Postgame quotes from the following:
Opening Statement:
"Okay. This is a really sweet win for us for a number of reasons. Coming across the country again, showing that we know how to do it again, I'm so proud of that. There is a really good chance if you -- if you win all the games you know you got to go across the country sometime. Again, we know how to do it. I'm really proud of that for our club. The defense continues to play really, really good football. They played great all day long. We had a couple lapses in there when they got to dinking the ball around, and they did a nice job moving it; give them credit. But when we had to have it, finished the game off. Guys rallied and nailed three sacks in the last drive and changed the football game from taking away their chance to win. I'm sure you can see that we respected this opponent a great deal. We respected their pass rush, all the power of that defense up front and all. I thought Schotty and the fellows on offense did a great job with the plan. Russell did a great job of carrying it out. We ran the ball for a bunch of yards. We found ways to do that. Keep the ball away from them, not get sacked. I'm just really thrilled about the way that worked. Obviously we need another touchdown drive in the second half to separate this thing, because we really felt in control of the game. But without that, I think we had three three-and-outs. Just didn't convert on third down keep the thing moving. They had a nice turnover in there obviously. I just thought the whole team played together. Michael Dickson had a huge game today. We were playing field position all day long, and he did a great job keeping them deep and making their offense go the long haul. So I really like that football. You saw it was the same last week. Hoping we can keep carrying it out and play the complementary football that really gives a chance to be really hard to beat."
On what it means to be back in the postseason:
"It's a really big deal. There is a lot of stuff that happened. Getting 10 wins is a marker, and being in the playoffs with games to go, that's a beautiful thing. We're playing for everything, which is great. Again next week be another championship game for us, just what we been preparing for. But to show -- and I said -- made a comment to the guys in the locker room, the guys who came to this program, the young guys have never been in it. They can't appreciate it like the guys that have been around the league that have come to our team to play with us, Russell and Bobby and K.J. and Duane and all those guys, and try to be part of something different than what they been having. I'm really, really happy about being able to share that with these guys. It's a good day. Big accomplishment."
On if he talked to Jamal Adams about making his first postseason yet:
"No, I have not talked to him specifically about that. No, and there is a number of guys in there that this is why they're here. Carlos is here for that, Dunlap. Anyway, so a lot of good stuff going on."
On if he sees any cornerback controversy brewing with D.J. Reed continuing to play well and Quinton Dunbar and Tre Flowers coming back soon:
"No, I don't see it as a controversy. Whether it's with the running backs or going with the hot hand or with cornerbacks, he's playing good football. I like all the activity and the consistency that he's shown and he's tackling pretty well. He's just a playmaker. He has to hold this spot at least going into this week. We should get Tre back this week. Quinton practiced all last week. He should be in better shape for this week. We'll see how that all works out. They're getting stronger."
On how proud he is of making the playoffs eight times in nine years and if there is anything he attributes that to specifically:
"Well, yeah, I am really proud of that. That's what we're here to do, just keep on winning and give ourselves a chance to win championships, and so we got a shot. I attribute it to the consistency of our leadership. Bobby and Russell, K.J., Duane, those guys have just been there and been through it. All the stuff that I say to these guys is only as meaningful as they make it. They continue to support the message and keep us on track and be beacons for how we do things and why we do what we do and the way we look at stuff. We're a little different. We have different way of dealing with things. Without their help and support we would -- just wouldn't -- the message wouldn't be as strong. It is a strong message and these guys know it and they've come here to accomplish something and they're doing it. I love this team. I been telling you guys that since way back when we first assembled. Just the makeup and the mentality and all that, and it's really guided by Russell and the Bobby and the guys."
On why the Seahawks haven't been as sharp as they would like to be on third down offensively:
"I don't know. Just not hitting it as good as we'd like to. We're trying really hard. We're trying really hard. I don't know what the numbers were today, but we're trying really hard to convert every one of them. We just got to keep working at it. It would make the game so much easier."
