Pete Carroll called a timeout that cost the Seahawks 7 yards, baffling fans AND Nick Sirianni

Pete Carroll is the oldest head coach in the NFL. That means he’s seen just about everything on the field. And that means he’s given us plenty to digest, both good and bad, with the Seattle Seahawks.

On Monday night, he leaned in hard to the latter in a move that may have cost his team four points.

Trailing 17-10 in the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles, Carroll’s team faced third-and-two at the Philly 18-yard line. Quarterback Drew Lock, in the game in place of an injured Geno Smith, dropped back to pass only to be pressured by defensive tackle Jalen Carter. As Carter wrestled Lock to the ground deep in the pocket, Lock wobbled a pass back toward the line of scrimmage.

It was ruled incomplete on the field, even though replay confirmed Lock had been sacked for a loss of seven-plus yards. Facing fourth-and-two, the Seahawks lined up to run a play on fourth down.

Rather than take this gift of a blown call and try to capitalize, Carroll called a timeout to mull over his decision moments before the ball was snapped… and gave Eagles’ head coach Nick Sirianni all the time he needed to throw a challenge flag and turn fourth-and-two into fourth-and-nine.

Seattle called timeout after this play…and gave the Eagles a chance to challenge

: @NFL
pic.twitter.com/bhQE9tc2h4

— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) December 19, 2023

The Eagles had no intention of challenging that call until the stoppage made it an obvious win for them. Rather than attempting to extend the drive on fourth down, Carroll sent out his field goal unit to cut Philadelphia’s lead to four. Then, in quite possibly the most unintentionally funny moment of his career that didn’t involve taking off his shirt in front of DK Metcalf, Carroll had the absolute stones to ask the officials for his timeout back considering the Eagles’ challenge.

Does Peter Carroll *really* believe he should get his timeout back or is this just performative exuberance from Peter Carroll? You never know with Peter Carroll, do you? pic.twitter.com/ysXRJ4gkkI

— Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) December 19, 2023

The referee, reasonably, said no. Sirianni, reasonably, processed the entire sequence and was seemingly asking what the hell just happened.

Is Nick Sirianni asking Pete Carroll “what are you doing??” pic.twitter.com/YzXK4AnHEB

— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) December 19, 2023

Needless to say, fans and analysts needed some time to process this one.