Pete Carroll sees another rookie-led second-half surge for Seahawks
SEATTLE – For being the coach of a Super Bowl-contending team that has won only one game in more than a month, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll seemed uncommonly giddy this week.
During his final news conference heading into Monday night’s matchup with Buffalo, he concluded one answer by saying, “I’m really excited to see this game.”
Maybe it’s just Carroll – who never met a rainy day he didn’t think would turn sunny in the next second – being Carroll.
But the coach of a team that fell to 4-2-1 with last Sunday’s 25-20 loss at New Orleans also spent the week insisting that the team’s too-often stagnant offense is about to turn around, and with that could follow another of the kind of second-half-of-season runs that have been Seattle’s trademark since he arrived in 2010.
The Seahawks went 5-3 to end 2011, 7-1 in 2012, 9-1 in 2014 and 8-2 in 2015 (with an 11-1 start in the Super Bowl-winning season of 2013 negating the need for a fast finish).
“The closer we get to the finish the better we want to play,”Carroll said. “That’s kind of how we constructed our mentality and it’s worked out pretty well. Here we are right now, we’re not even at the halfway point until after this week, but I think it’s time to kick in, it’s time to go. Hopefully we’ll see something happen.”
One reason for Carroll’s optimism is what he says was the best week of practice quarterback Russell Wilson has had sine he first suffered a high ankle sprain in the first game of the season.
Carroll has talked optimistically of Wilson’s health for a few weeks now. But his stridency on the topic this week seemed to indicate an even greater belief that the Wilson of Monday night might be the closest Seattle has seen all year to the Wilson of previous seasons.
“We know we’re going to get better, if we can just keep healing,” Carroll said. “It’s just a matter of time.”
Carroll also said of an offense that could have a more normal-looking Wilson that “there will be some things that will look different.”
What has also been a key to Seattle’s second-half resurgences under Carroll – maturation and increasing impact from the team’s rookies – also is showing signs of delivering.
Seattle’s 2011 second-half revival was keyed in part by the insertion of rookie Richard Sherman into the starting lineup. In 2012, it was rookies such as Wilson and Bobby Wagner who keyed the late run. Last year, rookie receiver Tyler Lockett made 30 of his 51 catches in the final seven games to give the offense a needed boost (not to mention what Thomas Rawls did in replacing Marshawn Lynch).
The Seahawks began hinting of extreme optimism about this year’s rookie class from almost the minute the draft ended last spring, some saying it could be the best since that 2012 group.
Injuries and other factors, though, muted its impact through much of the first month.
But last Sunday saw maybe the biggest collective contribution yet from the rookie class. Tailback C.J. Prosise, finally healed from a broken bone in his wrist that caused him to miss four games, led the Seahawks with 80 yards on four catches and also had 23 yards rushing on four carries.
“We’ve really been waiting for him,” Carroll said. “I think we’re scratching the surface a little bit. He’s a very exciting player and we’re hoping that we can get him more involved.”
Right tackle Germain Ifedi, making his fourth start, drew praise from the coaches for steadier play than he had shown two weeks ago against Atlanta.
Another rookie, George Fant, stepped in at left tackle and exceeded the expectations of coaches, considering it was his first start in a football game of any kind since junior high – he’ll start again Monday in place of injured Bradley Sowell.
Tight end Nick Vannett also saw his most playing time, while undrafted free agent Tanner McEvoy again showed his knack for big plays with a 43-yard completion to Prosise on a trick play double pass. And defensive tackle Jarran Reed, maybe the most consistent producer of the rookie class so far, had another steady game with three tackles in 30 snaps.
“It’s a really good group of guys,” Carroll said.
There’s a long way to go, of course. But it’s a group that has begun to finally take a significant step toward living up to a rather heady legacy.