Published: Friday, October 30, 2009
Outlook not that good for the Seattle Seahawks
But you can’t write off their season just yet
RENTON — Walter Jones is done for the season. So too, it was announced Thursday, is Lofa Tatupu.
Which makes now as good a time as any to ask: are the Seahawks finished as well?
Let’s just say that if the nail isn’t in the coffin, it’s certainly in the vicinity and has a large hammer bearing down on it.
The truth is it’s too early to complete write off the Seahawks, but a turnaround seems less and less likely with each loss and injury. And that’s just looking at the current state of the Seahawks. The outlook is even more dismal when you look at the recent play of Arizona, which beat the Giants in New York last week to improve to 4-2, and looks like a team hitting its stride.
But as Seahawks coach Jim Mora likes to point out, the Seahawks can’t just throw their hands up in the air and give up. They’ll keep playing, and despite a preponderance of evidence that suggests otherwise, there is still a little bit of hope for the season. Ten games is enough to make a run — though four of the next five are on the road — and despite the loss of Tatupu and Jones, the Seahawks are getting healthier in a lot of other places.
The odds of a turnaround are slim at this point, however, even to the point that Mora acknowledged earlier this week that some people might think he’s starting to sound a bit crazy with his optimism.
“Sometimes people look at you like you’re a little bit out of whack when you say this, but if you’re a competitor, OK, if you’re a competitor, if you love to compete — and these guys that are on this football team and the people in this organization, they love to compete or they’d do something else — if you’re a competitor, this is what you live for,” Mora said. “It gets your blood boiling. It gets you focused. It gets you jacked up. That’s what you want. We don’t want it easy. Competitors don’t.”
Mora had better hope his team of competitors jacked up and full of boiling blood for the challenge of facing Dallas at the new Cowboys Stadium. Coming off a bye, the Seahawks desperately need to improve to 3-4, not fall to 2-5. Seemingly every week this season there has been talk about a sense of urgency, and for a team fighting to keep its season from spiraling out of control, this is about as urgent as it gets.
“It’s a big game,” receiver Nate Burleson said. “This is a big game. I don’t like saying this is a defining moment, or it’s going to change the season—I don’t like using those definitive statements — but this is a big game. A win this weekend will do a lot for the Seattle Seahawks. Organization, fans, players, confidence, everything.”
Conversely, a loss this weekend will do a lot as well. And given the Seahawks performance last year in Dallas, it’s hard to see a win as the scenario for this Sunday.
Last year, Texas Stadium was a house of horrors for the Seahawks. Playing a nationally televised game on Thanksgiving Day, the Seahawks failed to score a touchdown in a 34-9 loss that may have been the very bottom in a season full of low points. Matt Hasselbeck was sacked seven times in what ended up being his last game of the year, and Walter Jones struggled through a knee injury that day and hasn’t played sense.
“We just couldn’t do anything right, they couldn’t do anything wrong,” Hasselbeck said. “It was national TV, Thanksgiving. It was tough, it was really tough. The whole year was tough, but that was a painful one in more ways than one.”
Hey, at least it’s a new stadium this year. But will it be the same result? The Seahawks are starting their fourth left tackle of the season and fifth offensive line combination against a defense that has 14 sacks in the last 14 quarters after having none in its first 10. That could easily spell trouble, especially for a team that hasn’t been able to run the ball consistently this season. And speaking of consistency — or lack thereof — the Seahawks defense has pitched two shutouts at home this season, but it’s also been shredded on the road by Peyton Manning and Frank Gore.
So with the odds stacked against them, the Seahawks will head to Dallas this weekend trying to salvage a season that started so much differently than they had hoped.
“We’re to the point now where we’ve got four losses, but our season is nowhere near over,” running back Julius Jones said. “There have been plenty of teams that have gone on runs after their bye week. That’s where we are now, we’ve got to go on a run and it starts with Dallas.”
