What The Seahawks Said Following Their 29-20 Loss To The Giants

MIKE MACDONALD: I’m talking about not doing the things in all three phases to win a football game, got to give the Giants credit. They outplayed us today. With that said, we gave ourselves a chance to tie the game and even win it at the end of the fourth, and we came up short. The message is we don’t have enough time to sit around and put our heads down. We’ve got to keep our heads up, take it on the chin and move forward. We’ve got a game, (in) three, four days and we need to be ready to go. We need to get better in a hurry.

Q. Take us through the thinking on fourth-and-one and choosing to go for it there.

MIKE MACDONALD: Felt like we had a pretty good play. I was confident in the situation and we felt good about it. They didn’t play it the way we expected them to. And Burns made a great play.

Q. Was that the play you called, as executed?

MIKE MACDONALD: That was the play that we had game planned for that situation.

Q. What did you see as the struggles on defense today for you guys?

MIKE MACDONALD: We got outplayed and outexecuted today. That’s what happened. I thought we made some good adjustments as the game went on. I’m not sure what the numbers are saying, but when we did create third downs in the first half we didn’t get off the field. And then I think there were some penalties there in the second half. It’s kind of all the way around — all three phases, all three levels of the defense, myself included. We got outplayed today on defense.

Q. Second straight game you guys came out throwing the football. I believe 15 out of the first 17 plays dropping back. Ken Walker had four carries midway through the third quarter. What are your thoughts on that situation? Seems to be a trend where number nine, when he’s healthy, is not getting the ball very much until late in the second half?

MIKE MACDONALD: That’s a fair question. We definitely need to get the run game going. The way the game started we were thinking about trying to get Geno going early. And I’m not sure how many plays we had (in) the first half, but it wasn’t many. The game started to kind of get out of hand there. We had to get going. You’re right, we need to get the run game going, we need to get Ken (Walker III) the ball more.

Q. (On the blocked field goal)

MIKE MACDONALD: Well, you know, there’s a guy in the A-gap. We need to block him. That’s pretty much that simple. But you’re allowed to push down. They pushed down on our right guard, and he wasn’t able to get to Simmons.

Q. What do you think of all the success they had running the ball? Did you feel you had the right personnel in there (to defend the run)?

MIKE MACDONALD: Yeah, it was our best 11 guys, given who is on the field for them. Again, we have to call a better game. When we’re in those plays we have to execute better and tackle and numbers the ball better. It’s fundamental football and we’re coming up short. That’s what’s disappointing right now.

Q. What did you see from Jerome Baker, first game back, had a couple of plays at the goal line?

MIKE MACDONALD: Jerome in those critical situations, I thought he had some really smart plays. The run game, all 11 guys need to be better. That’s what it is.

Q. On a short week, did you think the energy, the focus, the effort was where it needs to be?

MIKE MACDONALD: Yeah, I thought we bounced back. Throughout the week the guys were focused. I thought we executed well throughout the week. It’s hard to do a huge autopsy right now because it’s only been an hour. We’re going to go back to work on the (San Francisco) Niners. But we do need to look at it, see what we need to improve. I thought the preparation was good enough to go win a game.

Q. (On Riq Woolen and Uchenna Nwosu…)

MIKE MACDONALD: Riq (Woolen) has an ankle. We’re not sure what that looks like. Uchenna (Nwosu) had a, I believe it’s a thigh.

Q. With Riq out, we saw Pritchett, got the third-down pass breakup. What did you see in the time he got?

MIKE MACDONALD: He’s got to go in there play at a high level. He’s been practicing well enough to be up and be the next guy in the game. There’s going to be a competition there based on what happens with Riq and how we align guys. But it was good to see him respond (and) make plays in the second half.

Q. You mentioned quick turnaround, there’s three games, you play again. How hard is it to fix things fundamentally and to pick yourself up when there are such gaps?

MIKE MACDONALD: Doesn’t matter how hard it is. Nobody cares. We’ve got to work harder. That’s the way it is. I mean, it’s an opportunity to go make it right in four days. That’s really what we need to focus on.

Q. They finished with seven sacks. Did you see them do anything scheme-wise to try to get open there?

MIKE MACDONALD: I’m not sure. I’m not sure without dissecting when they were calling stuff in certain situations. But they rushed well today. They have a good front.

Q. Geno Smith’s day in general, what did you make if it?

MIKE MACDONALD: The thing about Geno, the guy is going to battle his tail off no matter the circumstance. We’re fighting, even when we’re down nine points at the end. We take a sack there. This guy is an ultra competitor. And given how the game was going, we did some things at the end of the second half that I thought was pretty dang good. And Geno’s a big-time pro. He’s a leader on this team. He’s going to be kind of a uniting force for us, a galvanizing force for us in order to get in the direction we want to go.