John Carlson, Marcus Trufant will stay overnight in hospital

The Seahawks’ 35-24 loss to Chicago in Sunday’s divisional playoff was made even more painful by the loss of two starters to concussions.

Tight end John Carlson was upended after a 14-yard catch on Seattle’s second drive of the game, landed on his head and had to be carted off the field.

And Marcus Trufant also had to be taken off on a stretcher in the third quarter when he banged his helmet against the knee of Chicago’s Kellen Davis.

Both have concussions and will stay overnight in Chicago, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said.

“Both those guys, all the indications are OK,” Carroll said in his postgame press conference. “It was a serious concussion on the field for both those guys. Both were OK, and didn’t look to be anything past it was just a concussion.”

The loss of Carlson may have impacted Seattle the most. The Seahawks came into the game with just two tight ends on the active roster – Carlson and Cameron Morrah – because tight end Chris Baker was lost for the season and put on injured reserve.

Morrah dropped a crucial pass later in the possession, and Carlson’s absence further compounded the Seahawks’ extreme inability to run the ball.

They finished with just 34 yards rushing, getting only two yards from Marshawn Lynch on four carries.

Golden Tate led the team in rushing with one carry for 13 yards, the result of a backward pass thrown near the line of scrimmage.

Carlson’s absence made it harder for the Seahawks to block an aggressive, disciplined Bears defensive front.

“We didn’t get to try very much because of that,” Carroll said. “We didn’t have a lot of offense without those guys scheduled in, so we got stuck a little bit.”