Pete Carroll: "We Have To Find Consistency"

Pete Carroll (0:00)

It's a big opportunity tonight, playing a really good team, good setting, good opportunity for us to be at home.

And the first half of this game, we couldn't get out of our way enough to make them go long fields and to keep the football. And so they got off to a great start, really good drive to open up. They go 45 with the next drive when they scored, and 50 something with the next one.

So the field was too short to hold these guys down the way we needed to. And we got nothing done on offense in the first half. And so it really, it was halftime, here we go. What are we gonna do about it? Yeah, our guys jumped back and got going in the game. We moved the football better. Now we got off the field a few times. We get the turnover. There's a moment in there where there's a time at 14 points down where one more score and it's gonna feel a whole lot different. And we weren't able to get that closed off. And so they get a good win and away they go.

This is a really difficult team to play when you give them stuff and give them the field position opportunities and we don't make our first downs. And so it'd be hard for everybody against them. And tonight, so we saw what that was like.

This is a tough stretch coming up for us. It's challenging as it can get. And we got to clean it up. We cannot give our opponents the opportunity to have short fields and expect to get the kind of results we want. So as always, the ball determines so much of it. The turnovers determine so much of it. And it's like the one for us almost did for us too. It kind of turns the whole feeling of the game around. So we go back to work. We got to get our stuff done. We got a really challenging game coming up next week. And we don't have any time, but to get back to work and do stuff right. And coaches, players, everybody, all of us do.

They put together a great drive, you know, right down the field. Couldn't do anything with it. And we get nothing out of the first drive and Geno gets tripped in the second drive and gives us a long situation. And it just went their way early on. Yeah, it was concerning.

It was really hard, is what it was.

SPEAKER_2 (2:12)

How affected if it all was Geno by the arm injury?

Pete Carroll (2:15)

No, I had nothing to do with it. I think he was fine.

SPEAKER_3 (2:18)

How big was the play when Jackson looked like he got held in the end zone?

Pete Carroll (2:21)

That was what you're talking about, right? Yeah, I didn't see it. The guys that advised me, they saw the TV copy of it. So it was pretty obvious, but I didn't see that, so I can't tell you right now. But that's a huge situation for us. Yeah, that's what we're trying to get right back in it. And we felt that everybody in the stadium could feel that they're ready for us to turn the game around. And we were there for the opportunity. And we just missed our shot there.

Yeah, I mean, the game turned, you know, and we, I don't know if it looks like we outscored them in the second half. It's something we're gonna hang our hat on, and we gotta go back to work. I was thrilled that our guys turned that game back around where it felt like we were gonna come back and go get it done.

And we had that sense at halftime that we could. And so it was good to see that happen. And almost, it almost got there.

SPEAKER_2 (3:16)

What led to Michael Jackson taking over for Rieck?

Pete Carroll (3:19)

Rieck wasn't back all the way. He didn't tackle well with his shoulder, and Rieck felt like, and I went into the game wanting to see if he could hold up, and didn't feel like he was ready. And Mike was 100% ready to go. And we think Mike's a terrific football player, and it's no problem putting him on the field.

SPEAKER_2 (3:38)

Coach, this is the second stretch, I think, in the season, where you've gone six quarters without an offensive touchdown. Where can you make changes, or can there be changes that you can make to kind of spark things here on the offensive side?

Pete Carroll (3:50)

Yeah, we have to find the consistency that we're not feeling it, you know? And it's not, you can see it, we're just not moving the ball steadily, and we have to find our way to do that. It's mixing the stuff that we have and using the guys that we have better than we have so far. And so, I mean, I'm saying Geno's fine, maybe he wasn't fine, I don't know. I thought he won't tell you, you'll see him, he won't tell you it had anything to do with his night tonight. Geno did a good job just to get back out, that's for darn sure. And we need to help him be effective. That's what this is, and that's by running the football and by catching the football and making our plays and convert on third downs. We have to help him in every way we can.