Carroll says Seahawks handled blowout properly
RENTON, Wash. (AP) — One thing Pete Carroll learned in his nine years at Southern California was how to handle blowouts. Once the Trojans got rolling in the middle of the past decade, there were plenty of lopsided scores.
So when he faced another blowout situation in the NFL on Sunday in Seattle's 58-0 rout against Arizona, Carroll felt his team handled the sometimes uneasy situation in proper fashion.
"You either have a sense for it or you don't and I do. I'm tuned in," Carroll said. "I do know that it looks like the score just keeps going. This was a day yesterday where the ball just kept coming our way. It was a terrific day for us, but I understand, I get it."
Seattle's romp was one of the biggest shutout victories in NFL history. According to STATS, LLC, with game information back to 1950, only New England (59-0 over Tennessee in 2009) and the Los Angeles Rams (59-0 over Atlanta in 1976) posted larger shutout wins.
And Seattle's victory very easily could have been worse. The Seahawks (8-5) kicked short field goals twice in the third quarter and set a new franchise record for most points scored on Leon Washington's 3-yard touchdown run with 2:32 remaining.
That late touchdown led to some criticism of Carroll on Monday.
"Every situation we talked through. What you're trying to do, and here is probably the key, what you're trying to do is make first downs. You're trying to get first downs and keep the football, with the sensitivity of the situation," Carroll said. "You know you're going to run the football like crazy, which was awesome and we love to do that. We got a lot of things done yesterday and unfortunately on the other side that was a very hard day for those guys. I get it."
One of Carroll's goals was to get backup quarterback Matt Flynn some significant playing time in the second half after spending the entire season on the bench behind Russell Wilson. For the final 25 minutes of the second half, Wilson got to be a spectator while Flynn played for the first time since Week 17 of last season with Green Bay.
Flynn threw nine times during the span of four drives in the third and fourth quarters. Six of the nine passes were called "short" by the official game book, and the one curious decision was Flynn's throw to the end zone on fourth-and-23 from the Arizona 33 halfway through the fourth quarter. The pass fell incomplete.
Seattle ran the ball 25 times in the second half.
"It was the first time Matt had gotten in a game and we just didn't have an opportunity, and he needs to play, he needs to get ready because he's one play away from leading this football team," Carroll said. "In that instance and this is for years, I've always taken a look at what our special needs are. He needed to throw the ball a little bit. He threw the ball nine times. We threw the ball 22 times in the game. It was nothing. And if you noticed he threw a variety of things just so we could get some stuff on film. He got his feet wet, kind of."
Now the challenge for Seattle is not letting the victory become a lingering hangover going to Toronto on Sunday to face the Buffalo Bills.
It's a possible trap game for the Seahawks coming off such a huge home victory and with a home showdown against San Francisco that was flexed by the NFL on Monday to be the Sunday night game that week.
If New England beats the 49ers this weekend, that game on Dec. 23 could be for the lead in the NFC West. But Carroll wasn't interested in entertaining thoughts of what lies a week ahead or the novelty of being the Sunday night game.
"Yeah, whatever, it's moved back a little bit," Carroll said. "That's two weeks from now. We just stay in the hotel a little bit longer and then go play."
So when he faced another blowout situation in the NFL on Sunday in Seattle's 58-0 rout against Arizona, Carroll felt his team handled the sometimes uneasy situation in proper fashion.
"You either have a sense for it or you don't and I do. I'm tuned in," Carroll said. "I do know that it looks like the score just keeps going. This was a day yesterday where the ball just kept coming our way. It was a terrific day for us, but I understand, I get it."
Seattle's romp was one of the biggest shutout victories in NFL history. According to STATS, LLC, with game information back to 1950, only New England (59-0 over Tennessee in 2009) and the Los Angeles Rams (59-0 over Atlanta in 1976) posted larger shutout wins.
And Seattle's victory very easily could have been worse. The Seahawks (8-5) kicked short field goals twice in the third quarter and set a new franchise record for most points scored on Leon Washington's 3-yard touchdown run with 2:32 remaining.
That late touchdown led to some criticism of Carroll on Monday.
"Every situation we talked through. What you're trying to do, and here is probably the key, what you're trying to do is make first downs. You're trying to get first downs and keep the football, with the sensitivity of the situation," Carroll said. "You know you're going to run the football like crazy, which was awesome and we love to do that. We got a lot of things done yesterday and unfortunately on the other side that was a very hard day for those guys. I get it."
One of Carroll's goals was to get backup quarterback Matt Flynn some significant playing time in the second half after spending the entire season on the bench behind Russell Wilson. For the final 25 minutes of the second half, Wilson got to be a spectator while Flynn played for the first time since Week 17 of last season with Green Bay.
Flynn threw nine times during the span of four drives in the third and fourth quarters. Six of the nine passes were called "short" by the official game book, and the one curious decision was Flynn's throw to the end zone on fourth-and-23 from the Arizona 33 halfway through the fourth quarter. The pass fell incomplete.
Seattle ran the ball 25 times in the second half.
"It was the first time Matt had gotten in a game and we just didn't have an opportunity, and he needs to play, he needs to get ready because he's one play away from leading this football team," Carroll said. "In that instance and this is for years, I've always taken a look at what our special needs are. He needed to throw the ball a little bit. He threw the ball nine times. We threw the ball 22 times in the game. It was nothing. And if you noticed he threw a variety of things just so we could get some stuff on film. He got his feet wet, kind of."
