'We Just Have To Adapt!' Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll On Second-Half Meltdowns
The Seahawks have melted down in the second half of both games against the division-rival Rams this season. In a Week 1 loss where the offense posted just 12 yards and one first down after halftime, Seattle was blown out at home 30-13 after leading 13-7 at the break.
Then, on Sunday, after leading for the entire game, injuries, a sputtering offense, and penalty issues ultimately doomed the Seahawks in a 17-16 loss on the road to the Rams, putting a damper on their NFC West title prospects.
Coach Pete Carroll knows his team has problems adjusting in the second half.
Pete Carroll
© Junfu Han, USA TODAY
“We have to watch the flow of the game because the games in the last few weeks have changed a little bit in the second half. Teams have been frustrated by it for one reason or another, and they’ll push the ball up into the running game, and we need to make that adaptation quicker. These guys this week, they ran the ball a little and played off the running game and used the nakeds and the play-passes that came off of that in the time where they might have been in a different mode earlier on. We just have to adapt to it.
"We played the run well the last couple of weeks and this game again, but there was a portion in the game where they got enough rhythm running and mixing their stuff. We needed to adapt quicker to that and make sure that we don’t give up easy yardage that we could otherwise stop during the day. We all feel like that. We were talking about it; we were kind of getting into a pass rush mode thinking they were going to start throwing the ball and we needed to adjust from that.”
On Sunday, matters were complicated by the fact that quarterback Geno Smith missed a big portion of the second half with an elbow injury. Backup Drew Lock replaced him and was largely ineffective. Smith came back into the lineup for the last drive to march the team down the field for a game-tying field goal attempt, only for Jason Myers' kick to go wide right.
The Seahawks' hopes of an NFC West title this season aren't squashed completely, thanks to a three-game skid suffered by the 49ers. But San Francisco has put that behind them and is on a two-game run and leads Seattle by a full game.
The two teams meet on Thanksgiving in what could help decide the division winner at the end of the season.
