SEATTLE – This time, the world will be watching.
So the Seattle Seahawks aren’t planning on missing any tackles or blowing any coverages or throwing any short dump-off passes on fourth-and-long.
When the Seahawks (4-3) make their first appearance of the season on Monday Night Football, they want to make sure they look more like the defending NFC champions than they do the mistake-ridden team that’s been wearing Seattle helmets each of the past two weekends.
“We’ve lost two games in a row, and that’s something that we haven’t done in two years,” tight end Jerramy Stevens said. “We need to get things turned around and start playing good football. We’re not playing well right now.”
How quickly things have changed. Just two weeks ago, the Seahawks were riding high at 4-1, while the Oakland Raiders were 0-5 and playing even worse than their record displayed.
The Seahawks have since lost back-to-back games to Minnesota and Kansas City, giving up a combined 66 points, while Oakland (2-5) has knocked off Arizona and defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh to get one foot in the door toward respectability.
Which turnaround is more surprising could be subject to debate.
The Raiders were dead in the water two weeks ago, yet somehow find themselves in the midst of a winning streak.
“Basically we just stuck together,” said Raiders defensive end Derrick Burgess, whose 71/2 sacks rank fourth in the NFL.
Burgess leads an Oakland defense that ranks eighth in the NFL in yards allowed (285.4 per game) and has accounted for three of the Raiders’ six touchdowns this season.
Oakland’s offense, on the other hand, is putting up a league-low 234.0 yards per game. Starting quarterback Aaron Brooks got hurt in the second game of the season, and Andrew Walter has struggled as his replacement. Walter, a second-year player from Arizona State, has completed just 47 percent of his passes while throwing nine interceptions. He’s also been sacked 28 times.
“We have to do a better job of protecting him,” said Raiders coach Art Shell, whose team needed three games before scoring its first touchdown of the season. “I think each week he’s gotten better, of course. When he’s given an opportunity to take a look and throw the ball down the field and do those things, he can be very effective.”
While Walter’s team has won despite his limitations as of late, the Seahawks didn’t help out quarterback Seneca Wallace in his starting debut. He completed 17 of 34 passes last week, with three touchdowns, but did not get the win because Seattle’s defense let him down.
Defensive problems have been the biggest issue for the Seahawks as of late, which is saying a lot on a team that also has two injured Pro Bowlers and a struggling offensive line.
The Seahawks have given up averages of 391.5 yards and 32.5 points over the past four games, which included three losses.
“We can fix it,” defensive end Grant Wistrom said. “It would be different if it was a personnel thing, and we couldn’t go out and find anyone to fix it. We have the talent in the room. We just have to find it within ourselves to do the job.”
The Seahawks had a spirited week of practice, especially on defense, and are looking to make up for the recent struggles.
“We do have high expectations, and so far I have not been overall real pleased with how we’re going,” Holmgren said. “But I think we’re going to be fine. I really think we’re going to be fine.”
Holmgren-coached teams have a history of snapping losing streaks before they get too lengthy. Case in point: the Seahawks have lost back-to-back games eight times since the start of the 2001 season, and six of those two-game streaks were followed by victories. The Seahawks haven’t lost more than three games in a row since 2000, when a five-game losing streak led to a 6-10 finish.
“We have to get back on track, and we have to do it immediately,” Wistrom said. “You don’t want to have to dig yourselves out of a hole in December.”
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