell Wilson threw two interceptions, one of which seemed to particularly irk Carroll. But there was a lot that he liked, especially from Seattle’s defense and how the end of the game followed the preferred script.

“We finished with the football in our hands, we kill the clock, take a knee at the end of the game, we get out of there on third down with pressure like we’re supposed to,” Carroll said. “It was a good model of what it’s supposed to look like. So yeah, happy about it but don’t feel like we’ve accomplished that much – that’s where we’re supposed to be.”

Here’s more of what Carroll told “Brock and Salk” about Seattle’s win:

Assessing Wilson’s INTs. Carroll has been frank of late in his assessment of some of Wilson’s mistakes. He discussed last week how Wilson can find a better balance between scrambling to keep plays alive and staying in the pocket long enough to find an open receiver, and in his postgame press conference Thursday night he called Wilson’s second interception “really disappointing.” Carroll said Friday that he could see why Wilson threw the ball that resulted in his first pick, which was intended for Doug Baldwin in the end zone. He noted that the defensive back, Tramaine Brock, made a good play and said Wilson took a “good, aggressive shot” even though he had other options. Carroll had a much harder time swallowing Wilson’s second interception, which was thrown deep into double coverage to Jermaine Kearse. “There’s a makeup in Russell, he likes to give his guys a chance on the deep balls and throw it up there and see if they can make the play on it. He’s been like that since he first got here. And in that case, I just thought it was ill-advised, and that’s all,” Carroll said. “I know what he was thinking, he was giving him a shot, but the DB was in way better control of that situation. We just shouldn’t do that. I was hard on him on that one because I don’t like giving the football up on those kinds of situations, hoping something good happens on that one.” Carroll added: “He’s great about it, he understood and we’ve just got to move on from that.”

Praise for Tukuafu. Fullback Will Tukuafu had another busy night Thursday, playing 26 snaps on offense, four as a defensive lineman and six on special teams. Carroll was complimentary of Tukuafu afterward and again on Friday. Derrick Coleman had been Seattle’s starting fullback before his arrest and subsequent suspension – from which he’s since been reinstated – but to hear Carroll speak of Tukuafu, that job may be up for grabs. Carroll noted a strong block that Tukuafu made near the goal line. He called Tukuafu “such a rare football player” with his ability to do so much and said: “We’re finding a real niche for him, and how unique, how many guys can play both ways in the NFL? It’s crazy. We’re real excited about his progress and he keeps getting better, too.”

Levi’s Stadium turf. Asked about the notoriously shoddy turf at Levi’s Stadium – which opened last year – Carroll brought up a play on which Wilson slid only to have his foot catch awkwardly in the grass. Carroll said he initially chided Wilson for not sliding properly before Wilson explained to him what happened. “He talked about how the turf just jumped up at him and grabbed him, grabbed his knee. That was dangerous,” Carroll said. “Other than that, I know our guys were really disappointed in it.” Carroll said “it is what it is” and that both teams played on the same field. He added that while he’d prefer that games be played on good grass, the artificial field turf “has become such a good product now, and it does even out the factors, and that’s what this league calls for right now.”

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