Seattle - 10, New Orleans - 13
PETE CARROLL: We've come in here a number of times here and really had very similar results that we're not getting the game when we have chance to get the football game that's out there for us.
And it's really difficult. Because we're so close to winning games and we haven't been able to do it at home, for sure. Which is a real shock to me. It's a shock that we're not able to do that. But we're still trying to get these games finished properly.
And, you know, that means you don't make the mistake that give them a chance. You know, you kick the ball, you don't make the penalty. You know, you don't eat the football for losses when you're in the right positions and stuff.
So there's things that we can really fix. And we're just a -- it may not look like it from the outside, but from the inside, it feels like it's really close. So we're going to keep hanging and battling.
Really good play by our defense tonight throughout the night. And we had this sequence before the half that we just -- it was -- it was a shame.
It was a shame that we gave them that. It didn't have to happen and there was a couple things that we needed to do that didn't get done. I mean, you -- everybody could see it, cover the running back.
And, fortunately, you know, our guys are hanging together. And they're talking right and they're looking at each other in the eye and they're -- they want to keep battling to make this thing come together. And that's what we're going to keep doing.
Q. What did you tell your team in the locker room just after the game now?
PETE CARROLL: I told them stuff that really pertained to kind of how we've been talking about. We got to get, you know, our finish together and we got to do the right things at the end of the game. Kind of like I'm saying to you.
It's -- it's -- there's no -- this isn't rocket science. You know, you got to finish the game right and do right at the end. And that's how you become a good finishing club. And we're not right now.
So we have to -- it's really clear, you know. There's a lot of things that you can do so you don't put yourself in those close games and close finishes, as well.
But when you get there, you got to do the right stuff. And we haven't been able to function the way we needed to. We talked about hanging together and staying connected and making sure that everybody's, you know, on the same page. And, you know, do this together the right way.
Q. You guys got that great start with a touchdown early. Were you surprised it was that tough going the rest of the way offensively?
PETE CARROLL: Well, they're really good. And they made it hard on us. We didn't run the ball as well as we wanted to. We stayed after it, kept trying, you know, and working it.
I was hoping we would pick it up more so in the second half. I think we rushed for, like, 90 yards or something like that. These guys allow 70 yards a game rushing, 70/80 yards a game. They're really good at it. But we needed to stay with it and we did. But not as effective as we needed to be.
I wish we would have gotten more done off of the run. You know, we weren't able to do that. You know, play passes and movement and stuff. But -- yeah, what else?
Q. You mentioned eating the football for losses. Geno being at quarterback, do you attribute that to just not being in there often or what was --
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, I do. Yeah, that's just not being comfortable with the situation. We reminded him, you know, it was -- the time we were on the 23-yard line or something like that, you know, with -- in great shape and we take a big loss.
We just got to find a way to get the ball out and get it going when we're in trouble. It's easy to say, You know, go play quarterback and figure it out.
I love Geno and he's busting his ass to do everything he can to help us. But that's the kind of decisions that you make that keep you in the games and give you a chance to win.
Q. How frustrated are you that some of the same mistakes at the end of the game that have hurt this defense this year --
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, really frustrating. Really frustrating. We're not cleaning it up. You know, the -- you know, we had a great sequence at the end of the game, you know?
We sacked a guy to give the ball back to the offense. But, you know, we hit him late. And so, that's -- you know, I haven't seen the play yet, so I don't know what it looks like.
But that's the play that you don't do. You know, you make the proper decision not to put yourself in that situation.
We get off the field and everybody is going crazy, and they're kicking the ball to the 35 or something instead of getting a whole new start. That play looked like a 25-yard penalty when they marched the thing off.
And so, you have to make those choices and the guys have to be clear thinking and not put us in harm's way.
Gerald had his taunting thing over there that we can't -- this is the new game. You can't do anything aimed at another player.
And I didn't see that one, either. But I was told what happened. And, you know, that kind of stuff is going to lose games for you. And they add up.
Q. Going back to that sequence at the end of the first half, what happened on Kamara's touchdown? It looked like there was nobody within several yards of him.
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, the whole sequence, we were just out of wack with covering him. There was five different calls in there, different things that happened when we had him manned up.
We had some -- we needed to get it done one way or the other. And we tried, tried, tried. We didn't get it done. You know, and the second half, the guys made the adjustments, and everything was fine.
And we were sharp at it and it wasn't the same thing anymore. But just in that sequence, we couldn't stop it until they got to the end zone with the calls that we made.
Q. (Question concerning the missed field goal by Jason Myers.)
PETE CARROLL: No, I think he just missed it. You know, didn't -- the flight wasn't the same on it. He just didn't hit it quite right.
Q. This is a classic --
PETE CARROLL: He's a great kicker. You know, we love what he does. He's one game -- look what he did last week. And he's going to win games down the stretch here. And it's just unfortunate. He took it really hard. And, you know, he knows.
Q. The 53-yard try in the fourth quarter where he's kicking into the open end of the stadium, how much consideration was there to punt there?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, there was some. But we felt he kicked the ball far enough. You know, had a good attitude about it. And, you know, it was a tough kick for sure.
The night was not as difficult as we thought, the cyclone bomb or whatever it may be, it didn't go off. That didn't happen. I didn't think it was that big of a factor.
Q. Did the officials give you an explanation on Blair's penalty on the sack? Was it a helmet hit or was it just late?
PETE CARROLL: I didn't get any explanation on that one.
Q. What did you see on it?
PETE CARROLL: You guys saw it better than I did. You know more than I do.
