Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen was wide open for the game-winning 26-yard touchdown from quarterback Cam Newton in Week 6 at CenturyLink Field because of an "unusual" defensive miscommunication by Seattle.
That's what head coach Pete Carroll said Monday about the play that saw cornerback Richard Sherman, free safety Earl Thomas, and strong safety Kam Chancellor clearly not on the same page. On Tuesday, it was a miscue that first-year defensive coordinator Kris Richard took "full responsibility" for.
"Ultimately, when there's a breakdown in the secondary, I coach the secondary. When there's a breakdown on the defense, I'm the defensive coordinator," Richard said. "So it absolutely starts and stops with me. We're going to get it fixed."
Outside of that fateful play, Carroll said Seattle's communication was fine. But when it mattered most, Richard noted it "didn't seem like" every player on Seattle's defense received the correct play call from the Seahawks' middle linebacker, which against Carolina was K.J. Wright, who was subbing for an injured Bobby Wagner.
"Get to the huddle," Richard said of what needed to happen in that situation. "We get to the huddle, we get our call from our 'mike' linebacker, we give ourselves a good chance to compete."
Newton's touchdown toss to Olsen led to the Seahawks' second consecutive loss and marked the fourth time this season where Seattle has failed to hold onto a fourth-quarter lead. Carroll and several Seattle players have said the team isn't panicking about its 2-4 start, but knows it must continue to play quality football for four quarters in order to get the results it wants.
"You've got to keep battling, and you've got to keep playing," said Richard. "In regards to us, like I said, it was so much good football out there. It's close. It's close, it's so close. Everybody feels it, and everybody knows it, so just keep playing, and we will finish."
