Much agreement, Jammerhawk, Carroll plays the long game, emphasizes player development, and if that costs a win or two in the first half of the season in order to peak in November and December, clearly Carroll is OK with that. Now that JS has gone out and gotten the unbelievable additions of Clowney, Diggs, and Gordon, and we have jettisoned some defensive dead weight like Tedric Thompson and Lamar Taylor, guys are balling out on the D. This has not looked like a Pete Carroll defense until the last two games. Finally! Then we get Jacob Hollister coming off the practice squad to contribute big, and Penny starting to look like a legit NFL running back, and Gordon staying active and contributing, and guys just learning to really play well together, now that is the genius of Pete Carroll and his approach. Schottenheimer has stepped it up too, called a great game vs SF, and a good game vs Philly, but credit Philly D and the weather for making Schotty's calls seem just OK this game. Russell and DK left 11+ EZ points on the field.
Always compete? Rashaad Penny is only now starting to realize what that means. Guys like UDFA Poona Ford are living proof. Guys like Lamar Taylor and Tedric Thompson are living proof. A guy like Malik Turner is living proof. Not to mention David Moore. Turner came in and won the battle for more reps and won Russell's trust. Plenty, plenty more examples.
Just when I was thinking it was nearly time for a weekly "Fire Norton!" thread, the D starts to step it up. So Ken Norton Jr. is off the hotseat, for now, before it really even heated up much. Yes, we all agree CaBevell got too long a leash from Pete in the past.
I'd say John Schneider is doing a damn good job of exemplifying the Always Compete mantra this season.