Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is all about fraternity and brotherhood among his current and former players and coaches. But he’s more about competing. Beware, Mark Sanchez.
“I think the world of him and I’m really excited for his opportunities,” Carroll said Friday of the Eagles’ starting quarterback and his former QB at USC, who is waiting in Philadelphia for Sunday’s game. “We like to bang around a little bit if we get a chance. There’s nothing I like more than playing against people that I really care for.
“I look forward to this.”
Carroll didn’t define what banging around meant, but one guess is that he plans to leave a mark, being it physical or psychological. It is not hard for a man with an agile mind to hold contradictory thoughts simultaneously.
“I hope to see him and (Matt Barkley, the Eagles’ third string QB and a USC grad Carroll recruited); there’s a good history with us,” he said. “We’ve had a great time together and we will always share our experiences. That will always keep us connected. So it’s really fun to see those guys.”
Beyond the bonhomie, Carroll hopes to see some results Sunday from a renewed emphasis on his offense’s red-zone execution, which for the last several weeks has been meager. The Seahawks have been left with eight field goals in the last two games.
“If it was that easy, we would have fixed it,” he said. “There are always challenges down there. We have to stay out of our own way and not make the mistakes that put us behind the sticks. We have to do better there.
“Sometimes it’s just a couple inches there,” We’ve had really good spurts in the past. We want to get back on track here for this fourth quarter.”
The extra time off following the Seahawks’ 19-3 win in San Francisco Thansgiving night has been put to good use.
“We had a good break so we were able to push,” he said. “We got an extra day in on Tuesday. That helps you in preparation — getting a jump start on the week. So we were able to move through the week really swiftly. It just worked out well. The guys were well versed in what we were asking them to do. You could tell by the execution.”
Notes
The Seahawks left Friday, a day earlier than is usual for East Coast trips. “We’re taking off a day early to get there and get this right,” Carroll said. “We feel comfortable with that format. We have been through it a lot and feel like we can find success there. Everything seems good.” . . . .There were no surprises on the injury report. C Max Unger (ankle) could be back next week, but not Sunday, his third miss in a row. TE Cooper Helfet (ankle) is a game-time decision, as is CB Jeremy Lane (glute), who was listed as questionable . . . The Seahawks have yet to fill a roster opening, which, Carroll said, smiling, would remain a mystery until Saturday. Typically, that would mean advancing someone from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, but is unlikely to play.
8 Comments
I sense a Seahawk victory Sunday. We have a history of some success in Phili, including I believe the Monday night game back in 2005 under Holmgren.
They won that 2005 game BIG in Philly!42~0…. Interesting that year we started out 2~2 then didnt lose again(went 11~0) til the last game of the season to finish 13~3 in a close one in Green Bay 23~17 then we went on the SB run in the play offs.Too bad Pittsburg brought their own refs.
Nobodys entertaining the thought of a shut out this sunday but holding two pretty good divisional rivals to 3 points the last few weeks? The Revved up defense would love that notoriety of keeping them way under their average. I think the Hawks will trounce them.
Did a little more research on playing in Philly…. and against the Eagles in General in December….
The last two times we have played Philly in their building we won both
times~Both in december (2005 ,07) we won 42~0 and 28~24 … We also have
a win against them here in december of 2011.
3 cheers for Coach Carroll! Another season of Seahawks relevance during the holidays, he is directly to credit IMHO
Intriguing game, very interested to see how we do defensively. Offense is getting better but i picture a scrum.
Looking at the Eagles schedule of their 9 wins only the Cowboys have a winning record and it wouldn’t surprise me if Dallas finishes with their usual 8-8 record. Their losses were to the 49ers, Cardinals and Packers whom the Hawks have defeated. With a defense that’s ranked 24th in the league I don’t believe that the Eagles will be as much of a problem some are predicting. I’m thinking a 24-14 win for the champs.
Carroll knows Sanchez’s tendencies and can game-plan for that, and the Hawks will be driven–a loss hurts their playoff positioning more.
Sanchez is a different QB than he was in college and I’m sure both he and the Eagles staff prepared for Pete’s knowledge of him. They just had never seen a defense like the Hawks before.
Bang around a bit? Coach speak for the 5 or 6 sacks we plan to pin on you.That Richard Sherman is behind in his interception totals and smacking his lips?That you guys are 6~0 at home and we are the underdogs coming in?Katie bar the door for brutality my friend…
Its not going to get any better if we meet you in the play offs so get used to it if you think you are one of the up and comers that are going to wrangle our Lombardi from us.
Coach loves his past. But he loves legacies too and back to back appearances in the SB would certainly add to his.The underdog role just plays into his hands.Go Hawks.