Check out what the Seahawks are saying about the Lions before the two teams meet in the Wild Card playoff round on Saturday at CenturyLink Field.
Head Coach Pete Carroll
(On the Lions' passing game...) "[Matthew] Stafford makes this really difficult. He's so equipped with everything, he can do it all. He's going to read your coverage, read your pressures, change and affect their protections properly and make it as hard on you as possible. He's tough, he's competitive, he's resourceful. He runs, he's got a rushing average, he's averaging over five yards a carry. You would think of him as a pocket guy but he's more than that. Take all that and put that aside, look at what he's done at the end of games. He has been phenomenal finishing games. There's nothing more than I respect than a guy who can finish like that. He's had eight games winning in the fourth quarter. Nobody has ever done that before, I heard. I don't know who keeps that stat, but that's remarkable. We will treat him with the utmost respect, he's got terrific players. They all have their own style, they're unique players in their own right. Their running back is, their tight end is, Eric Ebron is a really cool tight end that can do all kinds of stuff. They've got all of that worked out and they know exactly what they have. It's 60 minutes, you can't give these guys an inch. Look what they did last week, they throw a Hail Mary and they're going on sides again, they're doing it all over, they're going to do it again, just like they've done it all year long. I know they think that way, they have a great mindset. We're going to really have to be on to do well. We're ready for these guys but they're really good."
(On if Matthew Stafford looks the same as he did last year...)"He's been great for a long time. He has great numbers and great production and all that. I think what jumps out is the finishes, the dramatic finishes and the great play that they've done at the end of the game. They're a very connected offense and really function well and obviously no matter how difficult it gets, they still can function. We know we'll have our hands full."
(On Detroit's front seven...)"The two ends are terrific, [Ezekiel] Ansah is really good. Haloti Ngata is out there, you know he's out there, he's a monster of a player. Their attack, their unique players, their whole team plays really hard and it shows up on their defense and of course special teams. They're really good in both areas, just showing effort and running and hitting. This defense, it starts up front and those guys kind of lead the charge."
(On Lions linebacker Tahir Whitehead...) "Yeah, he's physical. He attacks, he's got a real hard balled nature about him, he's a really good hitter. You can see it, it stands out. When I'm talking about their style, I'm thinking about Whitehead. He is one of those guys."
Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell
(On this week's playoff game against Detroit...) "Here we are, best part of the season. We start way back in OTAs for this process, to be able to be where we are today. It's exciting to have a chance to be in this tournament, be in the playoffs and play this quality team like Detroit, who had a great season as well. It's a fun time and I'm excited to be here."
(On the Lions' defense...) "Obviously there's players that you focus on immediately, like Ziggy [Ezekiel Ansah] does a great job over there. Those are things that we look at first, the matchups, then we look at the scheme and what style of scheme that they play and one that we'll be ready for."
Defensive End Michael Bennett
(On the emphasis of getting pressure on Detroit's quarterback...) "I think it's one of those games that you emphasize just creating havoc for the quarterback whether it's sacks, hurries or hits. It's one of those things every game you want to harass the quarterback. This game is no different. Matthew Stafford is one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. He does a lot of great things with the ball, especially impressive with his side arm when he throws the ball sideways, like a cowboy, he does a lot of great things. He's just evolving as a quarterback. Whether in the run game being able to check being able to be more mobile this year, Matt's just a really good quarterback, and he's from Texas too."
(On former Seahawk and current Lions receiver Golden Tate...) "Golden Tate is one the best receivers in the NFL I think, especially his Y.A.C. (yards after catch) when he catches the ball and being able to do so many things. Whether it's a reverse, whether it's a screen, whether catches it across the middle he's just a versatile player. He's just one of those players you can put him anywhere and he'll make a play. He's just a playmaker when it comes down to it whether it's kickoff return, punt return, he can make a play from anywhere."
Linebacker Bobby Wagner
(On what he's seen from Detroit...) "Just their belief like the way they believe and you can just see the energy change when they make a big play. Whether it's on defense, special teams, offense. Something typically happens where they feed off that energy. Whether it's Stafford throwing a touchdown or somebody getting a pick or forced fumble, they feed off that energy. Once you get that momentum, it's kind of hard to stop. It seems like they feed off that momentum so we have to do the best job to not let that momentum happen. Try to keep the momentum on our side and not worry about it. We know what that looks like, we've been that team before. We've been that feed off momentum type team so we know how important that is."
(On Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford...) "He looks like he's throwing the ball pretty well. He's utilizing his check down, the running back. I think things people aren't necessarily giving him credit for is his ability when he doesn't see anything to take off and run and get some yards. I think he's doing a good job and were going to be ready for everything he's going to try throw at us. If he wants to run it we'll chase him down."
(On Lions receiver Anquan Boldin...) "He's definitely a physical receiver. He's a guy that doesn't mind coming across the middle, not worried about getting hit, he's probably actually looking for the hit. It's not too many receivers, it seems like he enjoys trying to crack linebackers on toss plays, which is not too common so you just have to be aware of where he's at on the field. There's formations where you know he's about to come crack you or you know he's about to come down on the safety. That's pretty much it. He's a very physical guy, but we're physical, too."
