By John Boyle
Herald Writer
RENTON — Seattle Seahawks tight end John Carlson said he’s counting two games as a winning streak.
And why not? Winning two in a row may not sound like much, but it’s something the Seahawks hadn’t previously done since December of last season. And while we could spend a while wondering how a four-win team managed to string together back-to-back wins last year, that’s beside the point right now.
What’s important to remember as you feel bad about the current state of the Seahawks — and believe me, there’s plenty to feel bad about — remember this:
It could be worse.
Never mind all of those teams with worse records, especially the league’s bottom feeders like the Browns, Rams and Buccaneers. Those are the obvious choices. You only need to look as far as this week’s opponent, the Houston Texans, to realize that even a team with an identical record to Seattle can be in much worse shape.
As it was with Seattle, Houston entered the season a team a lot of people believed could contend for a playoff spot. The difference, however, was that the Texans backed that talk up in the first half with a 5-3 start.
But since they won three in a row to get to 5-3, the Texans have lost four straight, all by eight points or less, to all but destroy their playoff dreams. With games remaining at Miami and home against New England, a winning record and a playoff berth are unlikely for Houston.
At least the Seahawks were courteous enough to stumble out of the gate with a 1-3 record, sufficiently lowering expectations to the point that a two-game winning streak gets people at least a little bit excited. And while Texans fans are suffering through heart-breaking losses each week, the Seahawks at least have been kind enough to get blown out in defeat, meaning their fans only have to deal with disappointment as opposed to extreme stress followed by disappointment.
All kidding aside, however, things are going better for the Seahawks than their opponent this week. Things were a little awkward last week when team president and general manager Tim Ruskell resigned midweek. Seattle shook off any lingering distractions by Sunday, however, and pulled out a close win over San Francisco.
Now the Seahawks are headed to Houston with a bit more confidence having won their first road game of the season two weeks ago, and backing that up by pushing their winning streak all the way up to two games.
The mood in the locker room feels lighter this week. Even head coach Jim Mora was in a jovial mood during his Wednesday press conference, spending a good chunk of time joking about uniform combinations and the coldness of the team’s indoor practice facility.
“The atmosphere at practice, the atmosphere in the building, feels a lot better, mostly because we’ve got two in a row,” Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. “Just like every team around the league, it doesn’t matter what your record is. What your streak is usually determines what the feelings are. Right now, having two in a row feels good. There are some teams with the exact same record as us that have lost a few in a row, and the sky is probably falling for them. We were there earlier this season, and now we feel like we got some momentum.”
The Texans, meanwhile, are the other team Hasselbeck described: the one with the same record on whom the sky is descending. Houston coach Gary Kubiak has had to field as many questions about job security as he has this week’s game. The Texans starting running back, Steve Slaton, just went on injured reserve with a neck injury, and starting quarterback Matt Schaub will be playing in a brace after dislocating his non-throwing shoulder last week.
“I think we’re frustrated,” Kubiak said when asked if his team is becoming discouraged by the losses. “Obviously, when you’re working so hard in this league and you get yourself in those positions and you come up short a play or two or whatever, yeah, it’s frustrating. Discouraged? No. These guys will work. … But you need success. Everybody in this league, at the end of the week, is hoping to get that carrot and feel good about what they’re doing. So it’s been a rough month, and obviously we’re trying to battle through it, and we get another opportunity this week to try to do that.”
So yeah, this is hardly the season the Seahawks were hoping for, but remember, things could be worse.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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