While Bill Belichick isn’t counting out Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, Seahawks’ head coach Pete Carroll isn’t counting out his opponent, either.
Come Sunday, Carroll’s Seattle Seahawks will face off against Belichick’s New England Patriots —marking the 19th matchup between the two teams dating back to 1977. This will be the first time the Patriots will travel to Seattle during the regular season since 2012, when they lost to the Seahawks, 24-23. They have a 4-3 record against the Seahawks when playing in Seattle.
Carroll is seemingly familiar with the Patriots’ way of doing things. Almost twenty years ago, he was fired by the Patriots as the head coach, which led to the hiring of Belichick in 2000. Since taking up the head coaching job in Seattle in 2010, this is Carrol’s fourth time facing off against New England.
The series between both teams is tied, 9-9. They faced off in Super Bowl XLIX, with the Patriots defeating the Seahawks, 28-24. The last time the two teams played was in 2016, when the Seahawks defeated the Patriots in New England, 31-24.
While this Patriots team is no longer led by quarterback Tom Brady, the Seahawks are familiar with Cam Newton — who will face off against them for the ninth time. However, Carroll is aware that the Patriots could run an entirely different offense than what he’s used to, especially with Newton.
“They adapt as well to their opponents as anybody in the game,” Carroll said on Thursday. “They can do anything in the second game. I leave it wide open to coach Belichick. What you saw is a feature of the quarterback. Cam ran the ball (15) times in the game. We got to see what they do this time around. There’s not enough games for us in their new thinking to know what to expect here. We’ll have to adapt at game time.”
Considering it’s early on in the season, the Seahawks have little to look at when scouting the Patriots right now. Anything, as Carroll suggested, could happen.
Here’s what the Seahawks had to say about the Patriots ahead of Sunday’s matchup:
Carroll on Bill Belichick’s ‘consistency’ as a coach:
“There’s a marvelous consistency,” Carroll told reporters. “That’s as obvious as a statement that you can make. But to be consistent like that, you know, you’ve got to have, you know, your, mentality and your approach really, really nailed. He does. He knows exactly how he wants to do it. He does it regardless of what the circumstances are, he’s going to bring his team to game time and they’re going play you know, Patriots football. I think just a little bit deeper into it, he’s a very, very good game planner. He does a great job of assessing his own talent and utilizing it and assessing his opponents’ talent and tries to take advantage of it. It’s been something that’s been very characteristic of his coaching on both sides of the football for a long time. And that’s just kind of who he is.”
On Cam Newton:
Pete Carroll: “We do have a real good background with Cam, but we don’t know what they’re going to do with him,” Carroll said. “It’s only one game. We don’t even have the benefit of the preseason games to try to kind of figure it out. And they have been notorious for changing from one week to the next in how they approach their opponents and all. So we have to go into this game with a wide open-look, it’s almost like a first game. We have some information of course—they showed they really want to run the football, ran it 42 times in the game, which is a great commitment. But we’ll see. We don’t know.”
Ken Norton Jr., defensive coordinator: “He’s very unique. He’s been a really special player for a long time,” Norton Jr. said. “He garners special attention. We’ve had a lot of games against him. We’ve played well. He’s played well. So, we are expecting a really good challenge. We have to be unique just like he is.”
Greg Olsen, tight end: “[Cam is] going to compete hard,” Olsen said. “He’s going to do everything in his power to give his team a chance to be successful, whether that’s throwing it, running it, scrambles, designed runs, short yardage, goal line or whatever the situation presents. That’s just the competitor that he is. That’s the type of guy he is. Our guys know him well. They’ve played against him a lot. They know the challenge that he is. They have a ton of respect for him as we all do. I told him I want you to have a great year, just not in Week 2. I want what’s best for him. He’s an awesome guy. We have a great relationship. For one week we are going to control him, hopefully.”
On defending against the Patriots’ offense:
Bobby Wagner, linebacker: “You have to approach it with fresh eyes. We have a lot of history with playing Cam. We understand the type of runs that they want to implement with Cam. We also understand that the Patriots have a history – they can run the ball 42 times one game and in the next game, throw it 42 times. I feel like they’re confident in Cam’s ability to throw the ball as well. So we’ve got to be prepared for everything. We have make sure that we make them one dimensional and don’t let them come out and run and pass on us.”
“When you play a team that is committed to running the ball it’s a challenge of who can be tougher. So, when someone wants to run 42 times it’s really a test of your will and I feel like I like our will.”
Updates on the weather, and the issue of air-quality:
“We’re in direct connection with [the NFL] and they are monitoring what’s going on as we are as well,” Carroll said Wednesday, according to ESPN. “Hopefully we get a good shift in the weather here by the weekend. It looks it could change tomorrow some and into the weekend, but we’re very cognizant of it and we’re working to figure it out.”
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