In the aftermath of the Seattle Seahawks’ 30-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the wild card round of the postseason, coach Pete Carroll discussed the team’s plans for 2021 during his press conference on Monday.
Carroll quipped that the Seahawks should run the ball more frequently next season to get a better feel for the opposition and their strategies.
“We have to run the ball better, not even better, we have to run it more,” Carroll stated. “We have to dictate what’s going on with the people that we’re playing, and that’s one of the ways to do that.”
Carroll assured that he does not necessarily mean that he intends to mark a return to the run-first approach the Seahawks offense has been known for in years past, but rather strive for an increase in rushing efficiency.
“I want to see if we can run the ball more effectively to focus the play of the opponents and see if we can force them to do things like we’d like them to do more, like we have been able to do that in the past,” Carroll said. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to run the ball 50 times a game. It means we need to run the ball with direction and focus and style that allows us to dictate the game.”
The veteran head coach added that the Seahawks must figure out how to bypass the two-deep looks opposing defenses gave them that constantly hindered the offense in 2020 and that they must change up the schematics in the passing game and be less predictable.
“I mean I just, frankly, I’d like to not play against two-deep looks all season long next year,” Carroll said. “And so we have to be able to get that done. It’s not just the running game. It is the style of passes that will help us some, but we have to get after it a little bit differently. As it unfolded in the end of the season, it became really obvious. In the last four or five games, it became really obvious.”
Seattle has a long offseason ahead after a grueling end to a promising season, and Carroll and his cohorts must work to rectify the team’s issues before their time as a contender runs out if it hasn’t already.
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