Published: Friday, October 17, 2008
Meltdown in Seattle
The Seahawks and the Huskies are having similar seasons.
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Associated Press
Seahawks fan Lorin Sandretzky couldn't bear to watch as Seattle lost to Green Bay last Sunday.
A coach with one foot out the door. A starting quarterback who's relegated to sideline duty. A defense that can't keep the points from piling up on the scoreboard.
It's not much of a recipe for success. At the NFL level. Or even in the Pac-10.
And so the Seattle Seahawks, who entered the 2008 season with typically high expectations, have become this: a team that can be compared to the city's moribund college football team.
It's harsh, yes, but that's how bad things have gotten in Seahawksland. Seattle's pro football team is having a University of Washington-like season.
Injured quarterback? Check.
Lame-duck coach? Check.
Inexperienced receivers? Check.
One-sided losses? Underachieving defenders? A seemingly hopeless season? Check, check and check.
Never in a million years would Seahawks fans have imagined being compared to UW. The Huskies entered the season at the bottom of the Pac-10 food chain, and the ensuing weeks have done little to change that. The Seahawks, meanwhile, have gone into an unforeseen freefall.
As much as local NFL fans would like to tell themselves that things are going to get better before they get worse, a quick peek at the upcoming schedule might slap them back to reality.
The next eight weeks include four road trips -- two to the East Coast, where they win about as often as this country elects presidents, and another to San Francisco to face a team that already beat them once this season -- as well as home games against playoff contenders Philadelphia, Arizona, Washington and New England. There's actually a likely possibility that the Huskies could match -- and maybe even surpass -- Seattle's season win total in the coming weeks.
The difference, of course, is that there is hope in Renton. The Seahawks aren't in a rebuilding mode, and coach Mike Holmgren isn't getting fired. The retiring coach has a pretty talented team that has underachieved thus far, so he's unwilling to give up on the season. Whereas the Huskies are just trying to get a win, Holmgren and his Seahawks are still taking aim on the postseason.
Realistic or not, that's what the 2008 Seahawks are trying to accomplish. And for Seattle to get there, it would take several factors outside of the Seahawks' control. Among them:
n The NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals would have to revert to their old ways and come back to the pack.
n Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has to return from his back problems as soon as next week, and with a clean bill of health.
n The Seahawks defense will have to start playing not just at its potential but above it.
n Seattle will have to figure out how to win on the road.
If Holmgren can figure out how to right the ship, this will be the last time in a long while that the Seahawks' franchise gets compared to the UW football program. But the way the first few weeks of the season have gone, the comparison is inevitable.
At least the Seahawks won't have to face USC. The way things have been going, the NFL team might actually go into that game as a two-point underdog.
Scott M. Johnson is The Herald's pro football writer
It's not much of a recipe for success. At the NFL level. Or even in the Pac-10.
And so the Seattle Seahawks, who entered the 2008 season with typically high expectations, have become this: a team that can be compared to the city's moribund college football team.
It's harsh, yes, but that's how bad things have gotten in Seahawksland. Seattle's pro football team is having a University of Washington-like season.
Injured quarterback? Check.
Lame-duck coach? Check.
Inexperienced receivers? Check.
One-sided losses? Underachieving defenders? A seemingly hopeless season? Check, check and check.
Never in a million years would Seahawks fans have imagined being compared to UW. The Huskies entered the season at the bottom of the Pac-10 food chain, and the ensuing weeks have done little to change that. The Seahawks, meanwhile, have gone into an unforeseen freefall.
As much as local NFL fans would like to tell themselves that things are going to get better before they get worse, a quick peek at the upcoming schedule might slap them back to reality.
The next eight weeks include four road trips -- two to the East Coast, where they win about as often as this country elects presidents, and another to San Francisco to face a team that already beat them once this season -- as well as home games against playoff contenders Philadelphia, Arizona, Washington and New England. There's actually a likely possibility that the Huskies could match -- and maybe even surpass -- Seattle's season win total in the coming weeks.
The difference, of course, is that there is hope in Renton. The Seahawks aren't in a rebuilding mode, and coach Mike Holmgren isn't getting fired. The retiring coach has a pretty talented team that has underachieved thus far, so he's unwilling to give up on the season. Whereas the Huskies are just trying to get a win, Holmgren and his Seahawks are still taking aim on the postseason.
Realistic or not, that's what the 2008 Seahawks are trying to accomplish. And for Seattle to get there, it would take several factors outside of the Seahawks' control. Among them:
n The NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals would have to revert to their old ways and come back to the pack.
n Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has to return from his back problems as soon as next week, and with a clean bill of health.
n The Seahawks defense will have to start playing not just at its potential but above it.
n Seattle will have to figure out how to win on the road.
If Holmgren can figure out how to right the ship, this will be the last time in a long while that the Seahawks' franchise gets compared to the UW football program. But the way the first few weeks of the season have gone, the comparison is inevitable.
At least the Seahawks won't have to face USC. The way things have been going, the NFL team might actually go into that game as a two-point underdog.
Scott M. Johnson is The Herald's pro football writer
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