RENTON — Watching the film of Sunday’s 34-10 loss to Buffalo gave Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren more than just a few teaching points.
It gave him heartburn.
“Offensively, it is the worst game we’ve had since my first game here against Detroit at the Kingdome,” Holmgren said, referring to a 28-20 loss to the Lions in the 1999 season opener. “I’m not discouraged, but disappointed. I thought we were sloppy. I thought we were careless.”
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who completed just 17 of 41 passes in the loss to Buffalo, had another word to describe it.
“It’s really embarrassing,” he said. “If I could pick one word, that would be it.”
The Seahawks had just 252 yards of offense, most of which came during the meaningless fourth quarter. They were just 3-for-16 on third-down conversions.
All in all, it was a forgettable opening week for the Seattle offense.
“We had assignment breakdowns,” Holmgren said, “and I was very surprised by how we played Sunday.”
Not that he’s throwing in the towel after one game.
Said Holmgren: “I told the team (Monday): there’s no panic. We’ve been down this road before.”
Tricked special teamers:No sugarcoating Seahawks’ performance Twenty-four hours later, Lance Laury felt like a prophet. The Seahawks’ linebacker spent part of Saturday watching a college football game that saw one team fool the other one with a play that involved a player sneaking onto the field and catching a long pass.
While that is illegal in the NFL, Laury noted the play and made a mental note to keep an eye on where players line up.
Unfortunately for the Seahawks, Laury wasn’t on the playing field when the Bills pulled off a similar — yet legal — play on a fake field goal Sunday. Defensive end Ryan Denney caught a 19-yard touchdown pass after going unchecked along the far sideline. “It was almost like a flashback,” said Laury, a special teams captain who is not on the team’s field goal unit.
Holmgren was still somewhat baffled by the breakdown Monday, but he did provide one possible explanation.
Cornerback Josh Wilson, who serves on the field goal coverage team, ran off the field at the last second with a minor injury and was replaced by starting cornerback Marcus Trufant. The personnel adjustment may have been a factor in leaving Denney unchecked.
But Trufant was on the other side of the field, and the closest player to Denney appeared to be cornerback Kelly Jennings.
“It’s not good,” Holmgren said. “When those things happen to you, it kind of sticks with you. We have to be better than that.”
Ready if needed: The season-ending knee injury to Nate Burleson left Seattle with just three healthy receivers on the roster. But more than three healthy Seahawks have played the position.
Backup quarterback Seneca Wallace is likely to see more playing time at receiver while the team waits for starters Deion Branch and Bobby Engram to get healthy.
“I’m going to prepare like I always do,” he said. “I’ll prepare like I’m going to play receiver and see what happens on game day.”
Holmgren said he seriously considered using Wallace in Sunday’s game, but he decided against it after the game got out of hand.
“I think this week has a little different spin to it,” Holmgren said when asked if he would use Wallace at receiver.
Morris ailing: Running back Maurice Morris was relieved to learn that the knee injury he suffered in Sunday’s game was not serious. He was diagnosed with a knee sprain and is likely to miss two games.
“It’s good to know that it’s not as bad as it could be,” Morris said.
Holmgren said that, in Morris’ absence, the Seahawks will start Julius Jones but temporarily abandon the rotation-by-quarter system for halfbacks. Jones will play most of the game, taking occasional breathers while veteran T.J. Duckett spells him.
Quick slants: Holmgren has not decided who will return punts in Burleson’s absence. Trufant, Wallace and rookie running back Justin Forsett are the top candidates. … Defensive tackle Rocky Bernard and defensive back Jordan Babineaux returned to the team Monday after serving one-game suspensions. They will be officially added to the roster today, at which time the Seahawks are likely to make roster moves. One likely candidate to get cut is kicker Brandon Coutu, who should end up on the practice squad. The other move could involve Burleson going on IR. … Holmgren said “there is a chance” starting right tackle Sean Locklear could return from injury this week.
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