Pete Carroll explains his affinity for establishing the run

Carroll answered at length.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was a guest on the “Seahawks Man 2 Man” podcast with Mike Dugar and Christopher Kidd earlier this week. One of the most interesting portions of the interview was when Dugar asked Carroll to explain his affinity for the run game.

Carroll answered at length, occasionally rambling but eventually landing on his philosophy for running the ball. To hear him tell it, it’s about having a complete team and being able to close games out with a lead by running the ball, especially in the fourth quarter. Here’s a portion of his answer:

“If you wanna win games, sometimes your quarterback’s not gonna be there. Sometimes the weather’s gonna factor in. Sometimes the wind is gonna blow. There’s gonna be issues that won’t allow you to win that way. But what way is it that you can’t win if you can control the football and outlast em’ and wear em’ out and win in the fourth quarter. … Our numbers aren’t out of whack. They aren’t. I’m trying to build a mentality that is complemented by excellent special teams work, excellent play on defense, and close it by — the phrase is to close the circle of toughness of our football team by running the football. And if I were to finish that line for you which I don’t is to run the football in the fourth quarter. That’s really what it’s about. It’s about controlling the game, finding your way in the lead and then getting in position where you can finish the game effectively — and that is not throwing the football and stopping the clock and throwing incompletes and taking chances of getting sacked and taking chances with the ball. … That’s not the way to do that.”

You can watch the full conversation here:

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Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs changes jersey number from 37 to 6

Seattle Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs changed his jersey number from 37 to 6 following the NFL’s new numbering rules being implemented.

Quandre Diggs is changing his jersey number from No. 37 to No. 6 following the NFL’s new numbering rules, which include the defensive backs numbering range being expanded from 20-49 to 1-49.

The Seahawks safety revealed in The Athletic podcast with Michael-Shawn Dugar and Christopher Kidd that he chose the number to honor his half-brother and former defensive back Quentin Jammer.

“I always kind of wore it (No. 6) to honor him at every level of football I played, from little league to middle school to high school to college,” Diggs said. “Now in the league, this is the first time that I’ll be able to honor him. Before (the NFL) did the number change deal, I was going to switch to 23 to honor him for his career in San Diego (with the Chargers). Then when they did the number change I hit him up and asked ‘What number you think would be best, 6 or 23?’ He was like ‘I think 6 would be clean.’”

Diggs heads into a contract year after a Pro Bowl season in 2020 and could be in line for a big payday, especially if he excels this year.

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