For a guy who supposedly only wants to play old-school football - you know, run the ball and play hard-nosed defense - Pete Carroll has been extremely reluctant to actually play that style of football. Depending on what happens in Week 18, he may not get a chance to return the Seattle Seahawks to that style of play.
It seems we always hear the same complaint from a vocal minority of the 12s: Pete Carroll has let the game pass him by. He's too old school. All he wants to do is run the ball. There may be some basis in the claim that the game has progressed past Carroll's methods. I don't agree with the assertion, but it's far more complex than the idea that all he wants to do is run the ball. Yes, Carrol talks a lot about running the ball, but anyone who's been paying attention for the last few years can clearly see that the Seahawks do not run the ball nearly enough.
Listen, I'll admit that I too was seduced by the Dark Side. I preached the gospel of Let Russ Cook as loudly as anyone. Well, I did until it became apparent that Russell Wilson wasn't quite the gridiron chef he imagined himself to be. We can look at Wilson's miscues in Week 13 of 2020 in a 17-12 loss to the Giants. He bounced back with a strong performance the following week vs the Jets but was mediocre the rest of the way.
He kicked off 2021 in vintage Wilson fashion, going 79-109 for a 72 percent completion rate, 1,044 yards, nine touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Yet the Seahawks were only 2-2 in those games. In their two wins, Seattle ran the ball 27 and 28 times. In their losses, the Hawks ran just 17 and 18 times. Hmmm...is there a theme here?
The Seattle Seahawks have always needed to run, but too often don't
In that same year, Wilson was injured in the Rams game. Some 12s seem to have forgotten that Geno Smith's offense put up 10 of the Hawks' 17 points in that game and 166 of their 354 yards, all in the fourth quarter. When Wilson talked his way back onto the field far too soon to face the Packers, he had one of the worst games of his career. Coincidentally, the Seahawks ran the ball just 16 times in their shutout loss.
Wilson was far less than DangeRuss the following week as Seattle fell to Arizona. Despite that their quarterback clearly wasn't in shape to play, the Hawks ran the ball just 19 times. The Hawks hit rock bottom against the Washington Football Team - sorry, but it's just too fun to write that monstrosity when I can - in a 17-15 loss that dropped them to 3-8 on the season.
Looking at the stats, you might think Russ had a decent game. Two touchdowns, no turnovers, and 247 yards passing are okay, right? Except it wasn't okay at all. Wilson wasn't that good, and the offense was an unmitigated disaster. Seattle ran the ball 12 times. Yes, that's about the same as what Marshawn Lynch would get in a half when the Hawks actually did run the ball.
Mike Salk talked about this confusing disparity between Pete Carroll's philosophy and the Seahawks reality on Seattle Sports the other day. Discussing that philosophy - you know it, 12s, a physical running game that opens up the deep passing game. Carroll espouses a defense that doesn't give up big plays and makes the opposition pay for every yard with hard hitting and sure tackling. As Salk wrote, that philosophy is not exactly what we're seeing on the field.
"But in order for it to be effective, you have to commit to it. You have to bring in coaches and players that fit. You can’t make compromises and concessions. You can’t be 29th in the league in rushing attempts. You can’t get pushed around up front. You can’t allow explosive plays one week and 132 yards after contact the next. Those aren’t problems with your philosophy; those are problems executing your philosophy."Mike Salk
The Hawks used to run the ball, until their quarterback decided he knew better
You can track the evolution of that philosophy easily enough. And you can see the Hawks abandon it just as clearly. in 2009, the year before Carroll took the reins in Seattle, the Seahawks ranked 26th in rushing attempts and yards. They were even worse the following year, gaining just 1,424 yards on 385 carries. In 2011 they had a full season to figure out how to get Marshawn Lynch more involved in the offense and climbed to 15th in rushing attempts.
