Carroll on Seahawks' offensive, penalty issues: “I have to do a better job”

(TNS) — Forget the officiating.

The Seahawks have too many other issues of their own to fix.

They have more flags than the United Nations. The offense has scored just one touchdown in nine quarters. The latest malfunction came on Sunday, a 25-20 loss to the previously 2-4 New Orleans Saints who had the NFL’s worst defense.

And Pete Carroll is owning all of it.

“We (came) out of this game with a lot of work to do. ...We have to do a better job in penalty situations, and I have to do a better job,” the Seahawks’ 65-year-old coach said Monday.

That was a day after 11 penalties -- compared to New Orleans’ two -- wiped out much of what Seattle (4-2-1) accomplished at the Superdome.

“I have to do a better job of getting the message across,” Carroll said. “And to be that far out of whack compared to your opponent in a game is really to give them great advantage. ...

“We have to clean that thing up. We have a lot of work to do in a lot of areas, so we’re going to go at it and get this thing turned around, get ready.”

Get ready for Monday night’s home game against Buffalo (4-4).

Sunday was the fourth time in seven games the Seahawks scored one or zero offensive touchdowns. The past two games Seattle has run the ball just 36 times in nine full quarters, which averages out to four times per 15-minute quarter. In Sunday’s first half, they had just 3 yards rushing.

“We need to get out of what we’ve been in the past two weeks,” said Carroll, who built Seattle into a two-time Super Bowl team with a still-top-ranked defense and a punishing running game.

“This is not the way we want to play football. We need to fix this, and it just happened back to back to us in very similar fashion.

“I can’t wait to get back on the practice field. ... There will be some things that will look different.”

Take that to mean a renewed emphasis on the run, not necessarily personnel changes.

One starter who could change is at left tackle. Usual starter Bradley Sowell tried to play at the Saints, but the sprained medial collateral ligament in his knee kept him inactive. Undrafted rookie George Fant made his first NFL start instead.

“(Sowell) has a chance. It’ll be day to day, but he has a chance to be back,” Carroll said.

Thomas Rawls won’t be returning to boost a running game that ranks 28th in the NFL. Seattle managed just 74 yards on 17 carries against the Saints and has just 126 yards on 36 rushes in the last two games combined. That includes the previous week’s 6-6 overtime tie at Arizona.

Rawls did his most intense, extensive running Monday since he cracked his fibula during the 9-3 loss at Los Angeles Sept. 18. Carroll said “this is the best he’s been.”

But the coach said Rawls won’t play against the Bills. The Seahawks would be thrilled if he could return for the test at New England Nov. 13.

Without the replacement for retired Marshawn Lynch as Seattle’s lead back the running game’s primarily been Christine Michael or bust -- actually bust more than Michael so far.

“He’s made some good special plays, the consistency to take care of the football and all that kind of stuff has been excellent,” Carroll said in assessing Michael’s 446 yards on 107 carries this season (4.2 yards per carry). “We just want him to have more opportunities and get out in the open.”

Michael’s yards are 78 percent of Seattle’s substandard rushing offense. He gained 31 of his 40 yards on one drive in New Orleans, the crisp, first one of the second half that resulted in a field goal. But he got just two carries for 6 yards the rest of the game.

“Just in general we just need to get more shots,” Carroll said. “We just need more, we need to dig in with the running game and we have not been able to get that done.”

“It’s frustrating to say that. ... We’re just going to keep plugging away. We’re not stopping with anything that we believe in, because we know the formula we want to play with. We just haven’t really settled into it yet.”