The Seahawks’ next opponent will be determined by the outcome of today’s game between Green Bay and Philadelphia. Not that it matters to coach Pete Carroll.
“No, I couldn’t care less,” he said Saturday, following a 41-36 win over New Orleans in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs. “I don’t even know the scenarios, and I know you think that’s crazy, but I don’t know what’s going on.
“And it doesn’t matter. I just know that we show up on Monday, and we’ll figure out where we’re going.”
If Green Bay wins at Philadelphia, that will send the Seahawks to Chicago for a divisional-round playoff game. If the Eagles win, Seattle will head to Atlanta.
“They don’t even know the scenarios,” Carroll said of his players. “We never even mentioned it. They don’t need to know.”
Lynch eludes Saints
Replays showed that eight different defenders got a hand on Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch during a scintillating 67-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
The score gave the Seahawks a 41-30 lead with 3:22 to play.
“The offensive line did a great job of getting me to the secondary, and I think instincts just took over from there. I was just pretty much determined, man — determined.”
Lynch finished with 131 yards on 19 carries, spearheading a rushing attack that was crucial to the victory.
Lynch played the first four games of the season with Buffalo, then was acquired by Seattle for a fourth-round draft pick and either a fifth- or sixth-round pick. He led Seattle with 573 rushing yards this season.
“What a marvelous day he had, just fighting every inch of the way,” Carroll said. “He had terrific runs; he hit the big power play. It was really cool.”
Carlson shines
The Seahawks are in the playoffs for the first time since the 2007 season — or the year before tight end John Carlson arrived.
But Carlson said he felt like a playoff veteran after facing St. Louis for the division title in the regular-season finale.
“We felt like going into this week we had playoff experience — as funny as that may sound,” he said. “Last week was a championship game for us..”
Carlson had two touchdown catches Saturday and snuffed out the Saints’ final hope by recovering an onside kick.
Obomanu injured
Carroll said after the game that receiver Ben Obomanu dislocated his shoulder. But Obomanu continued to play after the injury, finishing with five catches for 43 yards.
More problematic could be a concussion to linebacker Lofa Tatupu. His status for next week’s game was unknown Saturday.
This and that
• Seattle did an effective job of controlling field position, especially with outstanding coverage on kickoffs. The Seahawks’ average starting position was the 40-yard line, while the Saints’ was the 26.
• On its first three possessions, New Orleans compiled 161 yards of offense and 17 points. The next seven times they had the ball, the Saints totalled 101 yards and three points.
• Whether it’s Chicago or Atlanta, next week could present a difficult chore for the Seahawks. They were 2-6 on the road this year, with the average score of the losses being 33-13.
The good news? One of the victories was at Chicago, 23-20 in Week 6.
• Defensive end Raheem Brock, a ninth-year player out of Temple, had a sack, two tackles for loss, and forced a fumble.
“We don’t really worry about what other people say,” he said. “We believe in each other, and we just want to go out there and play like we know we can play. If we keep winning games, we’ll get more believers. It’s really up to us.”
