Seahawks' Carroll doesn't blame officials

During Sunday's 6-3 loss to the Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll found plenty of reasons to get frustrated. Especially when three calls didn’t
go the Seahawks’ way in the second quarter.

Carroll challenged quarterback Charlie Whitehurst’s fumble
after a sack by safety T.J. Ward, which was recovered by linebacker D’Qwell
Jackson. But the review showed that Whitehurst was already losing the ball
before Ward’s hit.

Carroll was livid and ran onto the field when strong safety Kam Chancellor was called for unnecessary roughness on a sack of Colt McCoy, but referee Mike Carey said Chancellor lead with his helmet as he hit McCoy in the back.

“They said he led with his head and you can’t do that," Carroll said. "It looked like Kam Chancellor tried not to do that and get his head to the side and then actually wrapped
him up and threw him down. You guys had a better look at that than I had, so I don’t know what to tell you.”

Before the quarter ended, linebacker Malcolm Smith was flagged for a neutral zone infraction on a Browns’ punt, which kept alive a Browns’ 18-yard field goal drive.

Seattle also had an 81-yard Leon Washington punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter called back for an illegal block in the back on Kennard Cox (against James Dockery). That would have given Seattle a 7-3 lead.

"The punt return, that’s a touchdown play way after the fact, here it comes. They saw something and whether it was legit, I don’t know," Carroll said. "In this game, those calls were magnified and they play a big role in the football game. I kind of hope they were right. I hope they made the right choices on those things because it’s pretty hard to live with
otherwise.”

Carroll refused to say the officials cost the Seahawks the game.

"I don't look at it that way," Carroll said. "In this game there are factors, there are always factors. We didn't take care of business."