Cohen: Pete Carroll's approach helps Seahawks move on

Photo: Rob Carr, Getty Images Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and cornerback Richard Sherman...

As NFL fans -- and as media members who cover the league -- it's easy, if not expected, to become a prisoner of the moment.

After all, there are only 16 regular season games in any campaign, and the results of any one of them could make or break a season, career, etc.

Unlike most of us, NFL coaches can't afford to be prisoners of the moment if they want to establish and grow something truly special under their watch. They have to see both the forest and the trees.

Perhaps no coach has done a better job of juggling both a long-and short-term focus than Seattle's Pete Carroll, so maybe it wasn't coach speak when he said last week's loss to St. Louis on the heels of a five-game winning streak was an aberration, not a sign that the team had somehow reverted back to its uneven early season form.

"After the last six weeks of playing, then you see a game like that, I'm going with the six weeks rather than last week of how we're going to be as we move forward," Carroll said the day after the loss.

He was right.

The Seahawks' 36-6 walloping of the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday was their best all-around effort of the 2015 season. All the more impressive, the victory came without a bevy of starters, including running back Marshawn Lynch, tackle Russell Okung, guard J.R. Sweezy and tight end Luke Willson on offense and strong safety Kam Chancellor on defense.

"We were able to take advantage of a lot of good stuff and just kept executing in the way that we had hoped to," Carroll said after Sunday's game. "Coming off of last week we wanted to get right, so today was a good day for doing that. So many cool things happened."

Those cool things included Russell Wilson throwing three first-half touchdowns, first breaking Dave Krieg's single-season passing touchdown record, then Matt Hasselbeck's single-season yardage mark.

Former castoff Christine Michael provided the spark on the ground with 102 yards on 17 carries running behind an offensive line featuring a first-time NFL starter in rookie right guard Mark Glowinski.

Rookie receiver Tyler Lockett gave Seattle a boost on special teams, breaking the franchise record for single-game punt return yardage ... by the second quarter.

On defense, Seattle's 6 points allowed secured a fourth-straight defensive scoring title, a first since the NFL/AFL merger, while their three interceptions gave them as many picks on the season (14) as touchdown passes allowed.

The "Legion of Boom" secondary that so many people had written off as having lost its title as the league's best defensive backfield played with its trademark swagger, with cornerback Richard Sherman flashing his Cheshire Cat grin while shutting down opponents -- and drawing the occasional penalty flag.

In short, Sunday's Seahawks closely resembled the team that's made back-to-back Super Bowl appearances. So how did Carroll know the flat, ugly effort the week before wasn't a sign of things to come?

"Just took a look at the body of work in the last eight weeks," he said on Monday. "That was the outlier, that wasn't the norm. That wasn't what we had become, we had been going on a different direction. How that happened it still somewhat of a mystery."

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jermaine Kearse (15) celebrates his touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) less Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jermaine Kearse (15) celebrates his touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross ... more Photo: Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press Photo: Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press Image 1 of / 96 Caption Close Cohen: Pete Carroll's approach helps Seahawks move on 1 / 96 Back to Gallery

Carroll knows his team as well as any coach in the league, which is why he was so quick to throw out last week's results. The team that lost to the Rams simply wasn't a representation of who the 2015 Seahawks are.

Under Carroll, Seattle is enjoying a historic stretch of success, putting together four straight seasons with double-digit wins and a 41-23 regular season record since 2012. The Seahawks won their first Super Bowl title in that stretch, of course, and came agonizingly close to taking home another one last February.

About that loss. On Monday, Carroll admitted the team was playing through a Super Bowl hangover this season -- something we guessed months ago -- saying the struggle to overcome the heartbreaking finish to Super Bowl XLIX was the story of the Seahawks' 2015 campaign.

"We had to get through last year," Carroll said Monday. "We had to get through the finish to the season. There was no question it had a big impact, and we did. We made it."

In working back from the devastating loss, Carroll and the Seahawks used the same mantra he employed after the loss to the Rams: Forget about what happened in the past and concentrate on the very next thing you can control.

"It's the discipline to go back to what you know, and to not mess with what happened, and work towards what you can control, which is the next play that you have and the next opportunity that you have," Carroll said. "I trust that we have that. I trust that we understand what that takes. But I know we can do it in games, we've proven it for years."

Carroll's approach may have taken longer than he thought it would at the beginning of the season -- he admitted as much Monday -- but his ability to leave everything in his rearview mirror, be that celebration of heartache or simply an off-day, has Seattle in position to perhaps become just the fourth team in NFL history to make three straight Super Bowl appearances.

And in the event Carroll's Seahawks get that far again, you can bet he'll enjoy the moment.

Then he'll move on, probably quicker than the rest of us.

Visit seattlepi.com for more Seattle Seahawks news. Contact sports editor Stephen Cohen at stephencohen@seattlepi.com or @scohenPI.