Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks were overjoyed when they saw the Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. It meant a playoff berth for the team from the Pacific Northwest.
"We love the Lions," Carroll told reporters on Tuesday. "Coach [Dan] Campbell did a great job with his crew, and they played a fantastic football game to get the win, to give us a chance, so we're going to try to do something with it."
The coach probably wasn't happy about his postseason opponent, though.
The Seahawks will travel to Levi's Stadium to face the San Francisco 49ers for the third time this season after losing the previous two meetings. It felt like the Niners were in control in both contests, and they are 9.5-point favorites heading into Saturday's Wild Card Round matchup.
"Unfortunately, we're playing the Niners," Carroll added. "And they're loaded and healthy and on a roll, and about as hot as you can possibly get, and doing it in a really commanding fashion too, with a young quarterback who's doing so well. Just kind of bucked the odds that everybody would think you could do that. Everybody in the media, anyway.
"So we'll see how we get our guys back for this weekend. It's coming up quick with a Saturday ball game."
Pete Carroll: "Unfortunately we're playing the Niners." #49ers || #FTTB pic.twitter.com/oxphDvBgHn
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) January 10, 2023
The 49ers won the NFC West during their 21-13 Week 15 game against the Seahawks at Lumen Field. It was part of a 10-game win streak to close out the season. San Francisco finished with a 13-4 record and the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs.
The 49ers aren't looking past the Seahawks just because of its recent success against the team.
"Their defense over the last month, I think they're the seventh-ranked defense over the last four games, so they've been keeping people out of the end zone," head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Tuesday. "I think they're sixth on third down, so they've been getting off the field too. Their offense has been running the ball better here in this last month. I think they're ranked sixth in running the ball over this four-game stretch.
"So they're playing pretty good right now, as good as they have been all year, and turning on the tape, they're a better team than they were four weeks ago, and it's not a surprise to me that they're in this position."