Something will start in Dallas Sunday. Will it be the beginning of a turnaround, or the beginning of the end for the Seahawks?
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
Which makes now as good a time as any to ask: are the Seahawks finished as well?
Let’s just say that if the nail isn’t in the coffin, it’s certainly in the vicinity and has a large hammer bearing down on it.
The truth is it’s too early to complete write off the Seahawks, but a turnaround seems less and less likely with each loss and injury. And that’s just looking at the current state of the Seahawks. The outlook is even more dismal when you look at the recent play of Arizona, which beat the Giants in New York last week to improve to 4-2, and looks like a team hitting its stride.
But as Seahawks coach Jim Mora likes to point out, the Seahawks can’t just throw their hands up in the air and give up. They’ll keep playing, and despite a preponderance of evidence that suggests otherwise, there is still a little bit of hope for the season. Ten games is enough to make a run — though four of the next five are on the road — and despite the loss of Tatupu and Jones, the Seahawks are getting healthier in a lot of other places.
The odds of a turnaround are slim at this point, however, even to the point that Mora acknowledged earlier this week that some people might think he’s starting to sound a bit crazy with his optimism.
“Sometimes people look at you like you’re a little bit out of whack when you say this, but if you’re a competitor, OK, if you’re a competitor, if you love to compete — and these guys that are on this football team and the people in this organization, they love to compete or they’d do something else — if you’re a competitor, this is what you live for,” Mora said. “It gets your blood boiling. It gets you focused. It gets you jacked up. That’s what you want. We don’t want it easy. Competitors don’t.”
Mora had better hope his team of competitors jacked up and full of boiling blood for the challenge of facing Dallas at the new Cowboys Stadium. Coming off a bye, the Seahawks desperately need to improve to 3-4, not fall to 2-5. Seemingly every week this season there has been talk about a sense of urgency, and for a team fighting to keep its season from spiraling out of control, this is about as urgent as it gets.
“It’s a big game,” receiver Nate Burleson said. “This is a big game. I don’t like saying this is a defining moment, or it’s going to change the season—I don’t like using those definitive statements — but this is a big game. A win this weekend will do a lot for the Seattle Seahawks. Organization, fans, players, confidence, everything.”
Conversely, a loss this weekend will do a lot as well. And given the Seahawks performance last year in Dallas, it’s hard to see a win as the scenario for this Sunday.
Last year, Texas Stadium was a house of horrors for the Seahawks. Playing a nationally televised game on Thanksgiving Day, the Seahawks failed to score a touchdown in a 34-9 loss that may have been the very bottom in a season full of low points. Matt Hasselbeck was sacked seven times in what ended up being his last game of the year, and Walter Jones struggled through a knee injury that day and hasn’t played sense.
“We just couldn’t do anything right, they couldn’t do anything wrong,” Hasselbeck said. “It was national TV, Thanksgiving. It was tough, it was really tough. The whole year was tough, but that was a painful one in more ways than one.”
Hey, at least it’s a new stadium this year. But will it be the same result? The Seahawks are starting their fourth left tackle of the season and fifth offensive line combination against a defense that has 14 sacks in the last 14 quarters after having none in its first 10. That could easily spell trouble, especially for a team that hasn’t been able to run the ball consistently this season. And speaking of consistency — or lack thereof — the Seahawks defense has pitched two shutouts at home this season, but it’s also been shredded on the road by Peyton Manning and Frank Gore.
So with the odds stacked against them, the Seahawks will head to Dallas this weekend trying to salvage a season that started so much differently than they had hoped.
“We’re to the point now where we’ve got four losses, but our season is nowhere near over,” running back Julius Jones said. “There have been plenty of teams that have gone on runs after their bye week. That’s where we are now, we’ve got to go on a run and it starts with Dallas.”
Something will start in Dallas Sunday. Will it be the beginning of a turnaround, or the beginning of the end for the Seahawks?
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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