Take a look at what the Seahawks (5-2-1) are saying about the Patriots (7-1) before the two teams meet on Sunday Night Football in Week 10 at Gillette Stadium. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. PT with national television coverage on NBC (channel 5 in Seattle).
Head Coach Pete Carroll
(Opening...)"We have a great matchup this week. Going across the country to go play New England, it's going to be a really nice opportunity for us to get it going on the road. We've got to get good at this and this is about as far as we can go and about as good of a team as we can play. It's going to be a great matchup I hope and we're planning on putting together a really good week here. A bit of a shortened week so we adopted a bit of a change in the schedule, but other than that it's going to be a really cool preparation and we're looking forward to it."
(On how they prepare for having both Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett on the field...) "We're going to prepare normally, they are both really good players. The system really works their guys around to suit their style of play and Tom [Brady] is great in utilizing those guys in that manner. We have to have a real good understanding of their strengths and the ways that they do their things. We've got to take care of it and see if we can keep them from controlling the game."
(On Tom Brady...) "He looks great. He's on fire. He hasn't thrown an interception yet, he's completed 70-something percent of his passes, he's on fire. He's even taken off and run a couple times just to show that he can and he looks good moving around. You see no wear at all, he's fresh and ready to go."
(On the biggest defensive challenge going against the Patriots...)"It's everything. It's really everything that they do. The system is one where they're really smart and they do the right things against their opponents and they make you really have to work and they tax you. They know what they're doing as well as anybody playing the game and Tom can carry it out and execute it and utilize the calls and the matchups and all that. It's really impressive."
QB Russell Wilson
(On what he's seen form the Patriots' defense...) "They've been making plays all season. They're obviously 7-1. They've been able to stop teams from scoring a bunch of points. They've been able to score consistently good defense and that's what you need from your defense. Then their offense has been able to score a lot of points too. When you have those two combined you have a great chance to win football games. Their defense has some veteran players. [Rob] Ninkovich is a great player. [Alan] Branch who actually played here with us in Seattle, I know him pretty well and he's a great football player too. You got Malcolm Butler out there playing corner, he can make tons of plays. You got all the DBs too, you got tons of different DBs playing in the game. From [Devin] McCourty to [Patrick] Chung. They got a lot of guys that have played a lot of football for them. Their young guys are playing well too; you see a fast defense that makes smart plays and they play very very consistent football."
(On whether he has watched Tom Brady over the years...) "Yeah, I love watching Tom Brady. I've watched him for years now and just studied his game and what he can do at a high level. He gets the ball out quick, he gets the ball on time, he finds the matchups and he plays the game the right way. He is always in attack mode. I have a lot of respect for who he is. I've gotten to know him a little bit from a distance but not much. ... He's just a great football player, arguably one of the greatest of all time, no fear in saying that. He's a special player and he plays the game at the highest level. I'm looking forward to being on the same field and playing against him again."
(On how he compares himself against Tom Brady...)"He's won a lot of Super Bowls, that's the first thing. I'm a big believer of winning at all costs, in my opinion that's the ultimate number one thing about playing quarterback, is do you win? That's the only statistic that really matters at the end of the day. He's won a lot of football games, he's won multiple Super Bowls, and that's where you give him so much respect. He's still doing it at the age he is at such a high level. I don't compare myself to him at all, I just watch his game, try to learn as much as I can, just try to study. I've got a long ways to go and I just take one day at a time. My ultimate goal is to go to New England and play winning football and hopefully we come out with the win."
Defensive Coordinator Kris Richard
(On the trick to rushing Tom Brady...) "That's the thing, they get the ball out really quick. That's their offense. Intermediate passing game, trying to get the ball into the hands of their receivers that are really good, run and catch. [Julian] Edelman, 11, 80, all their guys. Those shallow crosses, out in the flats, things like that. That's the game."
(On New England's tight ends...) "They're unique. They have great size, great catching radius, and deceptive speed. Situationally, their presence threats going down the seams, the quarterback loves throwing the ball, and they do a really good job catching and blocking."
DE Frank Clark
(On how do you throw a quarterback like Tom Brady off his game...) "The main thing in preparing for a quarterback like Tom, he's a veteran, Hall of Fame quarterback, first ballot, in preparation for him there's a lot of things you have to do. First like I said he's the best at doing his cadence, it's so tricky and he does the different mechanics and he switches it up with motions and throws you off so well that you can easily become distracted or anything. He has a tendency of making players around him look great. When I say he has that tendency it seems like when he's there, all of the sudden the magic happens. Within the unit you can tell it's a different response he gets from his unit, whether it's the receivers, the O-Line, it's just a whole different response."
(On playing against Tom Brady knowing they both went to the University of Michigan...) "It will be pretty cool. I grew up watching him. When you grow up watching Super Bowls and watching guys like Tom Brady you have these different NFL dreams and then you go to a school like University of Michigan where it just so happens to be another connection we have. He's a legend there and he does great things there, next thing I know we're competing at the highest level you can do it at against each other, it'll be great. Hopefully I can get back there in the backfield and get my hands on him a couple times and share with some of my teammates as well."
(On defending a quarterback like Tom Brady...)"You've got to tackle him up top. As you watch film and you study film, a lot of things you see players doing is they underestimate his size. He's 6'4". He looks scrawny, that's what people say, in pads and stuff, it's because he's well protected under all that stuff. He's 6'4", he has a nice size frame and he's able to shake defenders off. He's been doing it for years and years. Just avoiding sacks and getting the ball out at the last second, you watch film against DeMarcus Ware, Von [Miller], against the best pass rushers in the game, and it just seemed like he was always able to get the ball out just in time."
Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell
(On how the Patriots look different defensively compared to how they looked during Super Bowl XLIX...) "I mean you can always say personnel. They have some different personnel than they've had in the past and there's obviously some familiar faces that we've seen. Their schemes are pretty similar. Also there's things that you can take away from that. We've seen some of their guys. We've played them before so we know different things about them that we might not know."
(On what stands out about the New England defense...)"What stands out the most is how well they're coached. It's probably cliché to say but they are a very well coached defense. They do their assignments very well. They have a specific package for each team they play. There may be something that we'll have to adjust on the fly because they're doing it for us. They match up their personnel very well and they use it the exact way they feel they need too. It's been a very successful formula for them. We're ready for what we think we're going to see and then we'll need to adjust as well."
DE Cliff Avril
(On how the Patriots offense looks compared to the offense you saw in Super Bowl XLIX…) "Completely different team, but they have the same guy running the show. Obviously they're a lot wiser, he's making some plays, he's looking good. He's dropping back and throwing the ball very well. He has a lot of weapons."
(On if disrupting Tom Brady's timing is the key to making it difficult on him…) "I think so. As a pass rusher you can disrupt him by making him reset his feet, or push him out the pocket, or whatever the case may be, I do believe that is part of trying to slow them down, because like I said, everything is timing with them. If you can throw it off maybe you have a better chance of messing up that particular play."
CB Richard Sherman
(On what's difficult about facing a Tom Brady team...) "You just have to tackle well. You have to be ready for quick passes and the occasional shot. He's very creative in the way he manipulates a defense, he does a great job with his eyes. Obviously staying off of him, they've got several rules to protect him in various situations, so you've got to be careful with how you sack him."
(On whether it gets easier facing Tom Brady the more he does it...) "I don't know. We've only seen him twice. I think you'd have to ask some of his division opponents more because they see him more than we do. This is the second time in six years I've seen him. I think it's pretty much the same, it's like a new year. It's been years since we've seen him, so it's not like we saw him two weeks ago and we get to see him again. So every time is kind of like a new adventure, new season, new approach."