In 2012, Seattle led the league in rushing attempts and was third in yardage. They finished second in attempts and fourth in yardage in their Super Bowl season, followed that up second in attempts, and led the NFL in rushing by over 400 yards. In 2015, they were third in both categories. That ended with a game we'd all just as soon forget when the Seahawks fell behind the Panthers 31-0 in the first half.
Through those seasons, Russell Wilson had been an excellent player, without a doubt. He'd been named to the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons. But apparently, the occasional label of game manager rankled him too much. He made it clear that he needed the ball in his hands more often. After attempting 393 and 407 passes in his first two seasons - seasons in which Seattle went 4-1 in the postseason and won it all once - Wilson wanted the ball more. He threw the ball 452 times in 2014. I think we can all agree he threw it once too often in that year's final game.
In 2015, we saw more of the same. Wilson's pass attempts were up to 483, and while Seattle was still running the ball - again, third in attempts and yards - they made one of their worst trades ever in an attempt to give Wilson another weapon. Yes, I'm talking about bringing in Jimmy Graham for Max Unger.
Almost as bad, they abandoned the running game too soon at the most critical point of the season. DangeRuss threw a pick-six on the Hawks' second play of the divisional round versus the Panthers. Seattle ran the ball on just two of their next five plays, then punted. After falling behind 21-0, Wilson was picked off again, this time on the Seahawks' first play of the drive. I'll give him credit, he did lead a remarkable comeback in the second half. But just maybe if Seattle hadn't abandoned the run game so soon, Carolina wouldn't have been sitting in those passing lanes.
Pete Carroll says one thing but apparently forgets to act on it
Regardless, in 2016 Carroll managed to convince himself that Wilson needed to throw the ball more for the Seahawks to return to glory. Or he allowed Wilson to convince him. However it played out, it was the wrong move. Seattle dropped to 20th in attempts and 25th in yards. Wilson had his second straight 4,000-yard season, and the Seahawks fell in the divisional round again. Seattle ran the ball just 21 times in their loss to the Falcons. The Hawks were 21st and 23rd in rushing attempts and yards in 2017 and fell to 9-7. For only the second time in Pete Carroll's tenure, they missed the playoffs.
Apparently, that was enough to snap Pete out of the spell of his miracle worker quarterback, as the Seahawks led the league in rushing in 2018, and were second in attempts. A healthy Chris Carson went a long way to making that a reality, of course. Wilson's pass attempts dropped from 553 to 427, yet their scoring jumped from 366, 11th in the league, to 428, 6th in the NFL. Funny how that works, huh? Seattle dropped a bit in 2019 to third and fourth in attempts and yards, and that brings us back to 2020, which saw the trend worsen.
Listen, I know your eyes are glazing over. Mine are too, and I wrote this. The thing is, I prefer providing numbers that support my idea, rather than just writing something Twitter-worthy like, "Well, it's true because I said so."
The crazy thing is that even with the chef gone for two seasons, the Hawks still aren't running the ball. They rank 29th in the league in rushing attempts and yardage. This despite having spent two second-round picks in back-to-back years on running backs. Kenneth Walker II was the second RB taken, while Zach Charbonnet was the third in his draft. You would think the coach who says things like this, as quoted by Adam Lewis for Seattle Sports, would use those guys more.
"“If you’ve listened to me over the years, it’s the running game that closes the circle of toughness on your team,” Carroll said. “It’s special teams, it’s defense, and then it’s that running game element. That has not been part of our team the way we would like it to be.”"Pete Carroll
Yes, Pete, we have listened to you over the years. So it seems rather odd that you haven't listened to yourself. Where, exactly, is that running game element? Frankly, I'm shocked he hasn't tried to get Jimmy Graham to come back into the league. Seriously though, Arizona has allowed more rushing attempts and rushing yards than any other team in the league. Yes, they're even worse than Seattle. If the Seahawks don't run the ball at least 35 times versus the Cardinals, he probably does need to resign.