Pete Carroll brushes off critics: ‘They’re just guessing at this point.’
With the 2022 NFL season officially kicking off between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills in less than 48 hours, the site formed its preseason power rankings. Among those near the bottom were the Russell Wilson-less Seattle Seahawks, who have been dubbed the worst team — or one of the worst — by many others, including us. Though Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll doesn’t think so.
“I don’t feel like that at all,” Carroll said Monday, via ESPN. “I don’t feel like any part of any of that is what’s true other than the fact that that’s what people think. I’m not in that business now. I’m in the business of helping these guys get ready to play with all of the work that we do and all of the mentality and the culture and the environment that we’re in.
“We’ve been averaging 10 wins a year for the last 20-something years [dating back to 2001-2009 run at USC]. You think I could think anything different than that? I don’t. I don’t see any reason my expectations should change at all.”
Perhaps the biggest reason for Carroll’s success in his Seattle was because of his quarterback play.
In 10 seasons in Seattle, the ultra-durable Wilson completed 65 percent of his attempts while he was in Seattle for 37,059 yards, 292 touchdowns and 87 interceptions. He went 104-53-1, including 9-7 in the playoffs and a Super Bowl victory in 2013, his second season as a full starter.
Now, Seattle is without Wilson — a perennial top-5/10 quarterback across the NFL — and now have Geno Smith and Drew Lock. The Seahawks went 7-9 with Carroll prior to Wilson, but with an aging Matt Hasselbeck and Tarvaris Jackson under center.
The current situation in Seattle was worse than it was then, when the 70-year-old head man was entering the NFL after being one of the top college coaches of the 21st century.
The Seahawks have arguably a bottom-five offensive line, bottom-five defensive line, bottom-five linebacking core and a bottom-five secondary. They have a couple fun young tailbacks in Rashaad Penny and Kenneth Walker III, though it’ll take some time before they shoot up in production because of their dormant offensive.
Nevertheless, this isn’t a good team, and they won’t be competing for the NFC West anytime soon.
Again, Carroll disagrees with his team’s evaluation from fans and/or pundits.
“I don’t care what anybody says,” Carroll said. “People have been saying stuff about teams for years.
“They don’t know. They’re just guessing at this point, and then we go and prove it and we see where we are … Win a big game in the opener or struggle and not win a big game in the opener, you’ve got to come back and get going again and back on track regardless.”
Carroll will certainly have a chance to silence any criticism for at least a week, as they go up against Wilson and the Denver Broncos Week 1 on Monday Night Football.
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