ARLINGTON, Texas — After spending the last two weeks preaching consistency to his football team, Seahawks coach Jim Mora has added a new message.
Accountability.
And after losing for the third time in four games, this time a 38-17 loss to Dallas, the Seahawks are going to need that accountability if they’re going to keep the season from falling apart in the last nine games.
“What I told the men in there was that we have to become accountable,” Mora said. “All of us have to become accountable, starting with me. Everybody that sits on that plane and comes on these trips… . has to accept accountability. The only way we’re going to get better is if we do that, and it starts with self-examination, it always does. There’s a great saying that my junior high coach sent me the other day: ‘Adversity turns weak people into victims and it turns strong people into competitors.’ And we’re going to find out who is strong and who is weak.”
After the game, Mora’s players agreed with that message. Leaders need to lead, but more than that, individuals need to do their job, they said.
“That’s absolutely necessary, and more so now that ever,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. “It starts with you. If you’re a captain it does no good for you to open your mouth and talk to somebody else if you’re not getting it done at your position. That’s where it’s got to start.
And while the accountability may not be at a level Mora is comfortable with yet, he said Seattle won’t be a team that gives up when its down, which is exactly what it is sitting at 2-5.
“They’re professionals, and they’re paid a lot of money to compete at the highest level, and it will not be tolerated if somebody’s not doing that,” he said. “It absolutely will not be tolerated. It will not be a part of our program. Ever.”
A little frustration, however, does come out when a team is losing. Nowhere was that more evident that with receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who was demonstrative on the field and on the sideline a couple of times Sunday.
He and Hasselbeck weren’t on the same page on one first-quarter throw, leading to an animated conversation between the two on the sideline. At other times, Houshmandzadeh vented to no one in particular on a day in which he finished with four catches for a season-low 24 yards.
“Early in the game, me and Matt were off a little bit, and we talked about what he saw and what I saw,” Houshmandzadeh said. “Now another part of the game, I was talking to nobody. I was just talking out loud to whoever wanted to listen. It was to no one in particular. It just might look that way.”
Besides, it’s not as if Houshmandzadeh was the only upset person on the Seahawks sideline.
“He needs to get in line, we were all frustrated,” Mora said.
Frustrated or not, Houshmandzadeh agrees with Mora’s message that individuals just need to look in the mirror and do their jobs.
“You’ve just got to man up, man,” he said. “Football is not that hard, man. You just win your battles. It’s not that hard. You win your battles and you’re successful. ”
The Seahawks are still a team searching for consistency — their two wins were by a total of 69 points, while their last three losses have seen them outscored by 62 points. Accountability, Mora hopes, will be the solution.
“You’ve got to have that in the locker room,” he said. “We’re still searching for it, but we’re building it. We’re still finding it and we’re going to find it.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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