RENTON — As if the game-to-game struggles of the Seahawks haven’t been enough to worry about, another concern seems to be creeping into the minds of the team’s leaders and coach.
At some point, does a team get used to losing? And if so how do the Seahawks avoid that pitfall?
It’s one thing to have a bad run of games or even one bad season, but the Seahawks are now 7-19 going back to the start of last season. This season six of the seven losses have been by double-digit deficits, and four of those have come by 17 or more points. For the first and second-year players on the rosters — nearly a third of the current roster — a losing record is all they know.
Perhaps that’s why quarterback Matt Hasselbeck expressed concern following his team’s latest loss, a 35-9 drubbing at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings.
“We just can’t get used to this,” he said. “We can’t get used to losing.”
Sure the Seahawks playoff hopes may be dead, but that doesn’t mean the team has nothing left to play for. The value of a better draft pick doesn’t outweigh the positives of a strong finish, which is why Jim Mora sees these next six games as crucial, even if a losing season appears almost inevitable at this point.
Like his quarterback, Mora worries about the Seahawks accepting defeat.
“We’ve struggled a little bit here for the last couple seasons, and that’s a legitimate question,” he said. “I have to rely on the leadership of this team, guys like Matt, guys like Lawyer Milloy — I can name more, but I’ll just focus on those two offensively and defensively — to make sure that our young guys understand that it’s not acceptable to lose. It’s expected (that they) play hard, but that’s not good enough. What’s demanded in this league is that you win.”
Neither Mora nor his players expected that the Seahawks would lose seven of their first 10 games, which is why Mora said the following when asked to assess his performance this year: “You know, obviously not good enough, or we wouldn’t be 3-7.”
But Mora also said he didn’t expect a turnaround to be easy.
“It’s kind of what I thought,” he said. “I knew that it was going to be a process. I knew we were a team that had some things we have to overcome, and that’s what we’re working hard to do, and that’s what we’re impressing upon these guys, to stay with it. You never know how close you are to the tipping point, so we’ve got to keep pushing, and we’ve got to keep working hard, with a great attitude, and we’ve got to keep holding each other accountable: players to coach, coach to player, player to player, coach to coach, within this building. If we do those things, then we have a chance.”
Mora still talks of hope and light at the end of the tunnel, and while the end of the tunnel won’t likely come this season, there is still plenty to play for in these next six games.
“We have to find a way to win a game,” he said. “And then win another game, and then win another game, and create some habits as they relate to winning.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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