SEATTLE – On Trent Dilfer’s first play, he and Shaun Alexander fumbled the ball away on the exchange.
On Dilfer’s second play, his pass to Bobby Engram was off-target and Renaldo Hill intercepted after the ball bounced off about four areas of his body.
Despite being up 21-3 in the second quarter, Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren was about as happy as a wasp in water.
“I yelled at Trent a little bit,” Holmgren said after his team beat the Arizona Cardinals, 28-10. “He came up and, in his normal style, he said that’s the end of the bad stuff and you can call whatever you want to call.”
It wasn’t the confidence-grabbing start Holmgren wanted from his backup quarterback. Inserted into the lineup after Cardinals defensive end Dennis Johnson dropped all of his 269 pounds on starter Matt Hasselbeck’s left shoulder, Dilfer needed to show Holmgren and his teammates that he was ready to go wherever the team takes him in the near future, be it the playoffs or whatever.
“The fumbled handoff between Shaun Alexander and me and the interception were a nightmare,” Dilfer said. “I told Matt that if I get another chance, I’m making something happen to make up for that.”
Hasselbeck returned the next series, his shoulder still sore. He wasn’t in permanently.
In the fourth quarter, he again had to leave the game after he rolled an ankle as he was sacked by rookie defensive end Kenny King.
In came Dilfer.
All he did was direct a 10-play scoring drive that took up 4:41 and ended with a 3-yard TD pass from Dilfer to Engram. Holmgren wanted to run the clock down, so eight of the drive’s 10 plays stayed on the ground. Dilfer completed both his passes to Engram for 11 yards and the Seahawk offense left the field with a 28-10 lead.
Efficient. Not spectacular, but efficient. And no mistakes.
“I think we were able to lull them to sleep,” Dilfer said. “Shaun ran really hard. I know they weren’t big runs, but man, those 3-yard runs are important down there.”
Dilfer needed the boost and the Seahawks needed to see it.
For all the Seahawks know now, they may need Dilfer Saturday in a must-win game at San Francisco. How hobbled Hasselbeck is likely won’t be determined until the middle of the week, although Holmgren said he didn’t think Hasselbeck’s battered body would prevent him from playing.
But at least now he knows where Dilfer is and what he’s capable of. Although Dilfer, a 10-year vet who quarterbacked the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl win in 2000, throws every day in practice, he had just five game passes this season leading up to Sunday.
“He does a lot for Matt and, quite frankly, he does a lot for me, too,” Holmgren said. “He’s always calming me down, for one thing. He has a great football mind. His suggestions are usually very, very appropriate and right on. I think Trent Dilfer is a starter in this league and I’ve told him that. I’m tickled pink that he’s on our football team.”
So is receiver Koren Robinson, who says he sees little difference between Hasselbeck and Dilfer.
“We all catch passes from both of them in practice, so there’s no real adjustment,” Robinson said. “It’s up to us to keep doing what we need to do.”
Evidently, Dilfer won over the people he needed to win over.
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