Quotes and locker room sound from the Seahawks following their 42-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams during Week 15 at CenturyLink Field.

Head Coach Pete Carroll

(Opening…) "Well, that was a, I'm going to say it this way, a tremendous showing by the Rams.  They played fantastic football from start to finish, really owned the field all day long.  We were in terrible field position throughout.  We couldn't knock our way out it, and they took full advantage of that with a bunch of short drives and they just executed well enough to have a fantastic game.  We've not seen us play like that, and seen that kind of result.   So, it's on all of us to hold ourselves accountable.  We didn't do that right, from any aspect of it.  So, I give them a lot of credit.  They've been playing terrific football all year long.  This was an opportunity for us to match up for first place and they obviously were on it, and we weren't.  I don't think there is any one place that you can point to that made a difference in this game.  There was just a lot of stuff that looked really good for them and didn't look very good for us.  What's really important, and I know that you're not going to want to go with me on this one, but what's really important is that we realize that we have two games to play here with a lot at stake and a lot that we have to turn towards.  We'll try to get this thing going as soon as we can and see if we can leave this kind of experience behind us.  You've been with me for a long time, and we haven't seen that before.   We're going to crank it up, and get going again.  But, they had the opportunity, they took advantage of it, they did great, and we didn't."

(On what they discussed in the locker room after the game…)"About holding each ourselves accountable first, so that we can not get distracted on the way to what's coming up tomorrow.  We're going to start talking about Dallas tomorrow, and we have a big game coming up and we have to go ahead and finish this thing.  There's all kinds of opportunities for us, we just have to make sure we don't let what just happened affect what's coming up.  We talked about controlling what we can control.  That's what this is all about.  We have to get going."

(On the pass pressure on Russell Wilson…)"Well, it was really hard.  It was really hard.  I really thought that we would do better.  The situations rolled so much in their favor in terms of the down and distance.  It was easy to know that we had to throw the football. We were backed up, and we were behind the sticks consistently.  That's not how we wanted to play this game, and to give them that advantage where they could come roaring off the football, and they were able to do that.  I don't know how many times, but there was a ton of times it was second and 15 or more, and that's really hard to slow a group like them down.  But, I need to see the film.  I was really disappointed that we had some penalty calls early on in pass protection.  I hadn't seen that happen to us like that, with Duane [Brown], and we were fighting it.  It really put us in bad positions early on, and we got behind the sticks, and then they're just too good to let them tee off like that."

(On whether it is a challenge with a veteran group to come back next week because maybe this just isn't our year… )"I don't know why anyone would ever think that.  We're going to go play Dallas.  We're not thinking that."

(On the Rams punt returns…) "Cooper did great.  He came in with really good looking stuff; good numbers and scheme and all that.  We have a lot of respect for the way that they do their things, but that was a huge factor in the game.  Big field shifts.  The field position kept going in their favor.  They were able to keep us backed up and start in such great field position.  I think they started 7 or 8 times on our side of the 50.  It's really hard to do anything when you're doing that.  Very well done by them."

(On the play of the run defense in the first half….)"We tackled poorly.  There was a play there where we missed three tackles in a row.  Sometimes we play a game and we don't miss three tackles in the whole game.  And that was all on one play.  We didn't handle Todd Gurley very well, he was on fire.  But schematically, we let some things go.  We made some mistakes, too, that got the ball out there.  It's really hard for me to explain to you because this is something that I haven't seen us do, and play that far off.  But, the running game was really the issue.  They threw for 90 yards in the first half, that wasn't the issue.  It was really the running game."

(On what is the challenge for Carroll and the coaches to prepare for next week…)"It's a challenge for everybody, it isn't just the coaches.  This is everybody.  Every player in there, we talked about that in the locker room.  Everybody's accountable.  Everybody has to take the step forward together and hold themselves in the kind of regard that we can pull out the best we have to offer down the stretch, here.  So, we'll see if we can do that." 

Tackle Duane Brown

(On avoiding the after-play pushing and shoving…)"You just have to try and stay away from it. You also have to protect yourself. I'm not sure everything that took place, but you want to stay out of those situations as much as possible."

(On how things unraveled…) "We have to start faster. They came out a lot faster than we did. We got behind and as an offense, that's not the kind of defense you want to become one-dimensional against, having to drop back and having to be in the two-minute drill throughout the game. They were pinning their ears back and we just have to start fast. We have to have a balanced attack and we didn't do that today. But hats off to them, they played a phenomenal game in all facets. We just have to learn and we can learn from it and be better going forward."

(On if it'll be difficult to bounce back from this game…)"I don't think so. We have a lot of professionals on this team. We have a lot of guys with pride and we have some great leadership on this team. Nothing's lost for us. It was a horrible day at the office for us. But we have to regroup, come in tomorrow and watch the film. We all have to be accountable for what we did wrong individually. Myself, I know I have to be better and that goes for everyone else. We'll be fine though and I'm sure everyone will come in and the competitor inside of us will help us bounce back."

