Seattle 17, Denver 16
PETE CARROLL: This opportunity to play on Monday night and all the hype and all the build-up and all that stuff, it was such a challenge for our guys. Just all the natural things that you would think could happen with the story lines and all of that.
Then nobody gave us a chance to win this football game. We didn't play because of that. We played because we were trying to play good football. That really is the case.
It just shows you, this was such a team win and such a smart play, well-played game by all the fellows because we just kept hanging and took advantage of the penalties. We didn't give them hardly anything on their penalty side of it. The belief in our guys to keep hanging down there around the goal line, we had an incredible couple of sequences down there and some great group plays that made that happen.
The scrimmage was big, and then the guy makes the hit, and then the guy makes a recovery. Just fantastic stuff.
I don't know. I was surprised that they took Russ out there at the end. We weren't thinking field goal there. We were thinking it was fourth down and they were still going. So it gave us a chance to win the game on that play. That was fortunate there. Fortunate they didn't make the kick. He kicked the hell out of the ball.
But this was a great night. It was really a great night of football and to get started and know that you're 1-0 in the division, that's a good start there too.
How about Geno? I mean, Geno, 17 for 18 in the first half. Who does that? Guys just don't do that. Remember, he did it against Jacksonville. He had, I don't know, 12, 13 in a row, something like that.
Geno played tonight like he has been playing the whole time we've been practicing. That's what he has been looking like. He didn't look any different than what he has looked like in practice.
That's why we had the belief in him, and that's why he was able to win the job and go out there on Monday Night Football and win the football game.
I'm really fired up for our defense that they hung in there. We gave up a lot of yards, but it's the power of believing that you can stop somebody no matter how much there is left there. It's so enriching as we go down the rest of the season here that we can do stuff like that because you believe. It just helps you believe.
It was a great night. The fans were ridiculous. The 12s were so good tonight. God dang, they were great. I'm so pleased we could give them a game like this and they could have so much fun, and we got to win the game three times on those timeouts. We won the game again and then we won the game again and then we won the game again. I wasn't bugged by that at all. They were incredibly good.
We're so lucky. We're so lucky that we get to play here, and our fans love it so much, and they perform like that on game day. It was awesome.
What do you got?
Q. You always say those goal line moments are some of your favorites. To have that happen twice back-to-back drives, what was that like?
PETE CARROLL: There is nothing more intense in sports than that moment right there. It's just the greatest challenge and the greatest celebration moments and opportunities. It's all just grit and grind and guts and all that.
We didn't do it once. We did it again. There was a few plays in there we had to make great tackles and great hits for every inch that was counting down there. Clint and his guys on the defensive staff, I know they're so fired up to see those guys come through like that. They did a great job tonight.
Q. Does part of you feel validated at all?
PETE CARROLL: You know, I don't feel like that, no. I don't feel like that. I'm just glad we won the football game.
I don't feel like validation after that. You all might think I should have been, with all that's been talked about and all that. Really we had a great process to get ready for this game, and these guys, I mean, they played hard the whole time, and they played smart the whole time.
That's the kind of football we have to play. Our special teams were spectacular covering kicks and all with the way they flew and the hits that they made and the celebrations that rose the sidelines up and the fans and all that kind of stuff.
That's validating. The way we coach, the expectations that we have, the belief that we can win on Monday night regardless of what everybody else thought. You know, Primetime again. That's validation in those regards, but not from maybe something else that you are talking about.
Q. Russell, we asked you about that earlier. Are you going to follow the 12s' lead? They weren't subtle about it. They came out booing him. I was wonder if anything you had any response to that?
PETE CARROLL: Really I didn't know, and I was wondering how they would respond, figuring that they probably would respond in a way trying to make it as hard as possible on the other guy because they want to win.
That's what competing is, and our fans competed in spectacular fashion tonight. This was an amazing place to be tonight right from the get-go.
Q. Were you surprised they went with the 64-yard field goal?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, I was. It's a good way to win the game. They could have won it. It wasn't that far off. He kicked it far enough, didn't he? It was far enough to go.
I was surprised. I wasn't thinking that. We were all ready to win a game on fourth down.
Q. What happened to Jamal Adams, and how is he?
PETE CARROLL: He hurt his knee tonight. Not a typical knee injury. His quadriceps tendon got damaged some tonight. He got hurt, so it's a serious injury.
Q. Pete, with quarterback you talked about point guard distributor. That doesn't preclude big plays, but you want a guy who can get the ball out in all the different ways and be efficient. Is there a more ideal example of what you want than what happened tonight?
PETE CARROLL: No, but Geno did more. He made more plays with his legs than I expected him to tonight.
He took off, and I was so mad at him the time he was running up the sidelines and got smoked on their sidelines. What's he doing? Get down. I got over it.
