Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll defended offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer from criticism Monday, two days after the team was eliminated from the playoffs by the Dallas Cowboys.
Carroll and Schottenheimer’s offensive gameplan was highly criticized, with Seattle throwing the ball only three more times than they ran it despite the ground game being completely unsuccessful and Russell Wilson averaging 8.6 yards per completion on 27 pass attempts. Carroll dismissed criticism of Schottenheimer as “garbage,” saying he was proud of the season they’d had together.
Carroll on criticism of Schottenheimer: "That's a bunch of garbage. What a terrific football season we had… I get it, everybody feels bad about it. Brian's a helluva coach and he does a great job, and he did a great job with our guys throughout the season and will continue to."
— Stacy Jo Rost (@StacyRost) January 7, 2019
Perhaps Schottenheimer did a good job this season, but he did a poor one on Saturday. Seattle found much more success when letting Wilson throw the ball, but kept him largely under wraps while relying on a rushing game that averaged three yards a carry on 24 attempts. They played right into Dallas’s hands and didn’t adapt. It’s one thing to gameplan around your strength, but when that strength is being nullified, something else must be done and Schottenheimer and the Seahawks failed to do it.
