‘Gassed?’ Must be another reason Chris Carson didn’t run for Seahawks in final 2 1/2 quarters

Chris Carson appears to be in somebody’s doghouse for something.

And it doesn’t seem to be for getting tired during games.

The Seahawks’ lead running back vanished from the rushing attack, the offense and the game for the entire second half of Seattle’s 24-17 loss at Chicago Monday night.

After the game, days after he said Carson had proven in his scant work the previous week in the opening loss at Denver that he was the starter, coach Pete Carroll explained Carson got “gassed” against the Bears. Tired, Carroll explained, from having to play so much more on special teams because of injuries to safeties and linebackers that normally play on kicking downs.

The official NFL statistics from the game released Tuesday morning show Carson played two snaps on special teams at Chicago.

Two.

He played 19 snaps, of the offense’s 66.

That’s a load he—heck, any NFL back—should be able to carry.

This, days after Carroll said rookie Rashaad Penny needed to regroup and re-gain his decisiveness running, and that Carson had taken a clear hold of the featured-back job.

So, the reason the starting running back on an 0-2 team that won’t run the ball to support struggling passer Russell Wilson still hasn’t gotten the ball since 11:51 remained in the second quarter Monday night has to be something else.

Carson seemed to be in a good temperament during the second half and after the loss to the Bears. During the only drive the Seahawks looked like a functioning offense (until a garbage-time touchdown with 14 seconds left), their march early in the fourth quarter that ended with Wilson’s touchdown pass to Tyler Lockett to cut Seattle’s deficit to 17-10, Carson was on the sidelines. He had his helmet on and was clapping for Penny and his teammates who were playing. At one point between plays Carson during that 11-play drive without him windmilled his arms to exhort the offense to continue the fast pace that finally had the Bears’ defense retreating for the first time all night.

After the game, Carson sat at his locker and chatted amicably with Penny and fellow backs around him. His head wasn’t down.

(I left without talking to Carson because Carroll was beginning his postgame remarks in another room; by the time I got back in the locker room Carson was on the team bus to the airport).

So why didn’t he not only not run but not play in Chicago>

Since the numbers say it wasn’t for lack of production or exhaustion, some are wondering if Carson may have done or said something to a coach or teammate on the sidelines during the game or in the locker room at halftime.

Carroll hired offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer in January to replace the fired Darrell Bevell to fit the head coach’s mandate to return the Seahawks to the run-based attack that got Seattle to consecutive Super Bowls in the 2013 and ‘14 seasons. Schottenheimer led the NFL’s top-ranked offense with the New York Jets a decade ago. He and Carroll talked from March through last week about the importance of establishing the run early in games and staying with it throughout them. Of the need to balance the play calling so defenses no longer focused solely on sacking Wilson. Of Carson being their lead runner.

Yet Carson has just 13 carries over the first eight quarters of the season, despite averaging 5.8 yards per carry that is far above the NFL average. He romped hard for 9 yards on the first play of Monday’s game, then again for a first down and 2 more yards; three consecutive carries for 13 yards and a first down to start. He had three carries the rest of the game.

Last week after his 51 yards rushing in the 27-24 loss at Denver, the questions were why Carson didn’t get more than seven runs. Carroll and Schottenheimer vowed to change that.

Monday, Carson got one fewer.

Penny has carried the ball 17 times for 38 yards through two games. The first-round draft choice this spring is averaging just 2.2 yards per rush.

Carroll said this in full when asked why Carson disappeared Monday night in what was a one-score game for all but a couple minutes, until Wilson’s killer interception Bears cornerback Prince Amukamara returned for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to put Chicago ahead 24-10 and effectively end the game.

“He was a little gassed from working on special teams and helping us,” Carroll said of Carson. “He had to kind of double dip. And I wanted to see how we could do with Rashaad and get him some playing time.”

No Seahawk—not Penny, not Carson—ran the ball in the third quarter Monday night. Seattle ran six plays, all passes by Wilson, and gained a total of 1 yard on two three-and-out drives to nowhere.

Carroll took the blame for that. He said he trumped Schottenheimer’s play plan in that third quarter.

“Unfortunately, we wanted to do better in the third quarter,” Carroll said. “I got Schotty to take a couple shots and look at a couple things, and got him out of rhythm a little bit. ... It was my fault. I got him trying a little bit too hard to take a couple shots and see if we could bounce back and get back into the game quickly. And I shouldn’t have done that.”

Back in the game? The score in the third quarter was 10-3 Bears. It stayed that way throughout it.

This story was originally published September 18, 2018 at 7:00 AM.