And in a way, he did again on Sunday, even though his message was terse and single-minded.
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The pick also came at a crucial time, as Seattle was driving deep into Tampa Bay territory with a chance to trim the Bucs’ 14-5 lead before halftime. “We’ve just got to play better”. They both put it on themselves, albeit for different reasons. Morgan is due back for next weekend’s game as the Seahawks injured-reserve player designated to return from surgery for a sports hernia.
Regardless of how unusual the regular season winds up being for them, this is a team that can do some serious damage in the playoffs. That number was half of the six Seattle had in its first 10 games, and the Seahawks had had just one in the past seven games.
On a day when the Seattle offense mostly pulled a boring, steady disappearing act, Pete Carroll thought that for a moment, the magic was back. He seemed completely blindsided, particularly coming on the heels of three straight wins in which the offense, and the line, had been jelling.
“We’re playing good team football right now and playing really good team defense”, said coach Dirk Koetter. “That starts with me”. “We’ve played 11 games and I think this is the first time we’ve really felt like that”. You see it happen because he’s adapting to the rush on the day and then he gets back on track, and he did, but it took us a while.
“We got to find ways to make a couple more plays”. Wilson passed for just 151 yards and was intercepted twice. He’s played through a string of injuries and has been one of the hottest quarterbacks in the league during the Seahawks’ winning streak with 902 passing yards, six touchdowns and zero interceptions in victories over the Bills, Patriots and Eagles the past three weeks. He rarely had the opportunity to go beyond his second read, and it manifested itself in hurried throws and repeated scrambles. His TD passes to Evans finished drives of 78 and 62 yards on Tampa Bay’s first two possessions of the game. That’s what Seahawks fans are wondering after Sunday’s dud against the Buccaneers Sunday.
“They put us behind the eight ball”, Seahawks tackle Bradley Sowell said. “We didn’t protect like we needed to”. “We need to be quicker with the ball and get it out and not let that be a factor”. Evans did it on the second drive as well, becoming just the fourth player with two touchdown catches in a single quarter against the Seahawks since Pete Carroll’s arrival in 2010, continuing what has been a breakout season. But the Seahawks thought those issues were behind them, which is why the postgame locker room was so grim.
But this isn’t the first time the Seattle offense has been offensive in 2016. “A lot of people go through their tragedies, and we just went out there and fought for our brothers”. We’ve obviously shown it.
The Chiefs were 7-2, riding a five-game winning streak and a 10-game home winning streak and they lose 19-17 at Arrowhead, with Smith doing the unthinkable for him, throwing a red zone interception.
Seattle Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham (88) fumbles as he is hit by Tampa Bay Buccaneers outside linebacker Lavonte David (54) during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016, in Tampa, Fla.
“I told the team ‘When we break it down on family, is it something we say, or do we really mean it?'” said defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, who had 1.5 sacks.
“We did not play like we play”, he said in his post-game press conference. Chris Conte got banged up a little bit and Keith Tandy came in.
But this time, the magic fizzled.
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But just like the Falcons, Lions, Cowboys and every other team on that side of the bracket, the Seahawks have a significant flaw. After all, this is the team that won Super Bowl 48 in more than convincing fashion against my Denver Broncos. He convinced Carroll to challenge – Seattle gets safety out of it.