On what he liked about Russell Wilson and Brian Schottenheimer carrying out the plan on offense today:
"The rhythm of getting football. And this is a tremendous pass rush team. They've got four No. 1s or whatever up there hauling ass at you, and they didn't get Russ. That was awesome. That's how they have won games, like we did at the end of that game, this game today. You saw our pass rush today. That was big time. Well, that's how they been playing and that's why they won four or five in a row, whatever the heck it is. That's why they're leading their division and all, and we didn't let them have it today. They did not have the pass rush today that they been having, and that attributed to the guys up front and the plan and Russell carrying out, but getting the ball out of his hands all day long."
On how big of a pickup D.J. Reed has he been for the defense:
"This is John Schneider working his magic. I can't tell you enough. John has done this so many times. He realized that there was going to be a big loop in there where we wouldn't have him available. We could take him off -- he's a really good player. We could take him off their roster and put him on our roster and wait it out with the thought that if we needed him down the stretch he would be available as a nickel and potentially other places. We really didn't think about him being a starting corner when we brought him in. We thought he would be a great nickel. He played terrific at the nickel spot, and so we have that in him as well. I just think this is John just projecting and looking towards the future. Instead of I need a guy right now and I can't bet on a guy that is going to have to sit for two months. He's done it again. I think this team and how we put it together, John deserves so much credit. He's had a great vision for all of this."
On the running game and getting Rashaad Penny back out there:
"I thought the consistency of all of our guys, they all had 50, 60 yards, and Russ had a big play in there that pumps up the yards. But I think the run game is really alive for us, and when you play us, you got to get ready. For Rashaad to get a couple carries, we hoped to get four or five carries if we could just to break him back in. This was a long, long recovery and return. We just wanted to get him out there. He did it. He played in the game, and now next week we'll be able to do more and use him more. That works out perfectly well for us today."
On if Carlos Dunlap has gone beyond what they expected from him:
"You guys always want to know that we knew this was going to happen. But this is the hope, that he would come in here and be a factor, and he didn't have a great game early on. He was just getting out there. He had mistakes and stuff like that. I thought Clint (Hurtt) did a great job challenging him on the sidelines to go ahead and bring it. When we needed him most he really game through in a big way. I haven't seen the sack that he got. I don't know what it looked like, but guys were raving about it. He's a powerful man, and his factor helps the other guys. It's one those of cases where a good player helps the other players play better. He's a real good factor for us. I thought Alton Robinson's rush was just a perfect rush today on the sack that he had, the forced fumble, we didn't get. That's how we see him. We are hoping he can do that more and add to it. So, good day."
On what L.J. Collier's big play means for him:
"Yeah, he continues to be a steady factor. He's playing really hard. He's got great energy and adds a bunch to our style of play. He's got stuff to him. He has real good reach and some real slippery ways of rushing the passer. I think he's just coming on. I really look at this as like his rookie year. I know it isn't, but this is the first year he really had a chance to really go for it, and he's having a terrific season for us."
On how he balanced tipping his cap to a good defense and potentially having some concern when the offense sputtered in the fourth quarter:
"You guys do that. You go ahead and be concerned. I ain't concerned at all. We did exactly what we wanted to do. We didn't want them to be a factor in this game, and to give up some yards and the stats and all that stuff, I ain't worried about that at all. I don't know what Russ' numbers were. 18 for 27. That's another Bart Starr type of game. Playing the football with our whole team, that worked out great today. It'll be different next time or the game after, but on this game against that team, we neutralized their strength and that's what we had to do to get it done. So I don't -- I don't think there is anything that you can see in this that's negative. I don't see anything about it. And you guys can look for it but, I just don't see that. This was the game we wanted to play. It's almost the score we thought it might be and all of that, that it was going to be really tight and a championship match, and that's what it felt like."
On if he attributes the fourth quarter to things that happen in football:
"We didn't convert our third downs. We just need to convert the third downs. We had a ball tipped. Guy makes a marvelous play to tip the ball up. That's how they got it back. Like I said, you can worry about it. I'm not worried about it all. I'm fine."
