Pete Carroll is optimistic, primarily because Pete Carroll is optimistic.
But the Seahawks coach is convinced that his team’s moribund run game is going to improve soon, and maybe the reason is that it just can’t get much worse.
Via Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com, Carroll said he hopes the return of running back Thomas Rawls from his fibula injury the week after next will spark an offense that is a shell of its former self.
“This is what we’re counting on right now,” Carroll said. “We’re counting on him running this week, and then next week [against the Bills] preparing to play. That’s what we’re counting on unless something changes.”
That won’t help them this week against the Saints, but they’re playing the Saints, whose defense is historically bad. But the Seahawks are averaging a meager 3.12 yards per carry, which is next to last in the league.
The absence of Rawls and the limitations of quarterback Russell Wilson because of his knee and ankle injuries have kept them from running effectively, but Carroll said Wilson was improving.
“He is getting better,” Carroll said. “He got out of this game maybe for the first time, he felt nothing of carryover on his ankle or his knee, which is really good. There’s always a little bit of aftermath. He didn’t feel that from what I understand.”
Of course, they’re going to have to try to fix things with another patchwork offensive line, as left tackle Bradley Sowell is going to miss some time with an MCL sprain. Whether that negates the return of Rawls and Wilson’s getting healthier will be seen, but the best answer this week might just be their opponent.