Safety Earl Thomas

(On his thoughts on the loss…)"The first thing that stuck out to me was the field position. We never really got going and we didn't stop the run. I thought we did a pretty good job on the passing side of things but we just didn't stop the run. [Todd] Gurley had a great day. But we never really had a chance."

(On if they have a veteran team that can bounce back from this…) "It depends. It depends based on the veteran leadership. We have to lead these young guys right. We can't click off into sections and go this way and that way. We just have to stay together."

Quarterback Russell Wilson

(Opening…) "Obviously, that was not the game we wanted to play, or expected to play.  They did a great job, they played way better than us today.  You have to give them credit, they've been playing great all year.  They came ready to play, and unfortunately we weren't ready to play enough.  I think that they had the ball in the first half, really, on their side of the field a bunch.  Todd Gurley had a great game in terms of running the ball and stuff like that.  In terms of where we have to get better on offense, I don't really know where to start yet.  I think I have to watch the film and kind of go from there, guys.  I think, though, we just have to find a way to be a little bit tighter and try to stay on schedule.  We were behind the eight ball the whole first half.  There were a lot of third and longs and stuff, and that's really tough when you're playing a really good team like that.  That's where I can start right now."

(On how concerned he is that in a game like this the team didn't appear ready to play…)"I don't think it was a preparation thing.  When I say that I think that we had a few plays here and there that could have really changed the game, kind of tilted the game a little bit different.  Those didn't work.  I don't think it's a preparation thing.  I think that we studied and practiced really well all week, actually, we had a really good week of practice.  I think the ball went their way.  They made some special plays today, in all phases, really.  That's unfortunate.  I'm not concerned.  We have two great games coming up.  Two challenges.  Going on the road for the first one, and coming back home for the last one.  There can't be any hesitation on what we're planning on trying to do, and how we can prepare, and how we can have a great week coming up.  That's the only thing that matters, whether if we had won the game, or lost the game the way we did.  The only thing that we can do is prepare for the next one." 

(On whether this is just a loss….) "The game kind of got out of hand really quickly.  I'm not sure how many they had in the first half.  They got 30 or whatever the first half.  That's rare.  When you're playing a really good team, too; they're not just anybody, they've been playing great all year.  It was a little tough.  When we had the touchdown pass to Luke, it was OK, here we go, you never know, and that type of thing.  Then, I think they scored again, maybe, after that.  It stayed away from us for the whole game.  For the whole first quarter and a half of the game, they really capitalized on things that we weren't able to do."

(On whether a loss like this will impact his faith in the team…) "I have no doubt in the men that we have in the locker room and who we are as a team.  I'm looking forward to coming back next week and having a great week."

[wysifield-embeddedaudio|eid="563406"|type="embeddedaudio"|view_mode="full"]

Cornerback Shaquill Griffin

(On the third down Todd Gurley touchdown run…)"They were kind of going off of what they usually do. They try to run or throw a shake down or swing route when it's long and the down and distance is like that. Everybody was talking about it before the play about what to expect with that. We were talking about it before the play and that kind of hurt me to see it go like that. Especially with a run like that that's so far and you're about to get off the field on third down. You talk about it, but it's hard to see that. So I just let it get to me a little bit too much. That's something that I had to talk to [Richard Sherman] about. A situation like that, you have to stay poised and he continued to tell me that after that play. It hurts to see that. It hurts to go through the game like that. We just have to bounce back from it."

(On how much of today was Todd Gurley making something happen…)"He did an awesome job. I can't take that away from him. He opened up the run game perfectly for them. And that's something that they wanted to do. They wanted to come in and run the ball and that's what they did. They beat us in all three phases today. That's something that we have to come back and kind of remember what happened so it won't happen again. You don't want to continue to just think about how the game went. But you have to understand that it did happen. They did well in all three phases. Not just the run, but all three phases when it comes to this whole football game. We have to learn from that and bounce back from it."

(On if there was miscommunication on the defense with all the missed tackles…) "They came to play. That's all that we can say about that is that they came to play. We usually don't miss tackles like that so we need to go back and understand who we are and what we come from. We don't miss tackles like that. I'd be lying if I said it doesn't happen ever. We just need to go back and realize that we made some mistakes and it's going to hurt us tonight, but tomorrow it's a whole new week and we have to be ready for a whole new opponent."

Wide Receiver Doug Baldwin

(On what he said to the team after the game...)"Yeah that obviously, it was an embarrasing game.  A rough game for us, not taking anything away from the Rams.  It is a great team over there that we just played, obviously, but that wasn't the style of football that we like to play.  We didn't put our best foot forward and we didn't play Seahawks football.  So I told them to let it burn and remember this feeling.  Come back tomorrow, we will correct our mistakes, get it cleaned up and get ready for Dallas."

(On why he wants the players to "let it burn"...)"Because that is the only way you grow. When you make mistakes, when you go through adversity, you got to let it burn. You got to remember that feeling and that emotion, so that you learn from it.  We can't waste this.  This loss can't be in vain.  We have to utilize this to the motivation of our players, the coaches, everybody to clean our stuff up and get ready for Dallas."