But he did the things. Just finding Diggs on the first touchdown pass. Escaping the rush, slipping up underneath and dumping the ball for an easy touchdown. Gorgeous play by him. He had some other ones as well.
You can see. I don't know if you guys were doubting or everybody thinks that we were making stuff up. We weren't. This is what he looks like. Obviously, he just did it again. Anyway, you can think whatever you want.
Q. Geno has been through a lot in his career, had some tough luck over the years. I know it's one game, but how gratifying do you think this is?
PETE CARROLL: I would think very much so. I'm saying it and I don't care if anybody believes this. He is the best he has ever been. Because of the four years of being in the system and being loved up and taken care of and looked after, and he did his part in reverse to always be there for us. He is ready. He is ready for this moment.
The experience that he had, the guys -- he was so poised and calm in this game. It was just fun playing with him. We were talking as the game is going on, and he is having fun and laughing and enjoying it. The moment came to him, and he was ready for it.
That's a really beautiful illustration. It's a great story. I think it's a great story. It is one game, you're right.
Q. What did you say to Russell after?
PETE CARROLL: I can't even remember what my words were. I think, Nice game.
Q. Uchenna Nwosu, just kind of what --
PETE CARROLL: He was physical and tough and making stuff happen. Had the sack. Had the big hit and forcing a fumble, and he was a problem. He played great. He really did. Thrilled that he was able to be that impacting.
Q. Michael Jackson came out and started three guys and came away with both fumble recoveries. What did you see from him tonight?
PETE CARROLL: I won't go into the negative. Michael played a really good football game tonight, and he made a couple of really good hits. That's what we've been seeing from him. I was really pleased.
What I'm thinking, there was a couple that he missed early on, or one that he missed, and that's not characteristic of how he played. He played a terrific football game. So did Tariq. You can't cover a guy any better than he did, and, unfortunately, he got a couple of penalties. Did he have two? Did he have two? Yeah.
The second one chasing, that was nuts. He didn't have to do that. He was calm and poised and took it in. He had a blast playing football. I talked to him about it. This is just the first step for him in a lot of really good positive steps coming our way, I'm sure.
Q. You said it's not validating, but for the guys in that locker room like Diggs, the guys that have been around a little bit, now they've seen the program change, new quarterback, how much is this a signal to them that you are on the right path?
PETE CARROLL: I really took Michael's question like he was thinking that the trade was validated tonight or whatever. That's what I felt like he was asking.
But for the Denver guys that are here, it is a huge win. It's a huge win. It's fricking personal. Their families are all over the place because they get traded and all the rest that was expressed by the guys.
We downplayed it, and they put in the right place because all three of those guys played really well, but -- or no, they didn't get a chance. They played the way they're supposed to play under those circumstances with all that heat and all the feelings that they had. It's great to give them that win.
Let me answer the question about the validating thing. Yeah, yeah, like I said, this is what we're trying to do. We're trying to play great football, and we're trying to make the right decisions at the right time, use the players right, play tough as hell in all phases of everything that we're doing.
Tonight that's what that was. That's a hell of a first game. That's a hell of a first game, and I'm giving credit to Denver who is a really good club, and they're going to win a lot of games and all that. It's a hell of a first game.
Q. You mentioned all phases. Special teams in the preseason there were some issues in coverage, but this game was it good to see --
PETE CARROLL: Different guys playing. We had to just suffer through the substitutions. You didn't get to ask.
Q. How do you feel like the rookie tackles played tonight?
PETE CARROLL: I need to see the film, but I only say one time and I might have missed it, but one time when Charles got knocked back a little bit, and we gave up a sack, but I think that's because we got the ball out too.
I thought the whole system played really well tonight. That's what you saw our system functioning. That's what Geno does. He is quick with the ball, and the ball is out, and he compliments the pass protection. That was good. Did we get sacked once tonight or twice?
Q. Cody Barton, what happened to him at the end?
PETE CARROLL: I don't know. I don't know.
Q. This is the first team since the 2009 Jaguars to start two rookie offensive tackles in their first game. How confident were you in that decision going from the preseason --
PETE CARROLL: Really felt strong about it because of them, because the kids. They were really, really poised about dealing with the opportunity. They handled it really well. They were just steady as a rock. There was no dips, no ups and downs with those guys. They really performed well in practices and with all the stuff that we've done, they were always accountable. The kind of guys that say, Hey, I messed that up. They had a really good attitude to deal with.
This is as vibrant a setting that the guys can get in, and they were smiling, and they had fun playing football. We're on our way with those guys. They're going to be really good for a long time here as we just keep adding on to it, I think.
Q. What happened on their touchdown?
PETE CARROLL: It was just a one-on-one. We got beat. Just got beat.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports