Seahawks' Pete Carroll 'Really Disappointed' in Third-Down Struggles
Few teams entered Week 1 with as much hope and optimism as the Seattle Seahawks. But after a first half that seemed to be going the home side's way, things took a drastic turn in the second.
In the 30-13 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field on Sunday, Seattle's third-down struggles were glaringly obvious due in part to losing two offensive linemen, Abraham Lucas and Charles Cross, in the second half.
For coach Pete Carroll to fail the way the offense did was disappointing after making third-down conversions an emphasis during training camp.
“We worked a long time on this,” Carroll said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re really disappointed, is we spent a lot of competitive time with real focus on it, and unfortunately, it came out as we didn’t get the results that we were hoping for.”
In total, the Seattle offense completed just two of nine third-down attempts as they failed to move the football in what was a poor second half that saw the Seahawks held scoreless while the Rams piled on 23 points.
One of the big question marks hanging over Seattle entering the season was whether Geno Smith could replicate his Pro Bowl form from a year ago. Much of the Seahawks' success is, for some, predicated on Smith reaching those highs again.
Against the Rams, he didn't.
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Smith's stat line of 16 of 29 passing for 112 yards and a touchdown doesn't jump off the page, as the Rams only allowed 12 yards for the entire second half, as Seattle only had 14 offensive plays.
For Carroll, Smith's efforts against the Rams were up and down and again highlighted by the third-down issues.
“We weren’t able to take advantage of some of the things that we have been doing,” Carroll said. “The things that we have been counting on didn’t come through. We went deep a few times and didn’t give our guys a chance. Then the third down troubles, it comes down to we got to throw and catch it, so you know, he’s got to work with his guys."
It is only one game for the Seahawks, so no one should overreact to their efforts, but things don't get easier with the Detroit Lions up next on Sunday at Ford Field.
Given what was produced in the second half, Shane Waldron's offense will need to be on point against Aaron Glenn's defense, and going 2 for 9 on third down again could result in starting the season 0-2.
That's certainly not where the Seahawks thought they would be heading into the campaign.
