They were 4-4 six weeks ago and nothing much about the Seahawks gave anyone much to be excited about.
Then Coach Mike Holmgren announced to the world that they would come out with a new look — instead of a balanced offense, they would put greater emphasis on the pass. Running the ball wasn’t working. In fact, Holmgren made a joke of it, referring to the ground game as “2 1/2 yards and a cloud of dust.”
All they’ve done since then is rip off five straight victories and clinched their fourth straight NFC West title.
It took guts to do what Holmgren did in mid-season. How would Shaun Alexander take what amountd to be a demotion? How would he and Mo Morris deal with sharing the backfield duties? How would both of them deal with taking a secondary role in the offense?
They’re dealing with it fine because the team’s winning. Matt Hasselbeck is having his best year, even better than the 2005 Super Bowl year. He said after Sunday’s game that he always thought the team would come around, but he added that he’d also hoped it would before it was too late.
No problem there. Hasselbeck is showing the league how good he can be. He’s at least as important to the Seahawks as Tom Brady is to the Patriots. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get a lot of MVP votes when this is over. The Seahawks without Hasselbeck is unimaginable.
This is Holmgren’s genius. This is why he’s headed into the Hall of Fame. He made the change and announced it to the world. Now, Seattle looks like a team that may well make some noise in the playoffs.
They’re a team that can win road games at Green Bay and Dallas, something they’ll likely have to do sometime down the road.
Six weeks ago, I’d have said that would be an impossibility. Now, I think the Seahawks can beat anyone in the NFC, regardless of venue.
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