Steelers 30, Seahawks 23
PETE CARROLL: Really disappointing missing this opportunity right here, at home. Everybody was ready. This was a great one, and we missed it.
We weren't right on defense, in the running game again, so it's been repetitive. I see it. We played better in the second half, got 40 something yards in the second half but in the first half they had their way with it.
There's some stuff we've got to get right for our last opportunity next week, but on the other side of the ball, we moved the ball, but we didn't get the ball enough. We couldn't get the ball back to the offense. Minimal amount of drives. It was just the clock was just running in their favor.
I'm surprised we didn't play better. We did the things we needed in the game plan and we called everything that we had, and we didn't stop them consistently. Both the running backs did a really nice job against us, and it was just more than we could handle on this day.
A couple guys got banged up. You saw Kenny couldn't play, got his shoulder banged again, so that was tough.
Abe banged his knee again, too.
Evan got hit in the head and needed a break. Had some guys we'll have to figure out what's going on with them next week.
Q. With the run defense, is it as simple as just tackling or is there more to it?
PETE CARROLL: The tackling just seemed like it was really off. Seemed like we just did not make the tackles that we had to, didn't knock the piles back like we'd like to.
I really want to see the film and see where it was happening to guys other than scheme and make sure that I understand that issue well. Tackling wasn't good enough and we weren't efficient enough. We had shots. We had shots in the line of scrimmage, we had opportunities, and they won the battles better than we did.
Q. What can you do about the tackling you haven't already tried or done?
PETE CARROLL: You know, at this point of the season I need to see really what again happened this time that might have been unique.
But there's all kinds of fundamental stuff. It's about wrapping up, bringing your feet, and doing those things. It can't be more obvious from watching the film.
So the principles that we stand for and teach and all that, we're going to come back to them again and see if we can pull it together.
Q. Did they throw anything at you offensively that you weren't expecting?
PETE CARROLL: The first play of the final sequence, I was surprised they called a slant route and then hit it. That's a rare thing a team would do, and they executed it really well and changed kind of that sequence for us. I was surprised they did that.
Q. Nothing with the way they were running the ball?
PETE CARROLL: No.
Q. Is there a mindset that has to change in tackling? Is there a mindset there?
PETE CARROLL: That's part of it. That's certainly part of it. I would have thought -- we felt like we were jacked and ready to go, and we felt like we really hammered the principles and the scheme this week so that we could play really efficient at the line of scrimmage, and it didn't work for us. Didn't work out. They continued to fall forward and make their yards.
But mindset, it's a good question because it needs to be different than it was. Look what just happened. We gave them too much.
Q. What's the message coming out of this game with one left to go?
PETE CARROLL: There's one game to go, and we don't know what the scenario is going to bring us. We've been here before. I think it was last year, pretty much the same thing. We've got to go to Arizona and go play really well and get a win and see where that leaves us.
I know there's stuff tonight and all that, but the particulars right now I don't care. We've got to go win the game and see what happens.
Q. Pete, you get the ball back with a chance to drive for a touchdown there late in the first half; you get the fumble. What did you see on that play with Geno on the strip sack?
PETE CARROLL: Guy made a nice pass rush moving and hit us on the fumble that we lost. Yeah, we got beat. Ball got knocked out, and we couldn't come up with it.
All in all, the pass protection held up during the day. The concept and the approach, different things that we did gave us a chance. It was not -- we were not harassed by the pass rush today.
Abe did a good job and Stone went in there and did a good job using the different things that we did, and it was efficient. There was just one time they got us and they got the ball.
So nice job by the defense going out there and making them kick a field goal right there as deep as that was. We've done that all year, but we needed it at the time.
Q. Was there much discussion with the onside kick of kicking it deep and trying to do it that way.
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, if we kick the ball out of bounds, I mean out of the end zone, we would've done that, but we weren't hitting the ball well enough to do that. That was the first thought. So we have to kick it and they're going to return it, bring it back out. Can't just stop the clock there automatically.
To me, the onside kick thing, it's a chance to get the football and not a very good chance, but we have to stop them no matter what. Got to stop them in three plays right there whether it's back here or here.
So we had an opportunity to get the football, and so that's why we went for it.
