RENTON, Wash. -- Richard Sherman showed no emotion Sunday as he walked to the sideline following the Seattle Seahawks' final, game-clinching defensive stand against the Atlanta Falcons. With helmet in hand, he moved slowly in the direction of no one and appeared to have little interest in celebrating the victory.

Earlier in the afternoon, the walk was much different. It was more of a charge -- one initially directed at defensive coordinator Kris Richard and then at anyone else who tried to calm Sherman down.

The Seahawks were still beating the Falcons 17-10 at the time, which was something defensive end Michael Bennett tried to remind Sherman of as he pointed to the scoreboard. But Bennett, like many others, had a difficult time getting through to the All-Pro cornerback. The Seahawks had just allowed Julio Jones, one of the best receivers in the NFL, to race down the left sideline all alone for a 36-yard touchdown.

During his weekly radio appearance on 710 ESPN Seattle, coach Pete Carroll was vague about the Seahawks' specific coverage on the play, but he did say it was supposed to be zone.

The coaches' film shows Cover 3, the Seahawks' most common coverage, which calls for three deep defenders (red arrows below) and four underneath defenders (yellow arrows):

After the snap, six of seven defenders were in Cover 3. Sherman was the exception. Instead of dropping back to his deep third of the field, Sherman followed tight end Austin Hooper in man coverage. That left the deep left side of the field wide open for Jones to run free.

So why was Sherman in a different coverage than the rest of his teammates?

"Things didn't get communicated the correct way, and that's how it happens," Sherman said.

In other words, the correct coverage was not properly relayed to him, and that's why he was so angry. Carroll indicated that strong safety Kelcie McCray, who was filling in for an injured Kam Chancellor, was supposed to get the call to Sherman.

"What was clear, to me, was that Kam is a big factor," Carroll said. "... He has such a connection and the skill in communicating and all that. [McCray] couldn't have that. He hasn't played enough with our guys. He's been there, but it's not the same. So we have to adapt to that. [McCray] played really well. He did a nice job in the game but still, the communication is not as good. Otherwise it wouldn't matter if you played together for five years. It matters. There's something to that. I thought it was evident that that happened."

Of course, communication errors happen on a weekly basis. Even last year, in losses to the Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals, when the Seahawks had Chancellor, they had similar issues.

Asked why this specific one set him off, Sherman said, "Because it was something we discussed. That's mostly what it was."

But Carroll's response to the same question makes suggests a deeper theory.

"I just think it was the situation, the way it happened," Carroll said. "There's been a lot of focus on Richard, a lot of attention, a lot of buildup, and he's human too. He was keyed up, and he wanted to do great. He wanted us to do great, and he wanted to do his part in all of that. That's just the response that happened."

By my count, Sherman was on Jones for 30 of 46 coverage snaps. On those plays, when Matt Ryan targeted Jones, he went 3-for-5 for 40 yards and an interception. But Jones had a monster game overall with seven catches for 139 yards and a touchdown.

Sherman is well-aware of the conversations that take place about who the game's best corners are, and he knows he'll be judged by how he performs against top receivers. Early in his career, coaches kept Sherman on the left side, regardless of the opponent. But that's not the case anymore. He has shadowed guys like Antonio Brown, A.J. Green, Brandon Marshall and Jones -- not on every snap, but quite a bit.

So when Sherman felt like he was being blamed for an avoidable mistake that wasn't even his fault, the emotions took over, and he exploded.

"It was a blown coverage, and we should never give them points when we could've stopped them and held them to nothing," he said afterward.

Lingering effects from Sunday's blow-up seem unlikely. The leadership on the Seahawks' defense is strong, and Sherman has played thousands of snaps alongside his teammates. The Seahawks need to iron out the communication issues, but they still have the league's top-ranked defense.

Sherman will likely be his usual self at practice this week, and if he happens to make a big play Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, the reaction will probably fall more in line with who he has been the past six years.

"I know Richard really well, and we have been together through a lot of stuff. Years and years we have been doing stuff together," Carroll said. "And I love the guy and believe in him to the end, and I think I have a sense for him. Not saying I know him as well as somebody else does, but I know him a way in our relationship that we can make sense of stuff. There ain't nothing we can't handle. We can figure it out."