Q. What did you see out of DK tonight? And would you have liked to have seen him more involved after the touchdown?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, we -- yes. You know, he -- that was an exquisite play. It was a great throw from Geno. Everything about it was perfect.
And, you know, that sent a little shock wave to them, too. And they kept going at him a lot and tried to do everything they could to keep him from getting the football.
Q. The second to rotate the corners. Did you just want to try and let the competition play out there --
PETE CARROLL: Yeah. I don't have nothing to tell you. I thought those guys played well. Really well. They got challenged a few times down the field.
And all in all, you know, the defense did a really nice job tonight. They did a really good job in so many ways. And we had one situation that really screwed up.
And I think they had a 20-play drive. They got some fourth down conversions. I think we were 2 out of 15 or something on third down. You know, we have made a big jump and we've turned the corner on a lot of areas on our defense.
I think the defense is playing -- go back three or four weeks, we've turned it. And so, we can expect those guys to continue to play really well and be a factor and make 13 points against this -- you know, any NFL team is remarkable. And so, I'm counting on those guys to keep improving.
Q. On that drive, Jordyn Brooks had that great pass defended where he jumped up in the air and when he recovered the fumble. Just his play tonight?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, I don't have enough to give him credit on all, other than the big plays you're talking about. But he continues to play really well.
The running game was really in hand. I don't think -- I don't think Alvin, you know, had -- was over three yards rushing. It was a big night to slow him down. He's a great player.
Was he under three? Yeah, that's a fantastic job. And that's four quarters of football against one of the best players in the NFL. And, obviously, we saw the talent in the passing game. We didn't do well there. He got us.
Q. You mentioned the running game a lot. Could you tell what broke down on the offensive line?
PETE CARROLL: No. There's nothing to tell you except for these guys are really good and hard to move. And they're really disciplined about it and our guys kept battling and clawing and scratching about it.
We did a really nice job to get some other runs other than the downhill runs to complement what he did. But I need to look at the film.
Q. (Question concerning Russell Wilson.)
PETE CARROLL: Well, the -- if -- if (laughing) -- let's say it this way: If -- I've been here a long time. And if we didn't have Russell, I probably wouldn't have been here a long time.
Because think of all the magic that he's created in the years. He's got numbers and stats, and fourth quarters, thises and thats, and all of that stuff. You know, one of the winningest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL.
And it will be really fun when he comes back and plays football again for us this year. And we owe a tremendous amount. You can see how hard it is. You know, I mean, all of these games; the Rams game, the -- what was the next one?
Q. The Steelers.
PETE CARROLL: The Steelers and this one. You know, Russell's a factor. He's a fantastic, positive factor and always has been. And, I mean, those were exactly his time. That's his time. That's when he shines.
And so, you know, we miss him. And in the meantime, we're going to keep fighting and clawing, and doing everything we can.
Q. On the defensive improvements, was it one thing or just the players focusing and getting better?
PETE CARROLL: No. Line of scrimmage continues to get better. Everybody's really comfortable with what we're trying to get done.
The corners are playing more consistently. Kenny has adjusted some stuff to help them. And they've really taken off with it.
And, you know, we've had good fortune to have most of the guys out there. We didn't have Darrell tonight. It would have been nice to have him.
They've just turned the corner. You've already seen this story. Look at the third downs, guys. The third downs in the last month, okay, it's a month of third downs.
It was two conversions and 10, two conversions and 15 or something like that, and then five and 15, and then two and whatever it was tonight. You know, that's fantastic play.
Nobody's playing better than that. Nobody's doing better than that. And so, that's going to give us a chance. And we'll have a chance to have a great surge in the second half of the season. And, really, the second half starts Wednesday.
Q. Did Darrell have a setback pregame or something like that?
PETE CARROLL: No, he didn't have a setback. He just didn't turn the corner. And he was -- it was such a positive kind of return with, you know, all the good news that he wasn't hurt seriously. But his neck still was sore.
And it just didn't -- it didn't go away. So he had a real stiff neck that he couldn't shake yet. He's really frustrated by it. Because he feels pretty darn good, but he just didn't have his mobility and it wasn't -- he couldn't play.
Q. How's Marquise Blair?
PETE CARROLL: He got hurt. Marquise got hurt. He hurt his patellar tendon. I'm not going to specific about it. But that's -- check that. He hurt his patellar. And the patellar got -- there's something we got to do there. And I'm not sure exactly what it is. But it's a significant injury.
Q. Is Tyler okay?
PETE CARROLL: Yes. As far as I know. I haven't seen him. He's not on any of the reports I have. Brandon Shell just kind of re-aggravated his ankle real late there. Other than that, we don't have anything else.
Q. On the Woods offsides, you didn't have a field goal block on or anything?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, we had a big time field goal block on. We always -- you know, we do. And we -- yes, and we took great pride in rushing that with that group.
And I don't know, you know, what happened. You know, Al's great and a disciplined football -- as disciplined a football player as we have. And I don't know what happened on that. I haven't talked to him about it.
Q. Did Damien try to warm up and play pregame?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, he couldn't get back. No, he did not work out in pregame. He wasn't ready to do that.
Q. (No microphone.)
PETE CARROLL: We had to make a spot. And for Rashad to come up.
Q. Do you have any more word on when Russell might come back?
PETE CARROLL: No. No. I don't know. I can't help you on that. I just know he's going to -- whatever he's going to do is better than anybody could ever do. And he'll get that done.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports