Seahawks' Pete Carroll tries to end retirement speculation

— -- SEATTLE --? Seahawks coach Pete Carroll addressed speculation that he may walk away at the end of the season, tweeting Sunday that he will not.

At 66, Carroll is the NFL's oldest head coach, but he has an exuberance that belies his age. The retirement speculation had surfaced in recent weeks.

The Seahawks?(9-7) missed the postseason, ending a streak of five straight playoff appearances.

Carroll's tweet came hours before the Seahawks' regular-season finale against the Arizona Cardinals at CenturyLink Field on Sunday, which Seattle lost 26-24. The Seahawks needed a win and a loss by the? Atlanta Falcons to make the playoffs as the No. 6 seed. The Falcons defeated the Carolina Panthers 22-10.

The Seahawks have made the playoffs in six of Carroll's eight seasons in Seattle. They won Super Bowl XLVIII in blowout fashion over the Denver Broncos and came up just short of repeating as champions in Super Bowl XLIX against the New England Patriots.

The loss Sunday also ended the Seahawks' streak of five straight seasons with at least 10 wins. The team had only five seasons with double-digit victories from its inception in 1976 to when Carroll arrived in 2010.

Carroll signed a contract extension in the summer of 2016 that runs through the 2019 season.