Seahawks have a lot to fix

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, October 22, 2006

SEATTLE – Since training camp, the cry from the Seahawks was that this was a new season, one that has nothing to do with last year’s team that won the NFC title and popped into the Super Bowl.

They got that right.

Among many, doubt is slowly creeping in where optimism formerly lived. The offseason provided exciting additions such as Julian Peterson, Nate Burleson and Kelly Jennings. Later, Seattle traded for Deion Branch.

The thought by many was that the Seahawks more than compensated for the losses of Steve Hutchinson and Joe Jurevicius, both of whom left for greener pastures in the form of more zeroes on their twice-a-month paychecks. Unfortunately for Seattle, that kind of compensation has yet to show itself.

Those looking at the surface may ask what in the world could be wrong. After all, the team is 4-2, the same record it had at this point last season.

Then why does it feel like the Seahawks are in a state that borders on desperation?

The reasons lie in a cauldron of injuries, unfulfilled expectations, prolonged effects of the above defections and overall uninspired play.

There’s a lot wrong here. The question is whether the Seahawks can make the necessary changes and whether key personnel can return from the Land of the Limping in time for it to matter.

“Overall, we’re a solid group,” defensive tackle Rocky Bernard said after Sunday’s 31-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, a generally dreary effort that snapped the Seahawks’ 12-game home win streak. “People don’t put up a bunch of yards on us. If we can stop giving up the big plays, we’ll be all right.”

But they show little sign of stopping much of anything. And even at this early point of the season, the Seahawks are getting dangerously close to not righting the ship in time to squeeze into the playoffs.

The injuries have mounted since training camp and show few signs of letting up. The Seahawks have dearly missed the big-play ability of tight end Jerramy Stevens, who was just activated this past week after two surgeries on the same knee.

The Seahawks lost league MVP Shaun Alexander to a broken foot after Week 3. He isn’t expected back until early November at the earliest. Alexander’s injury has had the most harmful impact on the Seahawks, who now need even greater contributions from quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

The trouble is that Hasselbeck himself is dinged up, suffering what initially was diagnosed as a sprained right knee on Sunday.

Bobby Engram, the team’s most consistent receiver, is out who knows how long with Grave’s Disease, leading to the inevitable conclusion that the injury gods are enjoying a good, long laugh at the Seahawks’ expense.

Alexander’s absence is hurtful enough. His injury, coupled with Hasselbeck’s suggests looming disaster. Although the Seahawks give the brave prediction that Alexander will be ready for the Oakland Raiders on Monday night, Nov. 6, foot injuries are unpredictable and subject to repeat breaks. His effectiveness and availability the rest of the season come with no guarantees.

Likewise, Hasselbeck’s knee. Today’s sprain can be tomorrow’s tear. Today will be especially tense in Kirkland while Hasselbeck undergoes a more thorough examination. But even if it’s a sprain, Hasselbeck conceivably could miss two to four weeks.

One mark of the 2005 Seahawks was the emergence of reserves playing in the place of injured starters. Losing Darrell Jackson, as they did for several weeks last season, is one thing. Losing Alexander and Hasselbeck together is quite another.

Just as Mo Morris is no Alexander, Seneca Wallace is no Hasselbeck.

Seahawks players and coaches may be so tired of hearing it that they want to take hostages, but Hutchinson’s defection appears a more destructive blow than anyone ever dreamed. His injury-prone replacement, Pork Chop Womack, is down again and second-year man Chris Spencer is both young and a natural center.

So not only do the Seahawks miss the continuity an offensive line requires, the plug-ins need time and experience. The result: Opposing defenses know they can get to Hasselbeck, who’s taken more hits than Timothy Leary.

Puzzling, too, are the continued struggles on the defensive side. The stoppers have yielded big plays at an alarming rate, including Sunday, when they were burned by a 40-yard TD pass in the middle of the second quarter and a 95-yard scoring run by someone named Chester Taylor.

“We’ve talked about (giving up long plays), coached to it and it doesn’t seem to be happening quite fast enough,” Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said.

For the team’s sake, it had better accelerate to that end.

We wonder, however, whether the Seahawks can get what they need before it’s too late.