Published: Sunday, November 8, 2009
Seahawks get message?
Curious Mora wants to see if players respond following loss to Cowboys
-
LM Otero / Associated Press
Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (8) loses the football as he is sacked by the Cowboys’ Bobby Carpenter during last Sunday’s game.
-
Donna McWilliam / Associated Press
Seattle head coach Jim Mora leads the Seahawks against the Detroit Lions today.
RENTON — Jim Mora sent a message to his team following the Seattle Seahawks’ loss to the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday, first in the form a warning, and then to give it some teeth, with a series of roster moves early this week.
Starting today when the Seahawks host the Detroit Lions, Mora will find out if it worked.
“I am curious to see how they respond,” Mora said. “I’m always curious, you know? We’re building something here. Hopefully we took a step this week. We discussed a lot of things this week as a staff.”
On Monday, Mora said change could come if players aren’t accountable, and by Tuesday afternoon, three players had been cut and replaced by players signed off the practice squad.
“Those of us who have been around, you know that roster moves are going to happen after you start like we started,” Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. “He mentioned it. He had said it plain out, ‘We’re going to make some changes, we’re going to do some evaluating,’ and they did it. His words weren’t hollow, they definitely did it. He backed it up.”
The hope in the Seahawks locker room this week is that the message was received and that change will come.
“If you keep doing the same old, if you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’re just going to get the same results,” Hasselbeck said. “So we basically, after Sunday, after the way things went Sunday, I think everyone just sort of got the message that, hey, we’ve got to look at this thing from all angles and pick it up. And I think we’ve started to do that. We’re still fighting some things, but all in all, we’re working harder, if that’s even possible. We’re working harder and trying to do whatever it takes right now.”
Of course beating Detroit won’t mean a whole lot in and of itself. The Seahawks may be struggling over the past season and a half, but that’s nothing compared to the Lions’ recent history.
Since starting the 2007 season 6-2, the Lions have won just two of 31 games, including an 0-for-2008 campaign. Detroit’s last playoff berth was 10 years ago, and the Lions haven’t won a playoff game since Jan. of 1992. They did manage to end their losing streak with a win in the third week of the season, which has eased some of the tension in Detroit.
“At least we don’t have to worry about going 0-16 again,” joked linebacker Julian Peterson, a former Seahawk.
But one win or not, the Lions are still a team the Seahawks should handle at home with relative ease. So it will take more than a win today to show that the Seahawks are a new team following this week’s shakeup.
“Don’t win one, lose two or three,” receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said. “We’ve got to string together some wins and things will turn around.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
Starting today when the Seahawks host the Detroit Lions, Mora will find out if it worked.
“I am curious to see how they respond,” Mora said. “I’m always curious, you know? We’re building something here. Hopefully we took a step this week. We discussed a lot of things this week as a staff.”
On Monday, Mora said change could come if players aren’t accountable, and by Tuesday afternoon, three players had been cut and replaced by players signed off the practice squad.
“Those of us who have been around, you know that roster moves are going to happen after you start like we started,” Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. “He mentioned it. He had said it plain out, ‘We’re going to make some changes, we’re going to do some evaluating,’ and they did it. His words weren’t hollow, they definitely did it. He backed it up.”
The hope in the Seahawks locker room this week is that the message was received and that change will come.
“If you keep doing the same old, if you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’re just going to get the same results,” Hasselbeck said. “So we basically, after Sunday, after the way things went Sunday, I think everyone just sort of got the message that, hey, we’ve got to look at this thing from all angles and pick it up. And I think we’ve started to do that. We’re still fighting some things, but all in all, we’re working harder, if that’s even possible. We’re working harder and trying to do whatever it takes right now.”
Of course beating Detroit won’t mean a whole lot in and of itself. The Seahawks may be struggling over the past season and a half, but that’s nothing compared to the Lions’ recent history.
Since starting the 2007 season 6-2, the Lions have won just two of 31 games, including an 0-for-2008 campaign. Detroit’s last playoff berth was 10 years ago, and the Lions haven’t won a playoff game since Jan. of 1992. They did manage to end their losing streak with a win in the third week of the season, which has eased some of the tension in Detroit.
“At least we don’t have to worry about going 0-16 again,” joked linebacker Julian Peterson, a former Seahawk.
But one win or not, the Lions are still a team the Seahawks should handle at home with relative ease. So it will take more than a win today to show that the Seahawks are a new team following this week’s shakeup.
“Don’t win one, lose two or three,” receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said. “We’ve got to string together some wins and things will turn around.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
Comments
(