By Chris Trujillo
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – When on the road and when the popular Philly cheese steak sandwich is no where to be seen, the rugged Philadelphia Eagles’ defense has to settle for a different kind of cuisine.
On this day, the group eyed the choicest and most vulnerable bird around: Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.
The young, multi-million-dollar quarterback, who completed a dismal 9-for-24 passes for 62 yards in Sunday’s 27-3 loss to Philadelphia, found himself on a constant run from a wide variety of suffocating blitz schemes. Philadelphia sacked the baffled Seattle quarterback seven times for a loss of 41 yards.
So far, Seattle has given up a total of 12 sacks in two games, matching the 1999 season.
“It was our plan to get to him quick and often,” Philadelphia lineman Hugh Douglas said. “Our blitzes forced him to do a lot of things he didn’t want to do. But overall, he is going to be a great quarterback.”
The bullish blitz, which came on nearly half of the Seahawks’ 72 offensive plays, came from every which way, making Hasslebeck’s job that much tougher.
“One point of emphasis for me this week,” Hasselbeck said, “was not to take sacks. Even if it looked stupid, just run the other way and throw the ball the other way.”
Problem was, there was no other way to run. The Eagles, who surprised no one with their attack on Hasselbeck, sent their linebackers through the gaps and cornerbacks around the ends.
“It looked like they surprised us,” Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said, “but they did not do anything that surprised us. … The blitzing packages that they have are good ones, and we worked on them all week.”
Despite knowing what Philadelphia had in mind defensively, the Seahawks believed they could cause damage quickly, according to Hasselbeck, with a script of “exotic” plays. Unfortunately for the struggling offense – which has yet to score a touchdown this season – poor field position and menacing pressure forced it to look elsewhere, notably on the shoulders of Ricky Watters, who ran for 81 yards.
“Any time those guys are rushing people you can’t block,” Seahawks receiver Darrell Jackson said, “it’s hard for the quarterback to get the ball to you.”
Hasselbeck, whose longest pass covered 19 yards to Bobby Engram, threw two times to three different receivers. Eagles quarterback Donavan McNabb connected with receiver James Thrash 10 times, running back Correll Buckhalter four times and tight end Chad Lewis three times.
When Hasselbeck did complete a pass, it was usually for short yardage – safe and quick passes to the flats. In fact, seven of his nine completions covered 10 yards or less.
The short and quick safety pass, however, led to many of Hasselbeck’s troubles. Once the anticipated play went south, and he had to look to his second and third receivers, Hasselbeck looked as if the panic button was pushed. Indecision and uncertainty took over.
Philadelphia was aggressive on many plays, using its standard four-man rush, which caused just as much havoc as the bombardment of blitzes.
“This is a very forgettable game,” Seattle center Robbie Tobeck said. “One thing about offense is that all 11 guys have to get their job done on every play. We didn’t get the job done.”
So what’s next for the guy, who surely heard the chant: “Dilfer, Dilfer?”
More playing time.
“Our quarterback had a poor day,” Holmgren said. “He’ll be better next week. It is not the time to panic.”
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