On the defense coming alive at the end:
"Yeah, I was so fired up to see them answer the finishing challenge like that. They just cranked it. We didn't have to do anything special, pressure or anything. We just let the guys cut them loose and it just all of a sudden took life right out of them. It was a marvelous energy about them in the finish of the game. Gosh, just all we could have hope for. So we've had a bunch of interesting finishes this season. That was one of them. Why would that all of a sudden happen? Well, those guys just stepped into that next level of going for it, and it was a beautiful thing."
On D.J. Reed overcoming not being the traditionally sized guy they play at cornerback:
"He's just a different style player. His feet are just lightning fast and his athleticism is just -- he's so sudden. He can makeup for -- he has to stay out of situations where he gets pushed around or shoved around. 183 pounds, but he knows how to do it. I'm really fired up about his play. You know, as much as we've worked, and everybody is about the long arm corners and all that stuff, I mean, that's what I've always wanted, but way back in the day at N.C. State we had Perry Williams. You guys don't remember him. Played for the Giants for a long time. He was beautiful; 6'2". Then we had Donnie LeGrande. He was about 5'7". Both those guys played back in the day. That's where all of our corner play, the source of it started. They come in different shapes and sizes. We just have to be open to it and not be stubborn that everybody has to be like whatever, this mold. It couldn't be more obvious. Look at our quarterback."
On DeeJay Dallas' status:
"Yes, he sprained his ankle. He did not break anything, which we're all thrilled about. I don't know how severe the sprain is, but he did sprain his ankle and all the x-rays were negative, so that's a really good report to pass along."
On lapses he saw in the defense:
"Yeah, really we didn't turn our focus towards just getting after the passer. We were still playing running pass, so we kept staying kind of in more of a base mode. They just hadn't done very much. There was not much down the field, not much to the run game. None of those things were factors until they started going back to back to back, and then they put together a couple drives. We just had to shift years, and I thought Kenny and those guys did it. They turned the guys loose like we needed to, and the last drive it all showed up."
On clinching his 8th playoff berth:
"Oh, it's a blessing. I don't know what happened that one year we didn't, but to be back in the playoffs it's great. It's huge. You know, it gives us a chance to try to do what we want to do, and that's win a Super Bowl, and try to bring a Super Bowl back home to Seattle. I think that it's been a crazy year just thinking about everything that we've had to go through with COVID and the whole process of everything, the daily testing, just zoom calls and it's been a challenging season. To be able to come to this point where we know that we have another chance to keep going, is a huge deal and it's definitely a blessing for sure. I'm grateful to be able to be back in the playoffs again. It's something that you can't take for granted. There are some of the greatest players to play that have never been to the Super Bowl, never won a Super Bowl, or never even been to the playoffs sometimes and I think that to be able to go back is definitely a blessing and is a testament to our team as a whole."
On his multi-dimensional playing:
"Well, I think that we can do a lot of different things. I think, to be able to, obviously throw the ball downfield, we almost had that one with [Freddie] Swain, that deep go ball. He made a great catch and that would have been a huge, huge touchdown play there. He almost just barely didn't get his foot in on that. [Jacob] Hollister did an amazing job on his route, getting into the endzone. That was a great route by him and a great call and everything else and so those were great plays and, I think the reality is, they obviously had a great pass rush. We were able to run the ball extremely well in our running game today. That's always it. That's always a great thing when we can run it that way. You know Chris [Carson] and Carlos [Hyde], I mean think about starting the second half with that 55-yard touchdown run. That was huge by him. Chris [Carson] has some really, really tough runs. To see him back fully healthy run the ball the way he was, that's exciting. He caught the ball well today and then I was able to run a few too as well and scamper and make some plays. I think what we hope that we can do is do it all together. If we can run the ball the way we are and also throw the ball down the field, and also throw it quick up, which obviously we can throw it down the field and we can throw it quick too as well. When we marry all those things up together, that's going to be a really great thing and that's going to make us a really, really tough offense. I think we've obviously been tough all year and one of the top offenses in the league. Been great in the red zone, then great and explosive plays and everything else and so every game, like I said to you guys before, every game has its own history and whatever. The only thing that matters is that we win and that's the great thing about today."
