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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   What do you think?   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Friday, December 5, 2008 Who's to blame for Seahawks' mess? Scott M. Johnson Herald Writer RENTON -- The Seattle Seahawks have spent much of the 2008 season eating humble pie, slice by rancid slice. To their credit, they have yet to start cutting up the pieces into slivers of blame. That, as any team-oriented player will remind us, is for the media to discern. When it comes to blame for the 2-10 season, exact percentages are subjective. But it's safe to say there are plenty of slices to go around. Among the reasons for the decline (with an estimated percentage tabulated by The Herald): n Injuries (25 percent): Ask coach Mike Holmgren, and he might tell you that this is 99 percent of the problem. He's been using it as -- excuse the pun here -- a crutch all season. And, certainly, injuries have been the most important factor in Seattle's decline. The receiving corps has been in disarray most of the season, leading to a poor start and affecting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck's rhythm. Hasselbeck's back injury also has been a major factor in the Seahawks' season. Seattle also has been hit along the offensive line, at defensive end (Patrick Kerney), at running back (Maurice Morris and Leonard Weaver) and at linebacker (Lofa Tatupu). Injuries have been a huge reason why Seattle is on the way to the worst season of Holmgren's 16-year career as a head coach. But they're not the only reason. n Tim Ruskell (20 percent): There was a time when the Seahawks' team president could do no wrong. Ruskell's first season in Seattle included a second-round draft pick named Tatupu and a dream year that culminated in a trip to Super Bowl XL. How long ago those days seem. Now in his fourth year as team president, Ruskell has seen many of his roster moves go bad. Wide receiver Deion Branch, who was acquired for a first-round pick, has been plagued by injuries and a lack of production. Seattle's other three first-round picks of the Ruskell era -- center Chris Spencer, cornerback Kelly Jennings and defensive end Lawrence Jackson -- have been disappointments thus far. If the 2008 season has taught us anything, it's that the Seahawks aren't as deep as once thought. And many of the team's star players, like Hasselbeck, left tackle Walter Jones and cornerback Marcus Trufant, were here before Ruskell arrived. Ruskell had chances to add receivers and quality defenders in the April draft, yet he came up short. This is Ruskell's mess, and he'll spend most of the offseason getting his cleaning supplies in order. n John Marshall (13 percent): The Seahawks' defensive coordinator is one of the nicest guys you'll meet, and he has shown an ability to get the most out of his players' talents in recent years. But the 2008 season has been bafflingly unproductive for a defense that brought all 11 starters back from the previous year. Marshall has not been able to get this unit to play to its potential, for whatever reason. He is defensive backs coach Jim Mora's boss this year, but the roles could be reversed next year -- if, that is, Mora decides to bring Marshall back. n Courtney Taylor (12 percent): The second-year receiver is guilty of one thing, and that's not being ready when the opportunity came. Had Taylor taken his chance and run with it, the Seahawks' offense may have continued on its typical course -- and names like Billy McMullen and Keary Colbert might not have ever reached the lips of Seattle fans. But when injuries forced Taylor into the starting lineup at the beginning of the year, he quite simply dropped the ball. He got Seattle's offense headed in the wrong direction, and that journey never found its way back on course. n Seneca Wallace (10 percent): Much like Taylor, the backup quarterback got pushed into action without warning. But Wallace, a fifth-year player who had made three career starts entering the 2008 season, doesn't have youth as an excuse. Wallace showed why he is a backup quarterback, winning just one of five starts. While a calf injury played a role in his struggles, and the hobbled receiving corps was just as much a factor, Wallace has not played the quarterback position anywhere near the level Seahawks fans are used to seeing it played. n Holmgren (9 percent): The 60-year-old coach's final season has not been totally without blame. When things started spiraling out of control, Holmgren could do nothing to stop the spin. Due in large part, but not exclusively, to injuries, he couldn't get his offense going. Once considered an offensive guru, Holmgren now coaches one of the worst offenses in football. n Schedule (8 percent): Games against Buffalo, Miami and Washington looked like gimmes at the start of the year. Yet two of those teams (the Bills and Dolphins) were hot when they faced Seattle, while Washington has been surprisingly competitive. And who would've known that Arizona's Kurt Warner and the New York Jets' Brett Favre would be playing like it was 1999? And those were the so-called easy games. The Seahawks also had to play the NFC favorite Dallas Cowboys and both participants from last year's Super Bowl. n The big announcement (3 percent): People outside of Seattle love to target this as the No. 1 excuse for the Seahawks' forgettable season. When Holmgren announced in January that this would be his final season, and the team came out a couple weeks later with news that Mora would be his eventual replacement, it had all the makings of a distraction. In truth, the so-called distraction was the least of Seattle's problems. "The players have responded to me the same way they always have," Holmgren told New England-area reporters this week, adding that he had hoped the Mora announcement would have come after this season. "It's just too bad that we're having the season we're having because then it opens up some questions about how we're doing this." The Seahawks' season has opened up a lot of questions. And it's taken too long for the franchise to come up with answers. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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