While the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Carolina Panthers 37-27 on Sunday, September 24, head coach Pete Carroll wasn’t entirely thrilled with their performance.
During the postgame press conference, Carroll said quarterback Geno Smith was “on fire in the second half,” and commended the offense for playing “60 minutes of football” but their “obvious” problems, converting just three-of-12 third downs, was clearly irritating the coach.
“We were lousy on third down and we were lousy in the red zone scoring,” he said. “We might’ve scored seven times in the game, but [kicker] Jason Myers has a record day (he went 5-for-5 on field goals from the 43, 35, 33, 37, and 39) because we can’t covert on third down there and we need to capture the opportunity of the drive. It can’t get any more obvious than that.”
What’s most frustrating, “It’s carrying over a little bit. We’ve seen this for a couple of weeks. It’s not good enough,” Carroll continued. “We’re going to need that to get better, and we already have ideas.”
Despite their third-down issues, Smith and the offense exploded for 25 points in the second half. Late in the fourth quarter, former undrafted rookie Jake Bobo scored his first NFL touchdown, after which wide receiver Tyler Lockett caught a two-point conversion to put a final pin in the game.
Smith finished on Sunday completing 60.8% of his passes for 296 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. DK Metcalf, who played through a rib injury, caught 6-of-8 targets for 112 yards.
The run game also saw a huge boost with Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker turning things up. Charbonnet rushed nine times for 46 yards while Walker recorded 18 rushes for 97 yards and two touchdowns, along with 59 receiving yards.
While the Seahawks put up 428 yards on offense, they will need to improve on third down for when they play more talented teams than the Panthers (0-3).
Pete Carroll Praised Seahawks Fans for Their ‘Impact’ on the Panthers
Before Carroll even started discussing his team’s performance, he gave a shout-out to the 12s at Lumen Field in Week 3. “Carolina’s eight false starts were the most by any team since 2011,” ESPN’s Brady Henderson posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The second-most ever by a visitor at Lumen Field. The most was the Giants’ 11 in 2005.”
Carroll was grateful for the 12s. “What a great impact they had on this game,” giving the fans in attendance credit for the Panthers’ multiple false starts. “That’s not us. We didn’t do that. But they can’t get coordinated because of the noise. It felt what it feels like to be here at Lumen. That was a thrill. Thrill for our young guys who hadn’t heard it like that, hadn’t felt it like that, and they understand why we talk so much about them, why it’s such a factor and all that.
“Anyway, we got to give a lot of credit to our fans being part of this game, just like they’ve been in the past. That was really obvious today.”
Seahawks Should Get Multiple Injured Players Back in Week 4
GettySeahawks safety Jamal Adams at Levi’s Stadium on October 03, 2021.
Before facing the New York Giants on Monday Night Football in Week 4, the Seahawks (2-1) should be able to get numerous of their injured starters back on the field.
“We’re going to get a bunch of guys back next week, it’s going to be really exciting to see these guys come back to us,” Carroll said. “Jamal [Adams] will be playing, Tariq [Woolen] has a great chance to come back. Charles [Cross] has a real chance next week, so we’ll see how that works out.”
Carroll also sounded optimistic that all three players who exited the game on Sunday, cornerback Tre Brown (concussion), outside linebacker Darrell Taylor (leg), and defensive end Dre’Mont Jones (hip) should be able to play next week, as well.
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