Carroll discusses Seahawks without Brooks, facing Rams, rooting for Lions

The 2022 NFL regular season ends this weekend and for the Seahawks, they will face the LA Rams in a game that has major playoff implications for the NFC.

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With a win, the Seahawks will pull the Detroit Lions to beat the Green Bay Packers. That would put Seattle back in the playoffs after missing out last year. If the Seahawks lose, the Packers-Lions winner will secure the final NFC playoff spot.

Seattle coach Pete Carroll stresses that every game is a championship opportunity, and that’s especially the case for his Seahawks this Sunday.

“Now that it’s over in your last few games, it couldn’t be more real,” he told Steve Raible during Friday’s Pete Carroll Preview on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.

It’s the second straight week the Seahawks need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. It worked out well last weekend with Seattle beating the New York Jets 23-6.

“Last week was an outstanding performance in the same circumstances and I hope we can put together another game where all three phases really work in concert and we can play a great game of football to give us the opportunity that comes. on Sunday night when everybody’s sitting down to watch that ballgame,” Carroll said. “We’ll be watching.”

If the Seahawks do in fact beat the Rams, they’ll have to wait a little longer to see if they’ll make the playoffs since Green Bay-Detroit is the Sunday Night Football game that will start just over an hour after the game ends. Seattle to Los Angeles.

As you can imagine, Carroll and the Hawks will be pulling hard for the Lions to beat the Packers.

“We’ll be rooting for them and all that. We have to take care of business (first),” Carroll said. “And our guys are really tuned in. They are really focused. They don’t worry about the next game at all. People would ask, ‘Oh, you’re thinking about that?’ No, we are not at all. There is so much at hand right here to play the Rams and all the background in the history that we have with this game. This is a great opportunity for us to do something good. We are going for it. I am waiting impatiently.”

The Rams have had an interesting 2022 season, to say the least.

After winning the Super Bowl last year, the Rams enter Week 18 at 5-11. Many of their star players are injured, including quarterback Matthew Stafford.

The last time Seattle and LA met, the Hawks won 27-23. That came when John Wolford started at quarterback for the Rams. This week, former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield will be the Rams’ starting quarterback.

In four games with LA, Mayfield has completed 67% of his passes for 703 yards and four touchdowns with one interception.

How different of an offense are the Rams with Mayfield under center?

“They are very similar. They had made some concessions when they changed quarterbacks before, and they had made some in that they just had to get back more to the fundamentals of their offense,” Carroll said. “They look very familiar here. We have We’ve seen the development of this offense over the years and we’ve seen all aspects of it, but the last month has forced them to coach a new quarterback.”

Mayfield has been “very hot” lately, Carroll said, and the Seahawks “have our hands full right now” as a result.

Mayfield will also play a different-looking Seahawks defense this week as inside linebacker Jordyn Brooks will be out for the year with a torn ACL.

Brooks, Seattle’s leading rusher, is also the Hawks’ defensive backcourt player.

Needless to say, it’s a big loss for the Seahawks.

“It is a challenge. Shoot, we’ve been playing with it for a few years now. He’s been a 130-hit guy or whatever he is now,” Carroll said. “… It’s like trying to replace Tyler Lockett. You don’t have the same guy out there. But Tanner Muse did a good job (last week) and we’re going to move some things around and some of the young guys are going to get a shot there to play as well, and Cody Barton has to do a one-man job here to take care of him. all of that.”

Barton, a fourth-year linebacker, has started alongside Brooks in the interior of Seattle’s defense this season. He took over as the point guard on the field last week when Brooks was injured, and that will continue this week against the Rams.

“But now he’s had a chance to think about it all week and prepare for it, and he’s done a great job in practice and he’s taken tremendous pride in leading the crew and he’s going to a good job for us,” Carroll said. .

Listen to Pete Carroll’s full appearance at this link or in the player below.

Bumpus: Tanner Muse shows promise for Seahawks at linebacker

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