Pete Carroll insisted again that he’s not going anywhere. He’s intent on remaining the leader of the Seattle Seahawks even if it means many of the faces he spoke to this week while closing out the 2017 season are gone by the time Carroll finally gets to coach his team again.
”I’m pumped up about it. I’m excited about that challenge Authentic Trenton Cannon Jersey ,” Carroll said Tuesday. ”I’m upset that we have to face it this early. I’d like another six weeks here, that would be nice. But that’s not what this one is. We got to go after it. Nothing’s going to change other than maybe our resolve.”
For just the second time in his eight years in Seattle, Carroll spent Tuesday explaining why the Seahawks were not in the postseason. It’s the first playoff miss for Seattle since the 2011 season and with the rapid rise of division foe Los Angeles indicated – at least for one year – a significant change in the hierarchy of the NFC West.
Injuries played a major role in Seattle’s slide to 9-7. So, too, did inconsistency on offense, continued problems with penalties and salary cap constraints that limited adjustments the Seahawks could make during the season.
It’s likely to be a busy offseason as Seattle attempts to manage its tight cap situation while making key decisions about how to move forward and if it still is a championship contender needing slight tweaks or a major overhaul.
”I think there is a championship team sitting in this meeting room right here,” Carroll said.
Here are some of the issues to know about Seattle’s 2017 season and going into next year:
REDISCOVER THE RUN: Perhaps nothing irritated Carroll more, or had a great impact on the efficiency of the offense, than Seattle’s inability to run. It’s been a staple of Carroll’s program from the day he arrived in Seattle.
This year the Seahawks had one rushing touchdown by a running back. Quarterback Russell Wilson was the leading rusher with 586 yards, 346 more than any other player. Seattle had hopes for promising rookie Chris Carson, but he was sidelined by an ankle injury early in the season and never made it back. The lack of a running game affected Wilson as a passer as well, as defenses didn’t have to commit an extra safety to stopping the run, leading to smaller throwing windows and some tentative decisions by Wilson.
”There are tremendous examples of teams around the league that have turned their fortunes around with a formula that should sound familiar to you: teams running the football, playing good defense and doing the kicking game thing,” Carroll said.
INJURY CONCERNS: Carroll wouldn’t get into specifics, but there is a chance Cliff Avril and Kam Chancellor have played their final games. Avril and Chancellor suffered neck injuries during the season. Carroll said on the radio Tuesday that both would have a ”hard time” playing football again. A couple of hours later Authentic P.J. Hall Jersey , he softened his stance, saying each have quality-of-life decisions to address with their football future.
”Both those guys are marvelous people and competitors and all that. We’d love to see them through the rest of their career. I don’t know what’s going to happen there,” Carroll said.
LEGION OF WHOM: If Chancellor does not return, it could be the start of a major makeover for Seattle’s secondary. Richard Sherman is coming off a torn Achilles tendon and was openly shopped by Seattle last offseason. Earl Thomas is entering the last year of his contract and his actions toward the end of the season indicated a desire to be elsewhere for the 2018 season.
A big key will be if Seattle can re-sign versatile safety Bradley McDougald after he played both free and strong safety this season.
HOME-FIELD AVERAGE: Seattle went 4-4 at home, its first .500 record at CenturyLink Field since 2011. The Seahawks have always thrived at home, but some of their uglier performances this year came in front of their own fans.
OFF THE FIELD: Seattle was among the most active teams in the league with a significant number of players participating in national anthem protests. The protests, on top of the incident Michael Bennett had with police in Las Vegas in August, created a number of unexpected issues.
Carroll said he believed that only once this season – Seattle’s loss at Tennessee – did discussions of off-field issues affect the team’s performance. Seattle had long discussions following comments by President Donald Trump about NFL players and opted to remain in the locker room as a team during the anthem before that game.
”That was an extraordinarily heated time,” Carroll said. ”I think that was a different amount of emotional output that occurred before the game and it looked like it the way we played.”
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Bartolo Colon has long had two milestones on his mind. Now he has both of them in hand.
The 45-year-old right-hander overcame a sluggish start to earn his 245th major league win and match Dennis Martinez for the most by a pitcher from Latin America when the Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox 13-4 on Saturday night.
Colon already had the most wins by a pitcher born in the Dominican Republic, having surpassed Hall of Famer Juan Marichal for that distinction with his 244th victory at Kansas City on June 18, six days before a loss at Minnesota. Colon won again Saturday in his first home start since June 6 to tie Martinez, who is from Nicaragua.
Asked if he was able to put all his achievements in perspective, Colon made it clear there were two that were especially important to him.
”Not every milestone,” he said through a translator. ”Marichal and Dennis Martinez, and I got those.”
The night was done for Colon (5-5) after Matt Davidson led off the sixth with a homer to center field that pulled the White Sox to 5-3. Four relievers closed it out for Texas.
”We want to be able, if he’s got an opportunity Authentic Daryl Worley Jersey , to put the W behind his name to make sure he gets this,” manager Jeff Banister said. ”Obviously we want to win every game we possibly can, but a situation like this for him, and the overall history and his impact on the game, and impact on himself, and just what it means for the game of baseball.”
Joey Gallo and Ryan Rua homered for the Rangers, who won for the 11th time in 13 games and clinched their fifth consecutive series. Robinson Chirinos hit a three-run double in the fourth inning that put Texas ahead to stay.
White Sox lefty Carlos Rodon (1-3) allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Shin-Soo Choo, who has a major league-best on-base streak of 41 games, didn’t play for Texas because of right quad soreness. Choo said he has dealt with the issue for at least 10 days and it really bothered him recently.
Chicago’s first two batters got hits, though neither scored. Colon then threw 42 of his 79 pitches in the second inning, when he gave up three hits and his only two walks while the White Sox took a 2-0 lead.
”He’s kind of my half-hero,” Chicago manager Rick Renteria said. ”I told (pitching coach Don Cooper), look at that guy. He’s still out there getting after it. Good for him. … Even though he gave up a couple runs early, he just kept pitching. No panic, no concern, just keep throwing strikes and let me see what happens.”
Affectionately nicknamed Big Sexy http://www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-mark-walton-jersey , the portly Colon retired 10 of 11 batters before Davidson went deep. Colon even got over to cover first base in time to get speedy Leury Garcia, who dove headfirst as the pitcher took a toss from Gallo to start the third. Colon had a grin on his face walking back to the mound.
”I thought that if I didn’t get the guy out, I was going out,” Colon said. ”So thanks that happened that he was out, so I could continue the game.”
SHORT HOPS
Three White Sox pitchers combined to throw 65 pitches in the eighth inning, when the Rangers scored seven times. The big hits were a two-run triple by Elvis Andrus and a two-run double by Jurickson Profar. … Adrian Beltre had two hits, increasing his career total to 3,107 – the most among active players and three shy of Dave Winfield for 20th all-time.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: 3B Yolmer Sanchez was back in the lineup after missing the series opener with a bruised left quad sustained when he collided with Minnesota 1B Logan Morrison on Thursday.
Rangers: Choo doesn’t think his quad issue is serious, but said he didn’t want to make anything worse. ”I know I have the streak going on, but my body and staying healthy is more important,” he said. … LHP Martin Perez (right elbow) allowed two singles in six scoreless innings in his second rehab start, throwing 73 pitches for Double-A Frisco.
UP NEXT
Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels (4-6, 3.61 ERA), one of the top starters potentially available before the July 31 trade deadline, pitches the series finale. Hamels has a 3.28 ERA over his last nine starts. He is 2-0 with a 2.86 ERA in four career starts against the White Sox.