Pete Carroll throwing former Giants fan favorite under the bus was uncalled for
In what feels like a strange universe, the NY Giants are one of the hottest teams in the NFC over the past month, taking down the Commanders, Patriots and Packers for a three-game winning streak. Who in the world saw that coming? Not many with Tommy DeVito as the starting quarterback.
Elsewhere, things have been a mess for other squads, no question including the Seattle Seahawks, the new home for former Giants standouts Leonard Williams (trade) and Julian Love. The Seahawks suffered a rough loss to the 49ers on Sunday and in stunning fashion, head coach Pete Carroll decided to put some of his players on blast. The list includes Love, who remains adored all over East Rutherford.
Pete Carroll called out Julian Love, Jamal Adams and others after Sunday's loss
The play that had Carroll so upset with Love was on George Kittle's sweet 44-yard touchdown grab. On that particular play, Love bit on play-action and tried to hold on to Kittle, but the big-bodied tight end got past him, caught the ball, brushed off an arm tackle and made his way to the end zone. It was a disappointing sequence all around for the former Giants safety.
"“We gave it to them. Kittle in short yardage, in a play-action pass, their heavy personnel. He’s been doing that for his whole career. There was nothing new about those things. We didn’t execute well enough to stop those opportunities. That’s the stuff we practiced, and we needed to come through and make those plays. We didn’t do it.”"
- Pete Carroll via reporter Gregg Bell
Following the Week 14 loss to San Francisco, the Seahawks have now lost four games in a row and they sit on the outside looking in for the postseason at 6-7. Not long ago, Seattle was playing with a ton of confidence on both sides of the ball, but that's no longer the case.
As for Love, it's been a bit of an up-and-down year for him in the NFC West. While he's no longer making plays for the Giants, Big Blue Nation still has a lot of love for the guy, especially since he made it clear after he signed with Seattle that he'll always cherish his time in East Rutherford. Carroll going after him like this is not only uncharacteristic, but a bit out of line too.