Monday in Hawkville

Published on November 21, 2011 by Seahawks.Com News (Feed)     

A recap of the day’s activities at Virginia Mason Athletic Center for Nov. 21:

FOCUS ON

Two thumbs up. That was coach Pete Carroll’s review from the video review of Sunday’s 24-7 victory over the Rams in St. Louis.

The convincing victory gave the Seahawks back-to-back wins for the first time since midseason last year and sets the table for even better things to come with the team playing its next three games at home – starting with Sunday’s matchup against the Washington Redskins at CenturyLink Field.

“There’s a lot of energy in here today,” Carroll said during his weekly day-after news conference. “The guys were really excited about the defensive effort, and the special teams, and winning on the road, and winning a division game and all that kind of stuff.

“It wasn’t pretty, particularly in the beginning, but we rallied and we played really hard and really tough. Across the board, we were physical.”

As you can tell, the coach was pretty pumped, too, because the Seahawks played the style of ball he envisions becoming the team’s calling-card: a tough, physical, aggressive defense, supported by a strong running game.

“I liked that we stayed with the running game and it kind of complemented the way we played on defense,” Carroll said. “We kept hammering away and good things started to happen. So it was a good day.”

By the end of the day, the Seahawks were 4-6 because they limited the Rams to 185 yards – only 42 rushing – and continued running the ball even though the yards were tough to come by. The Seahawks had more than 100 rushing yards for a third consecutive game, and for the first time since the end of the 2008 season.

 “We put together a nice win,” Carroll said. “And to get back-to-back wins for us at this time is important.”

POSITION WATCH

Right guard and right tackle. That’s where Paul McQuistan and Breno Giacomini played against the Rams, and will continue to play, because rookies John Moffitt and James Carpenter were lost to season-ending knee injuries last week.

“I thought Breno really held up his own,” Carroll said. “I thought Paul had a little harder time getting started. He had two penalties that are going to distract me from giving him a real good grade on the day. But I was impressed with Breno … I thought he looked a little farther along and comfortable.”

This was Giacomini’s second NFL start, while McQuistan filled in at left guard for three games earlier this season when Robert Gallery was out with the groin injury.

“When Paul played earlier in the year, he started slowly in the first game,” Carroll. “He did a little bit of that in this game, and then got more comfortable.

“We really functioned a lot better in the fourth quarter than we did early in the game. So that’s a good sign.”

INJURY UPDATES

Wide receiver Ben Obomanu got a sprained ankle and knee injury against the Rams that could force him to miss practice time early in the week.

Asked if the situation could prevent Obomanu from playing, Carroll said, “I don’t know that yet. He’s pretty sore today. We’ll get to Wednesday and see what happens. It’s not so bad that they can call that he’s ‘out.’ It’s not that kind of deal. But he’s a really tough dude and comes back from stuff. We’ll give him a chance because he’s overcome a lot of stuff in the past.”

Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, who has a sprained pectoral in his throwing shoulder, came out of the game “the best he has felt the day after a game,” Carroll said. “I don’t know what that means. But we’re encouraged by anything on the positive side.”

Safety Atari Bigby and defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove did not play against the Rams because of hamstring injuries, but Carroll said he expects them to practice on Wednesday but that they’ll be eased back into it.

“Both were running at the end of last week, and both were kind of making a pitch for themselves that they could play,” Carroll said. “So they’re really close. I would think that they’ll be all right.”

REMEMBERING HALMAN

Carroll began his news conference by extending his thoughts to the family of Mariners outfielder Greg Halman, who was stabbed to death today in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

“I want to take a moment to pass out our condolences to the family of Greg Halman and the loss to the whole Mariner organization,” Carroll said. “It’s a tragedy and a terrible thing to happen. We’re aware of it and we’re talking about it, so we want to make mention that we’re concerned.”

STAT DU JOUR

The Seahawk have faced three pretty-productive running backs in their past three games and held each to below-average performances. Here’s a look at the numbers those backs put up against the Seahawks compared to those averages in their starts leading up to the matchup with Seattle:

Week 11

Back, team                             Avg. yards         Per-carry avg.

Steven Jackson, Rams               78.6                5.1

vs. Seahawks                              42                   2.8

Week 10

Back, team                             Avg. yards       Per-carry avg.

Ray Rice, Ravens                       66.5                 4.0

vs. Seahawks                             27                    5.4

Week 9

Back, team                               Avg. yards       Per-carry avg.

DeMarco Murray, Cowboys   163.5                 9.9

vs. Seahawks                             139                    6.3

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Tags: Aggressive Defense, Breno Giacomini, coach pete carroll, Consecutive Game, Convincing Victory, Defensive Effort, Division Game, James Carpenter, John Moffitt, Matchup Against, Paul Mcquistan, Rams, Rookies, Running Game, Rushing Yards, Seahawks, Three Games, Video Review, Virginia Mason, Washington Redskins