How Chris Carson’s TD catch lifted the Seahawks to a win, and made an entire stadium gasp
It all happened in a split second. Russell Wilson, on the run again, flipped the football to his running back, standing wide open in the front of the end zone. Chris Carson barely needed to leave his feet to snatch the slightly lofted pass. While the ball was still spinning through the air, the celebration started. Wilson started running toward the sideline. A few yards away, rookie wide receiver DK Metcalf, threw both hands up in jubilee.
Then the ball crashed off Carson’s fingertips, and thousands around CenturyLink Field collectively gasped.
“I saw him release it,” Carson said. “I saw it come toward me, but it got lost (in the lights). I didn’t see where it went. So, I put my hand out, and it hit my hand, and I was like, ‘Oh, shoot there it is,’ and I finally caught it.”
He inadvertently tipped the ball up in the air, where it fluttered a few feet above him before he whirled around on his back foot, and safely secured it with his right hand.
Carson — and the rest of the Seattle Seahawks — exhaled, grabbing a 30-29 lead on what was ultimately the game-winning touchdown Thursday night against the Los Angeles Rams.
“I thought he caught it the first time, so I started celebrating early,” Metcalf said. “He tipped the ball to himself, so I was like, ‘Alright, you’re trying to do a little bit too extra right there.’ ”
Metcalf paused for a quick laugh.
“But, I was just happy he made the play,” he said. “He stepped up big time for us tonight.”
Metcalf’s fists promptly returned to the air when he walked over to congratulate Carson on what was the third receiving touchdown of his three-year career in Seattle — and second this season. Several teammates more, wearing the action green jerseys they have yet to lose in, rallied to Carson on the sideline.
“It was just a crazy mixture of emotions so quickly,” Seahawks left tackle Duane Brown said.
About seven minutes earlier, the Seahawks were 75 yards away from the end zone and trailing by five to a Los Angeles team that has always seemed to have an edge in recent meetings.
Carson gained 33 of the yards on the decisive drive on seven carries — a Wilson to Tyler Lockett completion, a Wilson scramble and a roughing the passer call did the rest — including setting up a more manageable fourth-and-goal from the 5 with a 6-yard gain.
Seattle made the gutsy call to go for it, and Wilson side-stepped a diving defender, for a second looking like he’d try to take it himself. But, spotting Carson alone in the front corner, he pulled up on the run, short of the line of scrimmage, and let the ball go.
“I was about to take off and run,” Wilson said. “Out of the corner of my eye, out of my peripheral, I see Chris. Popped it to him. I didn’t notice he bobbled it. I was ready to celebrate already. It was amazing.”
“Chris played another beautiful football game running the ball … and made everybody’s heart drop on the touchdown catch that Russ hit him (with) in the corner over there, but came through,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “I thought that was another great performance for him to get us in the mode and style that we play in.”
And surely Carson’s ability to hang on at a crucial moment earned him some credibility. Though the Seahawks haven’t wavered from their trust in the third-year running back, Carson’s three fumbles in the first three weeks came with plenty of outside questions of whether he should retain his starting job.
Thursday’s performance, during which Carson rushed for a season-high 118 yards on 27 carries, paired with Sunday’s against the Cardinals, when he finished with 104 yards on 22 carries, provoked an emphatic response from Carroll.
“Such a determined player,” Carroll said. “Isn’t it great we didn’t give up on him? Wouldn’t that be crazy? Sit him down, don’t let him play? BS to that. He’s a ball player, and just thrilled he’s been able to answer the call, and come back, and be the stud that he is.”
Considering the fumbles, Carson said he just appreciates that the Seahawks trust him, and that his teammates have believed in him despite early-season miscues.
“Chris is as tough as they come,” Brown said. “He had a big game last week, and we wanted to keep that momentum coming into this game. … I think he’s past that now. That was a tough stretch, but I think he’s showed the last couple of weeks what he’s all about.
“That’s the player he is.”
Though Carson has collected just one rushing touchdown through the first five weeks, the back-to-back triple-digit rushing games are a noted improvement on 46, 60 and 52 yards in the first three games, each on 15 carries. The downhill aggression he’s flashed during his years with the Seahawks seems to be on the rise again, too.
“We were never going to stop giving him the ball,” Lockett said. “We were never going to stop letting him be him. He was always going to go out there and be him.
“I just think that was something that probably needed to happen for him to be able to put him in a place where he brings that dog mentality every single day. He quiets the noise on the outside, and he just goes out there and plays.
“We know he’s phenomenal. To me, he’s one of the top three, top five running backs that plays aggressive and physical every single game, and runs through people. The fact that he does that, and the fact that he gets extra yards, and he does the dirty work … that’s really all you can ask for in Chris, and he’s doing a great job at that.”