Q. The challenge, did you think the spot should have been before the line --
PETE CARROLL: I thought it was, yeah. We saw it upstairs first that he went out of bounds on the 7 or 8, right in there. Then we looked at it again and we thought, you know, in the quick little flash we get on the screen that we might have something there, and it would have been short -- I think it would have been short of the 1st down, so that was the reason to take a shot at it.
At that point I'm not saving time-outs or saving the flag.
Q. You mentioned pass protection and their pass rush. The job Geno did to help with that...
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, I thought Geno maneuvered really well. His runs were efficient. He was really resourceful when he was moving, found DK, found Colby, found some really nice plays. Noah, I think too. I thought he played really well to get that accomplished for us. We needed it.
Q. Did Walker hurt his shoulder in practice again this week?
PETE CARROLL: No. It was from last week.
Q. With Abe, do you have any early indication as to how bad the knee injury is?
PETE CARROLL: No. It sounded like he kind of wrenched it a little bit. I don't think he reinjured it as much as he didn't have enough power in it to come back.
Q. So it's the same one, though?
PETE CARROLL: Yes.
Q. What did you think of how Kenny played before he had to --
PETE CARROLL: I thought he played really well. I thought he was doing all kinds of good stuff. We felt like we were coming -- like we averaged pretty -- pretty good average running the football today. We just didn't get enough of them. But I thought he looked pretty good. I thought he looked sharp.
Q. Witherspoon what did you think of him being able to come back?
PETE CARROLL: I know early in the game he made a nice tackle and then I saw him miss one. He's been out for a couple weeks and I don't think he was as sharp as he's been and he had to kind of get going again. I can't tell you more -- longer into the game how he went, but it was good to have him back.
Q. Jordan, obviously having to go with Devin instead of Jordan there, how do you think that impacted things?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, Jordan's ankle has just continued to bother him and he banged it pretty good last week and didn't feel like he could get all the way back, and we thought it would give us a chance to give him an opportunity.
If he played this one he would be really hobbling next week. We thought this was the best choice to try to give him an opportunity to get back and get right.
Q. The decision to put Jamal on IR --
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, to me it's a heartbreaker. He did everything he could. I've said this to you a number of times. He tried so hard to get right, to get back, and he just couldn't make it all the way back. There wasn't enough time.
He's going to need the time in the off-season to get a couple more months behind him. The weeks that we took, we tried a couple different times to experiment with some breaks to see if that would help him, but it really didn't. We came to the conclusion together that he couldn't get right, couldn't get full speed, couldn't get where he could put his foot in the ground.
Unfortunately -- I admire the heck out of him. He did everything he could. He busted his tail throughout the whole time with the right attitude and all, and it was really hard to have to get to the point where you go, yeah, I'm not able to get back.
But we did it together, and I think we handled that well.
Q. Is the hope he can start rehabbing and get ready for next year?
PETE CARROLL: Yeah, and he'll make it back. This is an injury that takes more than the time we had.
Q. If you guys were to stay alive long enough, is there a thought he could come back this season in the playoffs or are you shutting him down for good?
PETE CARROLL: Well, there's the four-week window here we can see, but I don't think that's what's going to happen. We've had enough breaks to see him recover, and there's not enough time. Anything could happen, and hopefully we'd have that choice.
Q. Frank Clark, what sort of happened there?
PETE CARROLL: Just got down in numbers, and Frankie did a nice job for us coming in early and all that, and he knows he's still available if we need him. We're really competing for roster spots to get the right guys on the field and all that. I really appreciate all of the play that Frankie gave us over the years. He'd been a great Seahawk. He could see what was going on, and so he helped us out with this one.
Q. What's the challenge for the team's leaders now this week coming up?
PETE CARROLL: Now we've just got to stay right -- if you heard Geno in the locker room right there, he said, ain't no time to be feeling sorry for yourself, and he couldn't be more right. We've got to come back tomorrow and get the week started and go after it again.
Just like when you have the big wins, you've got to deal with that. When you have the losses, you've got to deal with that. Hopefully the discipline that we've established will allow us to come back and get ready.
Arizona, didn't they win against Philly today? Obviously they're capable of playing great football. It ain't going to be easy, whatever -- there's no easy games. It's all really hard, and it's a championship opportunity for us.
We'll see what the other circumstances allow. We'll see. I don't know. We lost our control of it. We had control of it, and we gave that up today.
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