On his offensive line:
"The offensive line, they were great all day. It starts with Duane Brown and what he can do at the left tackle position. He's the best in the business I say. It's really true, it shows up every week. I really thought [Jordan] Simmons had to step in for Big Mike [Mike Iupati] and he did a really good job against a talented defensive front, interior front. Obviously Ethan [Pocic] has been tremendous for us. We had those first several games where, you know, for 5, 6, 7 games or whatever that was where Ethan was in there and playing great and, you know, obviously having that starting center really helps and he's been great all year for us when he's been in there and that's been huge for us. D-Lew [Damien Lewis], I think he's one of the best right guards in the game despite him being a rookie. He's really stepped up. He's bought it all the way from LSU I guess and the national championship-caliber play, but he's been really, really great for us. I think Ced [Cedric Ogbuehi] stepped up today. To go against some great defensive ends and for us to not have any sacks, that's a big deal and the great thing is we can always get better too as a collective team and that's the exciting part about the season."
On his long run:
"Well, had to move a little bit – it was a play-action, so I had to move a little bit and slide. I was gonna have Tyler [Lockett] come across the field there – I believe that was that same play and I saw Tyler come across the field, but I had to move and just kind of started running up the field. I kind of felt outside the corner of my eye, and just kind of a one juke move and got outside of them and then jetting and try to get as much as we could and get out of bounds without taking a hit or anything like that. But I think we run it. I've been able to run well here in D.C. for some reason, over the years, so that was a good play just for us. I think we need more of that."
On new players reacting to going to the playoffs:
"Yeah, it's been exciting. The locker room it's going crazy and they're just really fired up. Jamal [Adams], he's in a locker right next to me, him and [Quandre] Diggs. We were just talking about it, just can't take these things for granted. Every time we get to playoffs, it's a great opportunity and Jamal is super fired up. He'll be here and he's been a tremendous force all year obviously. In my opinion, I think he's one of the top defensive players of the year and when you think about the consistency that we've been able to have with guys like K.J. [Wright] and Bobby [Wagner] and myself and ever since Duane [Brown]'s been here, he's been great for us. But I think it's an exciting thing to think about all the rookies. You think about the rookies that haven't been to the playoffs, maybe they played in a bowl game or whatever but NFL playoff football is a real deal."
On defenses denying deep throws and explosive plays:
"Yeah, and I think for us, we can always do some great things. Whether it's doing a quick doing, deep doing, a mid-range. All the things that we're able to do, it makes it really difficult for defenses and that's why it's been special I think over the years, over time. I don't think it's a new thing that I can throw deep, I think people have known for a while. But, we still find ways to do it and I think that it's been fun having such great players and being around such great teammates. I mean, it's not about me, it's about us. It's about what we can do, how we can continue to grow and I think it's been really exciting, what we've been able to do the best you know two weeks in particular."
On RB Rashaad Penny:
"Yeah, I'm glad you asked. I got to talk to Penny in the locker room. Just all the things he's gone through and just to battle injury, and I think that to be able to be healthy again, to play football. I mean, I know for a lot of people, the reality is I think for fans and everything else, everybody loves us and cares for us and all that, but this is our lifestyle. This is everything that we think about every day for the most part. It's what we prepare to do, this is our job and it's a blessing to have this job and to think about Penny. The guy was a first-round pick, great player and had a really exciting year, last year and all that until he got injured and he's been a great player and he's come back with vengeance. He's come back with a great work ethic, he's come back. He's always had that work ethic and he's come back with that mentality to be great, and it's cool to have such great players around you. You always want guys like Chris Carson and Carlos [Hyde], and then you know obviously it was disappointing to see D.J. [Reed] go down today. But to have Penny come back in this stretch here run of last couple games in playoffs, it's a big deal and so I'm happy for him. All the hard work, all the months, all the days, all the early mornings and late nights, all the stress that you have to take on, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, it's a real thing and he's been great at it and so I'm really excited for him for sure."
The best photos from Seattle Seahawks vs. Washington Football Team at FedExField. Fueled by Nesquik.