(On how concerning it was to him that the game wasn't clean...) "It's football. Just like life, you are not always going to be perfect.  If that was the case and if this was easy, then everybody would do it. For us, the mindset is that we have to continue to grind, day in and day out, regardless of what the score is, regardless of what our record is, we have to come back to work and grind.  That is what we are going to do.  So am I concerned with it? Obviously, yes, I'm disappointed in the loss, especially the way that we lost. However, I know that when I wake up tomorrow, there is another opportunity for us to continue to work."

(On if it was shocking that they couldn't move forward and through the slow start...)"Yeah, we have struggled in the first half before of games.  We have struggled early, but we have always seemed to find our rythym and for whatever reason, today we weren't able to do that.  It culminates in the score that you did see because all three phases weren't playing efficiently today.  So when you play like that...that is typically what you see, a score like you saw."

(On how much of it was the Rams and how much was the Seahawks...) "I don't know.  Honestly, I have said this to you guys before, I don't really care about who we are playing or about our opponent.  That's no disrespect to them, it's just I can't focus on them if I'm not right and so this is the same thing.  We weren't right in all phases.  Again, not taking anything away from the Rams.  It's a phenomenal team we just played.  They got a solid record for a reason.  They have a great running game, a great zone run scheme and obvisouly, a very effective and efficient defense. That is a good team that we played.  However, all that being said, we didn't play our best football.  We didn't put our best foot forward from the jump, so we didn't give ourselves a chance."

Defensive End Michael Bennett

(On what went wrong in the first half...) "Can't describe it. They just played a great game. I think Todd Gurley had a great day. Their coach is a great coach and they just made some better plays than we made. It's just how the game goes sometimes."

(On how big of a challenge it will be to get back...) "Every week is a challenge. I think every team we play against is a challenge in the NFL. Every week you can't take any team for granted. I think the Dallas Cowboys are a great organization and they've always been a great team and a hard team to play against, especially on the road. I think we need to just put our focus on just trying go back and get into the lab and being able to prepare for this team because the next two games are the most important games and the next one is the most important game because it's the next one. So, we just have to stay focused on the game and just keep moving forward."

(On what his expectations of this game were and how big of a shock the game was...) "I mean, every time you lose it's a shock. Whether you lose by one or you lose by fifty, it's always the same feeling. It's a loss. There's no right way to feel the loss. Just when you lose in the NFL, it's critical because every game counts. I think, just keep moving forward and try to find a way to win a game. You really can't worry about the naysayers, the white noise, or the media really. You just got to go back and figure out what you can do because no matter what people write or what they say, you still got to go out there and play the game. For us, that's what we have to do. We have to move forward and put the blinders on and just focus on finding a way to beat Dallas."

(On what the defense could do better that they didn't do today...)  "I mean, what do you mean? That's it. Move forward. Tackle. Stop them from scoring. Just got to play better football. Got a lot of guys hurt. Got to get the young guys up to speed and have them be able to play and just keep going out there and try to do our job."

*(On holding the team accountable...) *"I mean, there's nobody else to keep accountable but the people who played in the game. It's not the fans, it's not the media, it's just us. We just have to out there, like I said, and just focus and talk and communicate and be focused on winning the game."

Tight End Luke Willson

(On if it ever felt like the offense had momentum today...) "No. You know, just one of those days, it felt like when it rains it pours. Bad timing to have a day like that. Just seemed like we couldn't do anything right today, a lot of uncharacteristic stuff, but hats off to the Rams and we'll watch this one tomorrow. Still got two games left, so we'll go from there."

(On what the most uncharacteristic part of today's game was...) "You know I think it was just a combination of we had a lot of penalties, turnovers, our special teams is usually best in the league in my opinion, and we weren't today. We just made a lot of mistakes."

Center Justin Britt

(On the key going forward…)"Control what we can control, move on. We still have two games this season that can really dictate our future. Doug [Baldwin] said after the game when we were in here that we need to let this soak in and feel it and remember this feeling. [We need to] do that, but we need to come in tomorrow and figure out what happened and by Wednesday, get ready for Dallas."

(On the biggest takeaway from this loss…) "I don't know. That wasn't Seahawk ball. That wasn't anything like it's been since I got here. The Rams are a hell of a team this year and they have a lot of depth and really good players. It's kind of the same story every week. We are killing ourselves at critical times and I feel like we're not only playing the Rams but we're playing the refs too. At the end of the day, it's about us and what we do so we just need to move on."

(On how they move on from his loss versus a close loss…)"Just like you move on from a win, you have to move on from a loss. No matter how big the win is or how big the loss is or how little it is. We're all professionals in here, we all have a job and our job is to move on and get ready for the next task at hand which is Dallas."

(On how big a shock this loss is…)"You're more pissed off than anything. You obviously don't want this to happen and in our heads throughout the week, we see things happening differently. We just got behind early and we weren't able to get the run game going. We had to go up-tempo a lot sooner than we would want to. We were trying to play catch up and we were hurting ourselves with some critical penalties."