SEATTLE — Having suffered through a second straight blowout loss, Seattle Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry has a pretty good idea what to expect when he shows up at the team’s practice facility today and Tuesday.
Curry and his teammates, including those on a defensive unit that has been abused two weeks in a row, will be spending some long hours in the film room “figuring out what went wrong,” the second-year linebacker said. “Because the films never lie.”
And the truth of those films will be another woeful showing by the Seahawks in a 41-7 loss to the New York Giants at Qwest Field.
Seattle’s defense was turned inside out by New York’s high-powered offense, and in particular by Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who completed 21 of 32 passing attempts for 290 yards and three touchdowns. New York totaled 487 offensive yards, with three running backs combining for 201 rushing yards.
“It was embarrassing,” Curry said. “This is going to provide us with a lot of film to sit, study and evaluate ourselves. And we have to do a lot of self-evaluating to get back on track because now we’re back in a dogfight (in the NFC West race).”
“It’s pretty discouraging any time you have a showing like that,” cornerback Marcus Trufant said. “You work hard all week on the practice field, but then it doesn’t show (in the game). We just didn’t come out on the field and get it done. It hurts, and all we can do is try to get better.”
One bad game by itself would be disappointing, but perhaps not surprising. But the Seahawks were similarly undone in Oakland last week, giving up 545 yards in a 33-3 loss to the Raiders. In two weeks, then, Seattle’s defense has yielded 1,032 yards and 74 points.
And instead of padding their division lead, the Seahawks have slipped back into a tie for first place with St. Louis.
“The last two weeks haven’t been the way we’d draw it up,” Seattle safety Lawyer Milloy said, “but that’s the league. And as bad as it is, we’re still 4-4 at the (midpoint of the season).”
The Seahawks were missing three starting defensive linemen — Red Bryant, Colin Cole and Brandon Mebane — because of injuries, and that certainly made it more difficult for Seattle, particularly against New York’s effective ground game.
“But you can’t use injuries as an excuse in this league, period,” cornerback Roy Lewis said. “The guys behind, they have to be ready to go. I wish those (injured) guys a speedy recovery because we definitely need them. But the guys that are stepping in, it’s time to go, point blank.”
“We didn’t feel like we were as forceful at the line of scrimmage as we wanted to be at all,” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said. “But it’s what this is, it’s a fight. It’s a long-time race that we’re running in. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon thing. And we have to survive it and stick together and hang with the (newer) guys, and they have to answer and play like the guys (who are injured).”
Sunday’s defeat was Seattle’s first of the season at home, “and we take pride in how we play (at Qwest Field),” cornerback Kelly Jennings said. “This definitely is not how we play at home. We’re not happy with it, and now we have to go back and get it fixed.
“We’re at the midpoint of the season,” he said, “and I guess you could call it a critical point. We know (two lopsided losses) is not our vision. It’s not where we want to be. But it’s where we’re at … and now we have to get it fixed, and then go out next week and win a football game.”
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