Pete Carroll Confident Seahawks Will Respond "At A Crucial Point" In Season

Coming off a tough Week 12 loss, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll discussed what he wants to see for his team to get back on track.

Nov 24, 2023 at 02:59 PM

John Boyle

Seahawks.com Senior Reporter

For Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, there was no sense in hiding from what happened on Thursday night in a 31-13 loss to the 49ers.

The defeat was Seattle's second in a row and third in four games, leaving the Seahawks with a 6-5 record heading into their Week 13 game in Dallas.

"I'm concerned about everything we're doing right now," Carroll said. "That night last night will make you challenge everything. There's questions to be asked and answers to be found. That's where we are right now.

With six games left in the season, including three straight against three of the NFC's top teams, Dallas, San Francisco and Philadelphia, this closing stretch to the season is, as Carroll put it on Thursday "playoff time every week" given both the stakes and the caliber of opponent.

"We're at a crucial point," he said. "It's crucial that we make sure we're together. This is a really challenging stretch coming. They're always hard, but we've got to get our minds right and make sure we're focusing on doing the right thing and executing and playing ball really hard with great effort and intensity and all the kind of stuff that we'd like to build this team around."

But while nobody is happy with how the team has played in recent losses, Carroll does still have full belief that the Seahawks have what it takes to get back on track.

"I know these guys," he said. "I totally know these guys and trust these guys. I know where their heart is and the voice in the locker room, the voice of the leadership with these guys; they'll hang tough. It doesn't mean that it's easy to turn something around, it's hard. It'll be good for us, it'll make us better."

Getting back in the win column will require work from every coach and player, but as always, Carroll knows that process starts with him.

"We've got to really get our game right," he said. "That's what we are going after, and we're going to do it as aggressively as we can. I have to make sure that I get us on all cylinders better than we did. As always, I'm going to take full account for this. I have to make sure that we are all firing better than we have. That's what we're going to get done."

That process begins, Carroll said, with "Making sure that we stay focused on the truth and what's going on and so that we don't get distracted by what guys think. They need to get to the issues and the truth of the issues. With the staff and the players as well, we all have to try to make sure that we see it clearly. Sometimes your opinion and your vision can get clouded, because it hurts. You're feeling uncomfortable about it. That's what is most important, that's why coming back together is getting to the truth of it."

A big focus this week will be getting the offense on track after the Seahawks were held without an offensive touchdown on Thursday, making it seven quarters without an offensive touchdown since finding the end zone on the opening drive in last week's loss to the Rams.

Carroll noted the Seahawks need to "maximize our people and have to make sure that we're putting them in the best positions for them to contribute so that we can make our momentum felt early in the game," and when asked later how the team can help maximize players, he added, "Making sure that we're choosing the best routes for the guys. We have unique talents, and we have to make sure we're maximizing that. I feel like we're not. I feel like we're not seeing stuff. You saw the playmaking of Jaxon (Smith-Njigba) last night, and he continues to show stuff that separates him from others, and we just need to give him more chances. We've got guys in different areas of our game that can do stuff better. Our tight ends can be used better than we've used them in the last couple of weeks. We need to get that going again. We have some real positives; we just have to make them come to life. I think that has the best chance at moving us ahead and making us go forward. Just looking at what's happened in the past here."

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