Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was not pleased after his team blew a 24-9 halftime lead against the Tennessee Titans in Week 2. Carroll took the blame for the team’s ten penalties, including two late personal fouls and admitted there were some clock management decisions to end the fourth quarter that he could have executed better. The Seahawks coach was asked if it was frustrating to blow a double-digit lead given how much emphasis he places on finishing games.
“I hate this, 24 to nine at halftime, come on,” Carroll said in his postgame press conference. “We took care of the ball all day long, did a great job with the football, wind up plus [in turnovers] and give the game away. It had to have been other big things that happened, which were the penalties, and it was the two hits on the quarterback, those were huge plays for them. The out-of-bounds [late hit], just unnecessary, there were just unnecessary things that happened. We need to be better than that, and I need to be better. I need to help our guys better than that.”
Carroll on Personal Fouls: ‘We’re Trying Too Hard’
The Seahawks allowed Derrick Henry to rush for 182 yards and three touchdowns, including a 60-yard score with 12:17 remaining in the game. Carroll hinted at Jamal Adams “taking a shot” as one of the contributing factors for Henry’s long touchdown run.
“We were too aggressive on the edge and just got Jamal fired up about taking a shot at something and the combination of how we played the edge right there, the ball bounced and he’s [Henry] been doing that for years,” Carroll explained. “He takes off and gets on the edge and nobody can take him down. All day long we fought to not let that happen and then it finally did, to their credit.”
Adams was flagged for a late-hit penalty in overtime after what appeared to be a successful third-down stop by the Seahawks defense. Later in the press conference, Carroll was asked to clarify his comments on Adams and the collective personal foul penalties. Carroll responded by explaining it is an example of players “trying too hard” and admitted he has to do a “better job” at helping individuals maintain their poise.
“When there’s that many plays where guys do stuff like, kind of after the fact, you know, we’re trying too hard and get ’em too freakin’ jacked up and we’re going for it and we’re feisty and all that,” Carroll noted. “That’s not the first [time] that’s happened with my guys, and so that’s why I got to do a better job.”
Wilson:’There’s a Difference Between Passion & Emotion’
Russell Wilson was asked if he felt playing the team’s first home game in nearly two years contributed to some of the emotional penalties. Wilson noted that he felt like the Seahawks were poised but emphasized the team needs to play with “great passion” rather than with their emotions.
“Obviously, it’s a football game, it’s going to bring emotions and stuff like that but you got to eliminate ’em,” Wilson told reporters in his postgame press conference. “Gotta be able to eliminate ’em throughout the process but still play with great passion. Doesn’t mean that you can’t play with great passion, but I think there’s a difference between passion and emotion.
“I think for us, as we’re continuing to play, is to find that poise throughout the whole game. It’s a long game, it’s a long battle. It’s good team over here, good team over here. It’s back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. …But I think that’s why neutral thinking is so important, for me in particular, playing this game for so long, I know there’s going to be ebbs and flows of the game.”
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Pete Carroll Takes Blame for Loss, Sends Message to Jamal Adams