Now the challenge for Seattle is not letting the victory become a lingering hangover going to Toronto on Sunday to face the Buffalo Bills.
It's a possible trap game for the Seahawks coming off such a huge home victory and with a home showdown against San Francisco that was flexed by the NFL on Monday to be the Sunday night game that week.
If New England beats the 49ers this weekend, that game on Dec. 23 could be for the lead in the NFC West. But Carroll wasn't interested in entertaining thoughts of what lies a week ahead or the novelty of being the Sunday night game.
"Yeah, whatever, it's moved back a little bit," Carroll said. "That's two weeks from now. We just stay in the hotel a little bit longer and then go play."
You don't get far playing DOWN to your opponents weakness. That is a plan for disaster....
USA Today had NO articles about the Seahawks/Cardinals game. They had "blurbs", but no featured articles....If that had been...say Jets, Philly, Redskins, etc., there would have been front page stories on this lopsided score because of the historical implications.
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With respect to "running up the score", I was a little uneasy with the throwing the ball at the end of the game, but after further "thought" it was the correct thing to do as we need ALL our players to have quality game experience as to assure playoff optimization. If the Hawks really wanted to run up the score it would have easily been over 70 points in my opinion.
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Because the "Media" is biased, I say "BLOW THEM ALL OUT", the Seahawks are real and will be for years to come.......love them with their tenacity and excitement, they are the "REAL DEAL" and we need to let the uniformed media know and understand that.
Arizona and the nfl can go cry. Seattle's All In
I feel bad for the Cards, but I feel great when our back-up players get real game time to practice and fine-tune their timing. The national level sportscasters mostly seem to be idiots, and ignorant of the level of play happening out here on the west coast.
They did the right thing. If they start giving it half, then they would have got hurt. Put in the second stringers and have them do their best. Everyone should be doing their best. The Cardinals were obviously not giving it their best. They lost. It happens. Hey "entitilment generation"-There is no Certificate of Participation- you lose. Go home and think about how to do better next time. Â
They are whinners We are winners. Don't like it man up and stop it. You can't just let off the gas Plus we gave some people that don't see much playing time a time to shine. I liked what Leon washington did.
1. Thinking back over the years, we have been on the receiving end of blowouts many times.
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2. It can be more insulting for the losing team for you to "pull your punches" and "help them out" so the score doesn't look so bad. Having coached youth sports for 25+ years, KIDS learn that there will occasionally be days like that. They learn to deal with it. Grown men should be able to handle it by now, or they should get out of the game....
Lets get real northwest sports fan, real football fans know the Seahawks have a very good football team, but yet the whining is still there about times past and nobody looks at me complex, come on Seattle grow up and put on your big boy pants and stop the whining..
My goodness.......
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If anyone is complaining, maybe they should give up on football and start watching chess matches.....
Anyone complaining about the Hawks running up the score shouldn't be watching NFL... 'nuff said.
I would have let Flynn throw even more. If I am trying to build film on him to shop around as a trade, you are going to need to show that he can play.
 @Randy Henderson Well said. You have to give Flynn some experience.
The Hawks were trying to run out the clock by getting first downs. That Arizona saw fit to quit on themselves is there own fault. It's not like the Hawks were chucking it into the end-zone. Geez, what a (kitty-kat)  nation we are at times. Someday the Chinese will conquer us by just coming on The Love Boat, armed with nothing but a glare and the entire country will get the vapors and the Chinese will have sold us the fainting couch on money we borrowed from them.
"their"
Ron Jaworski had the perfect evaluation - if you're really that concerned about a team running up the score on you, stop them.
If the Cardinals wanted give up they could have started taking knees in the 4th.Â
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Giants 52 - Saints 27
Anyone whining about that one? Anyone???
Oh Wait! This is the lowly Seahawks. The team that when they win, it's an upset. When they win big, it's not fair.
I thought this was the NFL. Where MEN played football.
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What's next? Taking stikes cuz yer up by ten in the 8th???
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Here's what ya do... Stop at Safeway and pick up some cheese.
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Clearly, you did not look at the box score for the Giants and Saints game and are just looking at the final score. Going into the 4th quarter, there was only an 8 point difference. Still time for the Saints to come back. Giants got another TD, making it at 15 point difference but still enough time for the Saints for an unlikely, but still possible comeback, so that's why the Giants are not criticized for still adding on more points after that point to make absolutely sure the Saints could not win.
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So you can't compare that 52-27 game to this 58-0 game.
@Hambingo They are a bunch of paid professionals. If they do not their little feelings hurt they need to quit and find a different job.. nuff said!!
I couldn't agree more. Starting running back Lynch only had 11 carries and Wilson threw 13 times. The commentators made a couple of comments about sportsmanship, but the Hawks had to continue you the game.
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And that 4th and 23 they went for, that was at the thirty. One of guys said they shouldn't go for it, the other said they shouldn't kick a field goal. What would be the other option? Punt from the 30 for a net 10 yard kick? Stupid.
It's professional sports, never apologize for a win.
 @oledawg With 9 of our 13 games being decided by 7 points or less. We needed a blowout victory like this!