Playoffs or bust for Holmgren?

KIRKLAND — The guillotines have started to fall, leaving some NFL coaches looking over their shoulders while rubbing their necks.

Mike Holmgren is among those who have taken notice.

"This time of the year, we all have to take a look at our own mortality," he said after the Atlanta Falcons fired Dan Reeves, one of just two active coaches who had more career wins than Holmgren.

The Reeves dismissal nine days ago was followed by a more personal firing for Holmgren on Wednesday. Jim Fassel, a former USC teammate and fraternity brother of the Seattle Seahawks head coach, was told by the New York Giants that he would be let go at the end of the season.

"It’s a tough thing, and (it’s) that time of year," Holmgren said Wednesday. "A lot is talked about and a lot is written, and it’s just difficult at times."

With three losses in the past four weeks, Holmgren might be the one looking over his shoulder now.

The Seahawks’ head coach may not feel quite the heat that he did last December, but it’s safe to say he doesn’t have the same job security that some coaches for division-leading teams enjoy.

And he’s not alone. When Holmgren’s Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals square off this Sunday, both head coaches will be roaming the sidelines amid uncertainty.

"Your future in this league is normally tied to one thing, and that’s wins," said Cardinals coach Dave McGinnis, who has had rumors of his firing follow him throughout a season in which his team has gone 3-11. "I don’t have enough wins this year."

In a sense, McGinnis is one of the fortunate ones. He hasn’t been told one way or the other, but Arizona’s head coach is perceptive enough to realize that he probably won’t be back — no matter what happens over the final two weeks.

Holmgren has a bit more pressure to perform over the final two weeks. Considered the franchise’s savior in 1999 and its scapegoat in 2002, he doesn’t know what his future might hold. Two more wins are likely to keep him in Seattle — he’s in the fifth year of an eight-year, $32 million contract — while a pair of losses could force owner Paul Allen and general manager Bob Whitsitt to re-evaluate Holmgren’s job status for 2004.

Allen is rarely available to the media, and Whitsitt does not address personnel decisions during the course of a season. That left Holmgren to answer questions about his own job status Wednesday.

"I haven’t thought about that for a long time," he said. "Really, that hasn’t entered into it. I want to get this done for other reasons, and then maybe we’ll have that conversation in the offseason."

When the Seahawks got off to starts of 5-1, 6-2 and 8-4, Holmgren appeared to have turned the corner in terms of his status within the franchise. The talk about Seattle’s head coach was whether he deserved any postseason honors, not a postseason pink slip.

With just two wins in the past six weeks, and one victory in the past four, Holmgren could be on thin ice again.

"We’ve all tried to put that coach-Holmgren-could-be-fired talk away from ourselves," running back Shaun Alexander said. "We’re just trying to go out and make the playoffs. Why worry about what’s happening when you can take care of all of that with some wins in the final two weeks? Then you’re looking at something even bigger, which is making it to the Super Bowl."

Asked to evaluate Holmgren’s performance this season, Alexander was frank.

"He’s just like anybody," Alexander said with a shrug. "I’ve had great games, and I’ve had OK games. Matt (Hasselbeck) has had great games and OK games. We’re all human. (Holmgren) has had great games, and he’s had games that he wishes he could have back."

Although nothing official was ever confirmed by Allen or Whitsitt, some people outside the organization believe Holmgren entered this season with a playoffs-or-bust ultimatum hanging over his head.

Now things don’t seem so black and white. Working in Holmgren’s favor is the fact that the Seahawks have shown legitimate progress over the past two seasons. There are signs that this franchise has turned the corner and established itself as a playoff contender.

But being a playoff contender and a playoff participant are two different animals. That’s what leaves Holmgren’s job status up in the air with two weeks to go.

"We’re not even looking at: Is he going to be here? Is he not?" Alexander said. "Is he off the hook? Is he on the hook?

"We’re just going out and trying to win these two games and get to the playoffs."

And possibly keep their coach in the process.

"I want this bad, for a lot of reasons," Holmgren said. "That doesn’t change with me too much over the years. Given how close we are, and given how in some ways I think we deserve to get in there — the strangest things have happened this year — I sure hope we can get this done."