The 2-2 Seahawks host on Sunday the 4-0 Rams, not only a division rival but also one of the very best offenses in the league. Seattle coach Pete Carroll looks forward to the opportunity to take on his rivals from Southern California.
“I really have enjoyed this process,” Carroll told reporters regarding the preparations for Sunday’s games. “I hope that we will play well. It’s out of respect for what they’ve done that they challenge us and trying to put together a plan that gives us something that will give us a chance to slow them down, nobody’s even slowed them down yet. We’ll see how it goes. They’re really loaded and they’re hitting on all cylinders. They’re healthy and everything else, so they’re as tough as you can get.”
Regardless of the potency of the L.A. offense, Carroll realizes that it all comes down to fundamentals.
“Without the fundamentals, there is no plan that’s any good,” Carroll said. “You have to play discipline run play up front and there’s no other way to do it. There’s no get tough and just growl and tackle them, it isn’t like that. You have to be strictly tied together, you’ve got to be disciplined and fit off of one another. Then when you get there, you have to tackle and make your plays. [Todd] Gurley is a really good running back, he’s as good as you can find in football. It’s not just because he’s in a good offense, because he’s a hell of a player running with the ball in open field, running up inside, catching the ball out of the backfield — he’s just a great player. It’ll call for us to really tackle really well. You can’t do it just by being fired up, you have play well and then you got to finish the plays by getting him on the ground.”
If it was that easy, someone would have beaten the Rams by now. The Seahawks, aided by the noise generated at their home stadium, have a chance to do it. But it will take everything the Seahawks can muster, on both sides of the ball.