By Scott M. Johnson
Herald Writer
WASHINGTON, D.C. – When Matt Hasselbeck limped off the field during the early stages of the fourth quarter of a Sept. 30 loss to the Oakland Raiders, the only thing that hurt worse than his aching groin muscle was the Seattle Seahawks’ offense.
At that moment, it appeared as if the Seahawks’ youth movement was still at least a year away from making much of an impact on the NFL.
But a funny thing happened while Hasselbeck sat out three weeks to rest the groin injury. His young teammates really came along.
Now, as the Seahawks prepare to play the Washington Redskins in an intra-conference battle this afternoon, Seattle can enter the game not having to rely solely on its defense.
“It was a pride issue,” rookie Koren Robinson said of the offense’s emergence. “It was all about pride. People were talking about our offense being young and inexperienced, and you get tired of that. People aren’t going to be able to say that anymore. We’re going to go out here and get the job done. The last three weeks, our offense has showed up.”
The addition of running back Shaun Alexander and improved play along the offensive line have been the most visible changes on offense, but the passing game has also quietly emerged in its own right. Hasselbeck set career highs in yards (230) and touchdowns (two) during last week’s loss to Miami, and he led the offense on drives that culminated in touchdowns for the first time as Seattle’s quarterback.
Although the Seahawks still lost the game, Hasselbeck certainly made some forward progress.
“He just has to keep improving for himself,” coach Mike Holmgren said. “Really, there will be a correlation between his improving and our winning games.”
The effect that Hasselbeck has on the offense works both ways. While there were early struggles from a young receiving corps and an offensive line that has three new faces, the unit has come on recently. The line is beginning to jell in both run and pass situations, and the receivers are playing mature despite a combined age of 43 between starters Robinson and Darrell Jackson.
Asked what the difference is in the offense now versus a month ago, Hasselbeck is quick with a response.
“The key thing for us right now, the reason that we’re so much more improved, is the play of Koren Robinson,” Hasselbeck said. “He’s stepped up his game big-time. He’s playing well, he’s practicing hard. He’s the starting wide receiver, and you can’t underestimate the importance of how he plays.”
Robinson – at 21, the second-youngest starter in the NFL behind Pittsburgh linebacker Kendrell Bell – still hasn’t scored a touchdown or caught a pass of longer than 22 yards. But his play recently has given the team a renewed sense of hope in its first-round pick from the April draft.
“He’s making fewer mental errors,” Holmgren said. “His legs, he’s just running better. … He’ll still drop a pass now and then, but not as many. He’s coming. He’s young.”
Robinson is the third-youngest player in the NFL – he’s four months older than Bell and almost five months older than former University of Washington and current New England Patriots safety Hakim Akbar – and is still very green. But two plays from last week’s game showed how far he has come.
On one 19-yard reception, Robinson withstood hits from both Miami safeties to hold onto the ball in converting a key third down. Later in the game, Robinson caught a well-thrown ball from Hasselbeck between two defenders despite the threat of another big hit.
Robinson, with 16 catches for 224 yards on the season, does not have the numbers of fellow rookie Rod Gardner of the Redskins (24-437 and three touchdowns). And Chicago Bears rookie David Terrell has similar statistics to Robinson’s despite being hampered by injuries.
But Holmgren said his rookie has played just as well as the other first-year wideouts.
“The stats don’t tell everything,” Holmgren said. “You watch him, watch how he blocks in a game. He’s a very willing and good blocker. We haven’t thrown the ball very much compared to other years.”
During the first three games of the season, Seattle averaged 41 pass plays per contest. In the three games since, the Seahawks have averaged 26. By cutting back on the attempts, Seattle has been more successful.
“I don’t think we’re a year away,” said Jackson, who gained more than half of his 121 receiving yards last week after the catch. “I think it’s here right now.”
One area where the young offense still struggles is the so-called red zone, which includes everything inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. In eight trips into the red zone this season, Hasselbeck has led the offense to just three touchdowns. Two of those came last week. During one final trip into the red zone, the offense sputtered so badly that Holmgren opted for a field goal despite a four-point deficit.
“It’s a different game in there,” Holmgren said. “We think a lot about it; we have a list of plays that we want to do to. Normally we’re pretty good in the red zone. Last year we were third in the league and I suspect at the end of this season we’ll be up there pretty good.”
A lot of what the Seahawks have done offensively has been geared toward the latter part of the season. And the fact that Seattle’s defense ranks ninth in the league while the offense is 26th shows that this isn’t a totally balanced team quite yet.
But lately the offense is starting to come into its own.
“With this offense, with the players we have and with this coaching staff, it’s time that everything gets rolling,” Jackson said. “Everything might not be good right now, but in the future it will be, and it’s getting better every day.”
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