Published: Sunday, October 18, 2009
What happened to Seahawks?
Cardinals dominate, hold Seattle's offense to 128 yards
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck tries to communicate with a coach on the Seattle sideline during the fourth quarter of Sunday's game at Qwest Field.
SEATTLE — Following a one-sided loss on the road two weeks ago, Seahawks players, as well as their head coach, talked about the critical nature of the team's next two games.
Win the next two, they said, and Seattle would be 3-3 heading into its bye week and in good position to make a run at the division title. But after winning the first of those two critical games last weekend, the Seahawks came up short — way short — on Sunday in the second, a 27-3 loss to Arizona.
Now critical might better describe the condition of the Seahawks' playoff hopes. Seattle will head into its bye week with a 2-4 record that includes two home losses, and after the bye, four of the next five games are on the road.
If a 24-point loss at home to a division rival wasn't painful enough, the Seahawks also lost middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu for the season with a torn pectoral muscle.
“I'd be lying to you if I didn't say that this one was especially difficult,” Seahawks coach Jim Mora said. “This was a big game for us. We felt like we had a chance to get to 3-3 at the bye, but it didn't happen, so we have to figure out why.”
There were plenty of reasons why, but none were bigger than Arizona's fast start that found the Seahawks trailing by 17 early in the second quarter. After a long touchdown drive to open the game, Arizona got the ball back when it recovered a pooch kickoff that landed in no-man's land. That led to a 14-0 lead, and when Seattle finally got its offense on the field, it wasn't for very long. Matt Hasselbeck was sacked and fumbled on the third play of the drive, setting up an Arizona field goal.
And just like that, a team that had seven days earlier won 41-0 on this same field was down 17-0 with 13:38 still left in the first half.
“I think what it boils down to right now is this: We're an inconsistent football team, particularly on offense,” Mora said.
The offense indeed struggled Sunday, finishing with just 128 total yards, which is tied for the seventh-lowest total in franchise history. The Seahawks rushed for just 14 yards, a new franchise record for rushing ineptitude. And the patch-work offensive line, which had so far this season done a decent job protecting the quarterback, was dominated by the Cardinals pass-rush all day long, Hasselbeck and his fractured ribs were sacked five times.
The miserable day in front of 67,588 wasn't anything the Seahawks saw coming, especially given how well they played against Jacksonville a week earlier.
“Some weeks we play well, some weeks we don't,” said Hasselbeck, who finished 10-for-29 for 112 yards with an interception. “You don't know which team is going to show up. I didn't get a sense of it before the game at all. I really felt like we were ready, I thought we had a good game plan. We really couldn't get to the plan because we were down 14-nothing.”
The Seahawks only points on a dismal day were set up by a bit of trickery. Trailing by 17 and facing fourth-and-three from their own 38-yard line, the Seahawks lined up to punt. Punter Jon Ryan, one of the few players to have a good game for the Seahawks, threw a pass over the middle to tight end John Carlson, who picked up 42 yards. Late in the third quarter that play still accounted for more than half of the Seahawks total offense.
That fake punt and subsequent field goal hardly sparked the Seahawks offense. Seattle punted on each of its five first-half possessions from that point on, and picked up only one first down in the process.
Things didn't improve any for Seattle in the second half, and the Seahawks finished with their lowest point total at home since 2002, and their most lopsided loss at home since 2004. Despite all of that, the Seahawks insist that the season is far from over.
“We don't have any quitters, nobody is going to pack it in right now,” said receiver Nate Burleson. “If you're familiar with the NFL, crazy things can happen. We're not the only team that's going to deal with injuries, we're not the only team that's going to shoot themselves in the foot and throw some games away. All we've got to do is start playing well, and if you can play well late, in this league that's very important.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
Win the next two, they said, and Seattle would be 3-3 heading into its bye week and in good position to make a run at the division title. But after winning the first of those two critical games last weekend, the Seahawks came up short — way short — on Sunday in the second, a 27-3 loss to Arizona.
Now critical might better describe the condition of the Seahawks' playoff hopes. Seattle will head into its bye week with a 2-4 record that includes two home losses, and after the bye, four of the next five games are on the road.
If a 24-point loss at home to a division rival wasn't painful enough, the Seahawks also lost middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu for the season with a torn pectoral muscle.
“I'd be lying to you if I didn't say that this one was especially difficult,” Seahawks coach Jim Mora said. “This was a big game for us. We felt like we had a chance to get to 3-3 at the bye, but it didn't happen, so we have to figure out why.”
There were plenty of reasons why, but none were bigger than Arizona's fast start that found the Seahawks trailing by 17 early in the second quarter. After a long touchdown drive to open the game, Arizona got the ball back when it recovered a pooch kickoff that landed in no-man's land. That led to a 14-0 lead, and when Seattle finally got its offense on the field, it wasn't for very long. Matt Hasselbeck was sacked and fumbled on the third play of the drive, setting up an Arizona field goal.
And just like that, a team that had seven days earlier won 41-0 on this same field was down 17-0 with 13:38 still left in the first half.
“I think what it boils down to right now is this: We're an inconsistent football team, particularly on offense,” Mora said.
The offense indeed struggled Sunday, finishing with just 128 total yards, which is tied for the seventh-lowest total in franchise history. The Seahawks rushed for just 14 yards, a new franchise record for rushing ineptitude. And the patch-work offensive line, which had so far this season done a decent job protecting the quarterback, was dominated by the Cardinals pass-rush all day long, Hasselbeck and his fractured ribs were sacked five times.
The miserable day in front of 67,588 wasn't anything the Seahawks saw coming, especially given how well they played against Jacksonville a week earlier.
“Some weeks we play well, some weeks we don't,” said Hasselbeck, who finished 10-for-29 for 112 yards with an interception. “You don't know which team is going to show up. I didn't get a sense of it before the game at all. I really felt like we were ready, I thought we had a good game plan. We really couldn't get to the plan because we were down 14-nothing.”
The Seahawks only points on a dismal day were set up by a bit of trickery. Trailing by 17 and facing fourth-and-three from their own 38-yard line, the Seahawks lined up to punt. Punter Jon Ryan, one of the few players to have a good game for the Seahawks, threw a pass over the middle to tight end John Carlson, who picked up 42 yards. Late in the third quarter that play still accounted for more than half of the Seahawks total offense.
That fake punt and subsequent field goal hardly sparked the Seahawks offense. Seattle punted on each of its five first-half possessions from that point on, and picked up only one first down in the process.
Things didn't improve any for Seattle in the second half, and the Seahawks finished with their lowest point total at home since 2002, and their most lopsided loss at home since 2004. Despite all of that, the Seahawks insist that the season is far from over.
“We don't have any quitters, nobody is going to pack it in right now,” said receiver Nate Burleson. “If you're familiar with the NFL, crazy things can happen. We're not the only team that's going to deal with injuries, we're not the only team that's going to shoot themselves in the foot and throw some games away. All we've got to do is start playing well, and if you can play well late, in this league that's very important.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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