(On playing a team who throws the ball a lot more...)"You just have to, as far as linebackers you have to make sure you're in your window. You don't want to allow easy throws you want to make sure that you have everything play in front of you. If you drop fast enough, you read everything fast enough, they're going to dump down to the running back. Sometimes teams just want to dump it down the running back and try to make it all the way down field. I don't think there's too many teams out there that can do that to us. As long as we, when they dump the ball down and we make the tackles and we make the plays that we need to make we'll be fine. It's going to be important for us, me, K.J. [Wright] the rest of the guys, to make sure we're in the right position. We know they're probably going to run the ball a little bit. But they're going to focus on the pass."
Quarterback Russell Wilson
(On Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford...) "He's tough as it gets. MVP type candidate guy who has done such a great job ever since he came into the National Football League. He's been able to do a lot of great things passing the football and make a lot of great plays. The thing that you notice about Matthew Stafford, he's a great competitor. You notice that ever since college and into the National Football League. He's a guy that believes he can win every game and that's a great attribute to have as a quarterback. He definitely shows that and he definitely relays that confidence to the rest of the guys on his team. I have tremendous respect for what he does. Especially what he's doing right now, being injured and being able to battle and to be able to still win games and go out there and test the injury a little bit and keep going."
(On Detroit's pass rush...) "They still have a lot of great players. [Ezekiel] Ansah is as good as it gets as a defensive end. He doesn't have quite as many sacks as he's had before but he's still causing havoc. They have a lot of other players too. I think for us, just being firm, being strong in the pocket, making those plays, getting the ball out on time and also just finding ways to make plays. It's the playoffs, sometimes different things happen and you have to stay in there and play one play at a time."
Defensive End Cliff Avril
(On Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford...) "I think the biggest difference honestly when I was with him, he was a younger player. He's taking control of the offense. He's making pays that veteran quarterbacks should make. He's audibling and doing all these different things that earlier in his career he wouldn't have probably done. As you grow as a player and you get more confidence you can do these things. It's pretty cool to see his growth though because he's definitely taking some strides in the past few years."
(On Matthew Stafford being hyper-competitive...) "He wasn't really like that when I was there. It's part of being confident and growing. You start to understand the game a lot more. You start to see and understand things. You start feeling yourself a little bit I guess. I don't know."
(On Matthew Stafford side arm...) "He can throw, he can launch the ball, that's for sure. I've seen that from day one. He can make some real crazy throws. Side arm it and still throw it 30, 40 yards down field if he needs to. It's pretty cool to see, unless you're the one playing against them."
(On Stafford's similarities with Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers...)"I mean, I don't know. They're both great quarterbacks in my opinion. They both can make the throws they need to make. If they need to throw the ball 60 yards down field. They can make it happen. I just think they're both good quarterbacks and some of the better quarterbacks in the league."
(On what the Detroit Lions mean to him...)"It means a lot. They gave me an opportunity to play football in the NFL. There's 91 picks ahead of me and they picked me with the 92nd pick. It's definitely a blessing. I don't have anything bad or a negative perception of those guys. They gave me an opportunity to play and I'm still playing. Thank God."
Wide Receiver Doug Baldwin
(On heading into the playoffs...)"First and foremost, we're thankful for the opportunity to play in the playoffs. Five years in a row is pretty amazing, so we're thankful for that. Thankful for the opportunity, but there's a lot of things that we want to accomplish and are still right there in front of us. We're going to take this opportunity and run with it and compete to be the best we can be to get our football right. It's another opportunity to do that."
(On Lions receiver Golden Tate...)"When Golden left I told him we would be missing the ability to make guys miss after the catch. That was one of the things I really focused on when he left. I wanted to be able to kind of supplement that role. He was so explosive and so unique after he caught the ball. I trained myself to practice running after the catch, making guys miss; that was one of his specialties. He's incredibly gifted at it. That was one of those things that always stood out to me was his ability to make guys miss do things after the catch."
Defensive Coordinator Kris Richard
(On how the Lions have changed from last year...)"Their quarterback is a fantastic football player, there's no doubt about that. He has weapons on the outside, they're explosive. That Marvin Jones guy can absolutely stretch the field, he's got great speed. Golden Tate, we know him, we love him. He's been a part of here that and we absolutely know once he gets the ball in his hands, he's a guy that you have to tackle. Of course we had a lot of years competing against Anquan Boldin and he can still get the job done out there. Those are guys that are going to work in the intermediate zone that you know you're going to have to tackle. They're strong, they're fast, the quarterback is a better athlete than a lot of people want to give him credit for. He's got craftiness in the pocket and he can make things happen."
(On Zach Zenner and the Lions' run game...) "He's a stout runner. He's a committed, downhill, one-cut runner who runs with toughness. You can tell he's a gritty, competitive guy."
