RENTON — With a 3-5 record half-way through their schedule, the Seahawks have started this season much worse than they had hoped.
Of course the way the Seahawks have started most of their games this season — disastrously — makes a slow start to the season seem fitting.
Through eight games, the Seahawks have been outscored 55-16 in the first quarter, and that lopsided total only begins to tell the tale of Seattle’s early-game woes.
Perhaps we should have seen this coming. Even in the season opener, a 28-0 laugher against the Rams, the Seahawks turned the ball over three times on four first-quarter possessions — the other was a punt — before righting the ship with four touchdowns on their next five possessions.
Things haven’t improved much from there.
Sept. 20 vs. San Francisco: The Seahawks punted on their first three possessions, then once the second quarter began, they scored 10 points the next three times they had the ball. The 49ers, meanwhile, kicked a field goal on their opening drive, then needed just one play, a 79-yard run by Frank Gore, to make it 10-0 after two possessions.
Oct. 4 vs. Indianapolis: The Seahawks offense was ineffective, punting the ball away on each of its first-quarter possessions, and the defense had no chance against Peyton Manning, who led the Colts to four touchdowns on their first five possessions.
Oct. 11 vs. Jacksonville: Even the most lopsided win of the season didn’t start out particularly well for Seattle. In the first quarter, the Seahawks managed just a field goal to go along with three punts. Once the second quarter rolled around, the Seahawks rattled off 17 points the next three times they had the ball.
Oct. 18 vs. Arizona: Here’s where things really got ugly. Arizona opened the game with a 10-minute, 42-second touchdown drive that featured a 5-for-5 performance on third downs. Seattle’s tired defense wasn’t done after that thanks to a fumble on the Seahawks’ first play from scrimmage. Following the Arizona touchdown that ensued, the Cardinals recovered their own kickoff — a pooch kick nobody in blue bothered to catch — and before you could say “there goes our playoff chances” it was 17-0 Arizona.
Nov. 1 vs. Dallas: During the Seahawks’ bye week, head coach Jim Mora said his team would focus on getting off to a better start, and compared to most games this season, they Seahawks came out guns blazing. Not only did the Seahawks stop Dallas on its first possession, they also managed to get three points out of their first drive, marking just the second time this season Seattle has scored on its first possession. Of course that was followed by a Cowboys touchdown, then a Justin Forsett fumble that led to another Dallas touchdown. So even in a game that started off — relatively speaking anyway — pretty well, the Seahawks were down 14-3 early in the second quarter.
And then there was last week. The first two times the Seahawks got the ball, they turned the ball over on the first play of each possession. Their third drive resulted in Jim Mora going against his better judgment and deciding to go for it on fourth-and-one. Predictably the Seahawks got stuffed, setting the Lions up for a 17-0 lead before the first quarter was over.
Of course the Lions are bad enough that the Seahawks had plenty of time to recover, but the Seattle players and coaches are now trying to figure out why they can’t just start off better to begin with.
“Well, we’ve had some turnovers early that have set up our defense in some bad field position,” Mora said. “We’ve given up some long drives. It’s not one thing. It’s something that we tried to address during the bye week, getting off to a faster start. I felt like last week at Dallas we did better, but then we reverted yesterday. It’s something we have to continually stress and talk about and evaluate and emphasize, and try to get better at, because it is very important to get off to a good start. It’s tough to overcome those big deficits.”
Fast starts aren’t a guarantee of success, however. Just ask the Lions about that. Or you could look at the Seahawks’ Week 3 loss to Chicago, a game Seattle led 13-0 after three possessions before the wheels fell off.
Not that they’re hoping to stumble out of the gate again this weekend, but if they do, at least the Seahawks’ comeback Sunday showed that they are capable of recovering.
“If it were to happen again — you hope it doesn’t — we’ve been there, we’ve done it before, so everybody knows that we’ve been in that situation and can come back and win,” receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said. “We made it interesting, but we won.”
Of course, that was against Detroit. Arizona has already shown once this season they can protect a big lead against the Seahawks, so spotting the Cardinals an early advantage is something the Seahawks need to avoid.
“We can’t spot teams that have better records those types of leads, because I don’t know if the confidence would be there, where guys know we’re going to come back and win,” Houshmandzadeh said.
Seahawks make a roster move
Receiver Mike Hass, who was signed off the practice squad last week, was released Tuesday, and defensive end Derek Walker was signed from the practice squad to the roster. Walker was on the 53-man roster at the start of the season, then released following the season opener to make room for the signing of linebacker D.D. Lewis. Walker’s signing may indicate that another team was interested in signing him.
Guard Brian De La Puente was released from the practice squad.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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