Pete Carroll: Seahawks will make playoffs and be a threat
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is not deterred by losing 4 of 5: Seaside Joe 1734
It is never easy to lose games in the NFL. I don’t care how many times you’ve thought of the benefits of tanking in certain years or situations, the natural inclination deeply ingrained in most people—the competition gene—is: Winning=Good. Losing=Bad.
I had low expectations for the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night and convinced myself that I could accept a loss, as long as it was close. Well, it was very close, and in an environment in which no team had been close to beating the Dallas Cowboys this season, and I still struggle to accept it!
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The Seahawks had multiple opportunities to stay too far ahead for the Cowboys to catch up, or to take the lead at the clutchest moment, and it is painful when the team lets a ‘get right’ victory slip out of their hands. Beating the Cowboys in Dallas would have easily been Seattle’s best post-September win since 2019.
In that respect, it’s been a demoralizing afterglow in the last 16 hours.
And yet despite losing four of five, the Seahawks (6-6) remain in a wild card position and the Cowboys (9-3) are the only team in the NFC that has a winning record and isn’t a division leader. There appear to be six teams fighting for two playoff spots (6-6 Seahawks, 6-6 Vikings, 5-6 Packers, 5-6 Rams, either 5-6 Falcons or 5-6 Saints depending on who wins the NFC South and the 4-7 Bucs aren’t far behind) and Pete Carroll is convinced that Seattle will still emerge from that group as victors.
On his weekly radio appearance with Brock and Salk on Seattle Sports, Carroll finished the segment with a confident statement that the Seahawks will finish the season as one of the best teams in the NFL:
“When this team makes it in the playoffs, which you may think I’m frickin’ crazy to be telling you that, when this team makes it in the playoffs we will be ready.”