PITTSBURGH — Sunday’s 24-0 loss was the type of game that left more questions than answers for this young Seahawks team now just two games into a 16-game season.
What does a head coach say to his players in the locker room after a gut-wrenching defeat like that?
“This should make you feel sick,” Coach Pete Carroll said to start his postgame speech. “This isn’t what we came here to do. We’re better than this.”
Who’s to blame? Carroll pointed the finger right at himself and his assistants.
“I’m mad at myself more than anything,” the coach said in an extremely subdued locker room. “I’ve got to find a way to help you better.”
What can be taken from a setback like this? Sometimes coaches just throw away the game tape after a loss like Sunday’s. Carroll and Company won’t be doing that though; there’s so much to learn.
“We’re going to take a hard look at the film,” Carroll said. “We’ve got to be honest about it. Take the lessons like a man.
“We’re going to call on you, and you need to call on each other.”
So now what? Where do the Seahawks go from here? Fortunately for them, they’re going to CenturyLink Field, which in itself will hopefully be salve for a wound-filled first two weeks of the 2011 season. But the change of scenery alone won’t be enough to make up for the lack of execution and poor play so far for the Seahawks.
“Next week we get to play at home, but that doesn’t mean anything if we don’t get right,” Carroll said near the end of his postgame address. “Let’s get this thing going. Let’s come back, stay together and get rolling.”
When will it turn for the Seahawks? Two games is just two games, but it’s felt like a lifetime for the players and coaches who are seeking the season’s first win and some positive momentum that can carry them through the rest of 2011. Time is of the essence—they better right the ship sooner rather than later.
“This is the week we start marching,” the head coach said, expressing the urgency of the matter. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”
Well, what’s the next step? The journey continues.
“This is a process we’re in,” Carroll said. “We will grow from this.”
