Seattle Seahawks' Pete Carroll laments squandered opportunities

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll saw similarities between the way their season ended on Saturday and the way his team played all season.

"It was so obvious to me we had a season that looked like the game," Carroll said on the heels of the Seahawks' 36-20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC divisional round game. "There was an inability to be consistently on it throughout the game. We saw we had this opportunity and we had these chances, and then they got away. We came back and didn't quite get it finished. It felt like the season, in a sense."

The Seahawks jumped out to a 7-0 lead against the Falcons after an eight-plus-minute, 14-play drive ended in a touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to Jimmy Graham. But the absence of Earl Thomas caught up to Seattle as Matt Ryan and the Falcons' high-powered offense outscored Seattle 36-13 over the final 52 minutes of the game. The Seahawks had no answer to slow down Atlanta's attack.

It left Seattle feeling like it missed out on an opportunity to get back to the top of the mountain.

"We missed our chance to have the second game at home," Carroll said in lamenting their inability to secure a first-round bye. "How valuable is that? How valuable is that to us? We missed that opportunity. Of all of the things during the season, not being able to do that might have been the most significant thing that happened. We couldn't get the second home game here you know? That gives us our best chance."

Carroll referenced the team's tie with Arizona in October, its loss to the Cardinals in December and other games that didn't go its way as lost opportunities to put his team in a better position in the playoffs. He also brought up the distractions caused by Richard Sherman's sideline outbursts directed at both coordinators and subsequent lack of contrition.

"I think there were a couple outbursts that we had that we documented well that took us to a place we don't want to be. We don't want any part of it," Carroll said. "The emotional side of it brought out some expressions and took us to a place that was a distraction that we had to get through.

"Sometimes the setbacks can allow you to grow and it did. But we don't need those distractions. It's hard enough to get it done when everybody is in lock step and all that."

Despite the missed opportunity to play in a third conference championship game in four seasons, Carroll is just as optimistic as ever about the outlook for his team. The two most prominent free agents are kicker Steven Hauschka and backup tight end Luke Willson. The majority of the team's core is under contract through at least next season, which gives Seattle a chance to return mostly intact with an offseason to add to the group as well.

"I can't tell you how excited I am going forward," Carroll said. "You look at the team, the young guys that have a chance to come up and add to it, the ones that showed us stuff and the ones that almost got a chance to show us stuff, we're going to get so much better. To think otherwise would be crazy. We have a great chance to put together a terrific squad."