RENTON — Pete Carroll’s frustration with officiating boiled over on the sidelines during Seattle’s victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, and a day later his opinion hadn’t changed much.
It wasn’t so much that the Seahawks’ head coach was furious with specific calls in Sunday’s game as much as the trend he is noticing this season, a trend he saw before when he coached a powerhouse in the college ranks.
“I’ve had it about up to here with this penalty situation and the way it’s gone,” Carroll said on his weekly show on 710 ESPN Seattle. “… They won’t call penalties on the other guys.”
A few hours later Carroll had less to say on the topic during his Monday press conference, perhaps because he realized the league might issue a fine if he continues to be critical of officiating.
“I’m never griping about what they’re calling on us,” Carroll said. He even went on to say he can see why the officials called pass interference on Byron Maxwell, one of the calls that had him most livid during the game.
But what seems to be bothering Carroll isn’t that a lot of calls are going against his team, but rather the disparity in calls against the Seahawks compared to the number against their opponents. The Seahawks have had 88 penalties enforced against them this season, fourth most in the league, but their opponents have had just 48 penalties enforced when playing Seattle, by far the lowest number in the league. Seattle’s net penalty count of minus-40 is the worst in the league, with Denver second in that category at minus-33 and New England third at minus-27.
“There is quite a gap,” Carroll said when that was brought up. “Yeah, there is quite a gap between what they’re calling on one team. … Really glad you brought it up.”
When the Seahawks were the most penalized team in the league, as was the case last year, they have less to complain about, some marginal calls notwithstanding. In fact Seattle’s opponents were called for the second most penalties in 2013, meaning the imbalance in penalties (minus-34) was mostly of the Seahawks’ own doing.
But what is bothering Carroll this year, and something he noticed back when he was at USC, is that the numbers seem to suggest that better teams get fewer calls that benefit them. It’s an idea that is backed up by the fact that the defending Super Bowl champs, the Broncos, Seattle’s Super Bowl opponent, and the Patriots, another AFC powerhouse, are facing the biggest penalty imbalances this season.
“Huh, it’s interesting you’d bring that up,” Carroll said, feigning ignorance of that imbalance. “I think it’s interesting, it’s fascinating. When we won the national championship the first time (at USC), the next year, our opponents were penalized the least. For the next few years. That’s all I’m going to say about that.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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