HEAD COACH PETE CARROLL
(On if it helps on a short week that the Seahawks just played the 49ers in Week 13) "It could, you know, but, it's relative, so it doesn't make a difference really. We're not looking at it like that, we're just going right back after it all over again – start the process. We're not trying to bank on what happened before, we're just going to go start this thing off. It's a new game. See if we can put together a great plan, carry out a great week of work and get ready to play really big-time ball again."
QB RUSSELL WILSON
(On the challenge of facing a team twice in three weeks) "Well, it's always tough in the sense that they know you a little bit better and vice versa, but also you have an understanding of what they do. It kind of gives you a kick-start into the week. They're a very, very challenging defense in terms of all of the looks that they give and everything else. We've been studying like crazy, just making sure that we're ready for those and everything else. I'm not sure if I've ever played a team one week and then play another team and then the next week we play there, unless it's been the playoffs maybe but I don't recall that. It'll be a great game going down there to San Francisco and playing there and they just came off a big win so they'll be ready to play."
(On the change in atmosphere since the 49ers move to Levi's Stadium) "You know, I remember my rookie year playing in Candlestick (Park) and just the history there, just the tradition. As soon as you walked into the stadium, you could feel something different. It was special in that sense. So many Super Bowls and so many crazy moments – Joe Montana, Steve Young and Jerry Rice, those guys making crazy plays and doing some special things there. When I came in my rookie year, I'll never forget it. I stepped up in the pocket and it was maybe the third quarter my first game there. I stepped up in the pocket and kind of slid to the right and I started taking off and sure enough, (Patrick) Willis and (Navarro) Bowman just closed on me like I had never seen before (with) their speed and everything else, so I'll never forget just being in that stadium. The energy of that stadium was really special. The visitors locker room wasn't the nicest, but it's definitely a different venue in terms of where they play now and everything else. It's one of those things that over time, I think there will be a lot of history there and everything else. I love those historic ballparks, those historic places you get to play like Candlestick. There are only so many places in the world that you can do that, and that was one of them.
SS BRADLEY MCDOUGALD
(On the improvements to the Seahawks tackling) "It's huge. Small leak of yardage like that, missing tackles in the flat, those yards after contact – those are game changing plays in itself. It might not show up on the stat sheet or on SportsCenter, but those yards add up and flip field position on just screens. Last time we played (the 49ers), they were able to get a lot of yards on screens, so it's still a focus point for us today."
(On if the Seahawks need to do anything differently to limit the production of George Kittle) "Not really. He's crafty in the way he operates, the way he runs his routes. I have a lot of respect for him the last time we played him. Denver, they honestly just had a lot of missed coverages, a lot of blown assignments. It's very hard to tackle somebody when you don't have anybody covering him. It was mad, I mean guys were just turning him loose. If you give a guy like that some space, he took it to the house, 80-yards and that's a credit to him. It's one thing to just run around open, but to take it all the way to the house, that's kind of a credit to him. You've got to start with covering him. If a guy is making those type of plays and drawing that type of attention, he needs to be a focus point. That's one thing we're going to do differently."
(On what the accomplishment of clinching a playoff spot would mean for the team) "It'll feel good. It'll feel great, actually. It's just another one of the things we got together and said we wanted to do at the beginning of the season. It's a goal we set out for as a group and we're just one step closer. It feels good to prove that many more people wrong and step one step closer to another goal."
(On the defense's attitude when the opponent decides to go for it on fourth down) "Depending on the situation. No, I mean, it's good. As long as you're on your game and as long as you know what's going on, you live for those moments. Those plays were critical – definitely game changing plays. Even in those plays, it still can be done better, we still could do more. Honestly, if he throws it better, I have an interception and we get better field position – we might be able to keep the ball and run the clock out. Small plays like that, giving the offense the ball on the two-yard line compared to the twenty yard line is a total difference. Those plays are huge, and we love them. It does a lot for the momentum standpoint for our offense and going forward in the game."
LB BOBBY WAGNER
(On the challenge of facing a team twice in three weeks) "You kind of see what they did good and they're going to go back to it. You also see the plays that they could've got that they probably should've used more of and in our position, we won the game but you don't want to get complacent and think the same thing is going to happen again. We're coming off a short week so we have to make sure that our focus and everything is that much more sharper and understand that this is a hungry team. Whenever you come out and you beat a team the way that we did, they're not going to just let you do that again so we have to make sure we approach the game that way. Approach the game that we're going to get their best and they're going to throw a little bit more wrinkles in. They're going to run more things that they had success on and just be ready. It's a football game and at the end of the day, it's whoever wants to win that day."
(On how aware the team is of the opportunity to clinch a playoff spot with a win) "We're not really thinking about it, honestly. I think it's just more so 'do what we've been doing.' Treat every game like it's a championship game. We feel like that's the best way to make sure the game is not bigger than what it needs to be. It's just another game, just another football game. Whatever happens is solely up to us but we control our energy, we control our focus, we control the way we approach the game and that's what we're going to control. The outcome is going to take care of itself."
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR KEN NORTON, JR.
(On the benefits and challenges of facing the same team in two weeks) "It's a benefit in that we know each other very well. I think we understand our challenges that things that they hit us on. They threw the ball very well on us, they had some run plays on us – so, we were very aware of the things that had success on us. But, we're two teams that are very familiar with each other."
(On the challenges presented by George Kittle) "He's really good. He catches a lot of balls. He's a threat, he runs well, he catches well, he runs after he catches, he blocks well. He's a dynamite, sharp, big-time NFL player, so it's going to be a challenge to hold him down."
(On the progression of Nick Mullens) "He's been playing really well. Last time we played him, he was over 400 yards. We played a lot of really good quarterbacks and he's been probably the highest yards against us. We have a lot of respect for what he's able to do and we'll certainly spend a lot of time in the meeting room trying to tighten things up."
