The Pete Carroll Show: Evaluating the Seahawks’ offensive-line issues

The decisive play of Monday night’s game was the leading topic during Seahawks coach Pete Carroll’s conversation with “Brock and Salk” Tuesday morning, but it wasn’t the only one. Here’s more of what Carroll said about Seattle’s 13-10 win over Detroit:

Evaluating the O-line. Seattle’s offensive line as a whole took what appeared to be a significant step backward against Detroit, struggling across the board. Carroll was asked about his level of confidence in that group. “We’re just gonna keep working. I’m not going to keep talking about this work-in-progress stuff. Let’s drop that phrase,” Carroll said. “We’ve just got to get better and we have to improve in some areas.” Pass protection may be the area where Seattle’s offensive line needs to improve the most. The Seahawks allowed six sacks, and Russell Wilson needed to pull off improbable escapes to avoid several others. Seattle struggled in run blocking as well, and even the shotgun snaps from center Drew Nowak were an issue. Carroll noted that even if a poor snap doesn’t result in a lost fumble, it can still throw off the timing of a play. “We did snap the ball poorly, and that’s something that we can really control and we can do that a lot better,” he said. “It hasn’t been a constant problem. It has been an issue for us that we’ve been working on. We need to do that better. That needs to be a non-factor and that was a factor last night on a number of plays. Drew has got to do a better job at that.” Carroll seemed to indicate that a change in personnel isn’t out of the question when he said “If we have to make some decisions, we’ll make some decisions,” but his comments didn’t leave the impression that it would happen right away.

Wilson’s fumbles. Carroll called Wilson’s two fourth-quarter fumbles uncharacteristic considering how rarely he turns the ball over, but he noted that they were products of Wilson being under duress. The first came when Wilson was hit right after pulling the ball back on a read-option keeper. The second came as he was escaping a pocket that had instantly collapsed. Wilson even had two hands on the football when it was knocked loose. “I don’t think it was a question of him being careless,” Carroll said. “It just adds up, your numbers add up, if you get hit that many times, things could go (wrong).”

Still no INTs. The Seahawks have now gone four games to start the season without picking off a pass, which Carroll called “really amazing” considering how well their defense is playing in coverage. Seattle had a pair of chances against Detroit. Linebacker K.J. Wright got a hand on one ball while strong safety Kam Chancellor and cornerback Cary Williams both made a play on a deep pass, possibly costing the other a chance at a pick. But in general, Carroll said “the ball just isn’t coming.” He added: “Offenses are being careful, which is good on their parts. But still, it’ll happen and we know they’ll come in bunches. When they do, look out.”

Defensive standouts. Carroll noted how well Williams played while matching up for much of the night with Detroit’s Calvin Johnson and said it appears as though he’s found a new level of comfort with the technique that Seattle has its cornerbacks play. Carroll also singled out linebacker Bobby Wagner and Chancellor for their play against Detroit. “It’s hard to hold somebody to 50 yards rushing, it’s hard to hold a quarterback and receiving group like that to 200 yards passing when they’re trying to throw and all that. The whole group is playing good, but those guys jumped out at me last night,” he said.

Injury updates. Carroll said the early indications are that running back Fred Jackson sustained a high ankle sprain. He said Jackson was moving around well Tuesday morning but that the team would need more information to know about his prognosis. Carroll said defensive lineman Michael Bennett and wide receiver Ricardo Lockette should be fine. He referred to running back Marshawn Lynch and nose tackle Brandon Mebane as players who are “coming back” this week, but his comments indicated that Lynch’s status for Sunday’s game at Cincinnati isn’t certain yet. “We’ll be looking to see what happens with Marshawn as he comes back this week, and we’ll see how that goes,” Carroll said.

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