Seahawks’ offense seems watered-down in early going
Published 9:00 pm Monday, September 10, 2001
By Scott M. Johnson
Herald Writer
KIRKLAND – Mack Strong is one of the few old-timers in the Seattle Seahawks’ locker room, but even he had never seen a day like Sunday.
The Seahawks’ fullback found himself in an unfamiliar role as go-to guy, matching his career high with four pass receptions – all before halftime.
Call it an early birthday present for Strong, who turns 30 today, because it’s not likely to happen again anytime soon.
“It was nice, and I took a lot of ribbing from guys on the team and my wife,” Strong said. “But I realize that I’m not the primary focus in this offense.”
No, getting the ball in Strong’s hands isn’t a typical Seahawks game plan. But in Sunday’s season opener at Cleveland, it seemed like a pretty good option. The Browns’ blitz and Seattle’s young offense were factors in coach Mike Holmgren’s decision to water down the offensive game plan.
“As a general statement, we are going to play offensive football a certain way,” Holmgren said one day after the Seahawks’ 9-6 victory. “Did we do it (Sunday) to my liking? At times. But I can’t say I was totally surprised. I think our young people made mistakes. They played hard, but they made mistakes. … My hope is that they kind of mature and grow into this together.”
Eventually Seattle’s offense will be able to gamble a little more. Holmgren will undoubtedly take the training wheels off when the team starts coming together as a unit.
And the young receiving corps can’t wait.
“That’s one of the things about being a receiver: You always want to go deep,” wideout Darrell Jackson said. “But Mike Holmgren knows when to call a deep route and when to call a short route, so we have to put our trust in him.”
Asked to assess what the Seahawks offense will look like at midseason, rookie wide receiver Koren Robinson was a bit less conservative than the play-calling.
“I think they’ll be talking about us like they talk about the (St. Louis) Rams offense,” the rookie from North Carolina State said Monday. “We’ve got a lot of potential. Everybody’s saying we’re young and all that, but we’ve just got to get on the same page. Once we do that, I feel like we’ll be one of the elite offenses in the league.”
Sunday marked the starting debut of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, as well as the first NFL game for Robinson. The game was a good example of what it looks like when a team is still growing up together.
“A year from now or two years from now, I’ll say that’s a great thing,” Hasselbeck said of having young teammates who are learning together. “Right now it’s a little difficult because we’re going through the growing pains. We’ve got a lot of young players on this team, and those things are going to happen. We’re going to try to get on the same page as soon as possible.”
Six offensive players who can expect to see extended playing time this season are 25 years or younger. Five starters have a year or less starting experience in the NFL. That means it will take time for this team to jell. For football fans, that might mean a few more conservative game plans – as was the case Sunday.
The Seahawks threw just five long passes against Cleveland, only one of which was caught. Another was intercepted when Hasselbeck overthrew Robinson on the left sideline.
“At times on Sunday, you wanted to throw the ball downfield,” Hasselbeck said. “But (the Browns) were mixing and matching the coverages with their blitz schemes, so it was kind of a guessing game. What we tried to do is just keep moving the chains and getting first downs.”
During Sunday’s win, the defense and special teams had to lead the way. Until the young offense comes together, that pattern may have to continue.
“The defense sent a message around the league about what kind of defense we’re going to be this year. The special teams did a great job, played hard and won the game for us,” Strong said. “Now as an offensive unit, we’ve got to come out and do our part.”
