If there were any credence to the old adage about the next-to-last preseason game being the most important, the Seattle Seahawks may well have run out of fingers for all their Super Bowl rings.
The Seahawks are, after all, 20-1 in the game before their preseason finale since 1984. Yet their only playoff victory in that span came after the ‘84 regular season.
Still, Seattle approaches tonight’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs with the kind of focus typically saved for the regular season.
“It’s one of those things where you want to put a good performance in, get your wind under you and basically check the oil,” running back Shaun Alexander said. “I think that’s why this game’s so important. This is the one time where you say: OK, let’s cut out the mistakes and see what we’ve got.”
The importance of the next-to-last preseason game comes from the tradition that the starters see their most playing time. The first two games are typically about easing players back into contact, and the finale is more about evaluating bubble players and avoiding injury. So Game No. 3 turns out to be the bridge between the games that don’t matter and the ones that do.
“I would like to really build up and be hitting on all cylinders, playing our best, come Week 1 in Jacksonville,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. “Now, that doesn’t mean we’re not going to try our best this week.”
Hasselbeck was quick to point out that teams don’t game plan for preseason contests, so there won’t be nearly the focus this week that there will be before the Sept. 11 opener at Jacksonville.
“What we try to do right now is really try to focus on our plays and what we do,” he said. “And if it happens to work against their defense, great. If it doesn’t, you just try to do the best you can.”
The Seahawks seem to have perfected the next-to-last-preseason game, especially on offense. Coach Mike Holmgren has not lost the third preseason game in his first six years in Seattle. During the past four, all of which included the nucleus of Hasselbeck, Alexander and Darrell Jackson, the Seahawks have averaged 343 yards and 28.5 points per game.
Alexander, who typically plays about a quarter in preseason games, has averaged 10.5 carries and 53.5 yards in contests before the finale. Hasselbeck has a mind-boggling 107.5 quarterback rating, with seven touchdowns and just two interceptions, in the game before the finale. And Jackson has seen more balls thrown his way this week than any other.
“Those are three of our best players, so I expect them to be pretty much mistake-free and help us move the offensive team,” Holmgren said of his goals for tonight’s game, which will probably see the starters play into the third quarter. “Darrell hasn’t had many chances (this preseason) and none of them have played very much.
“We will see. This is one of those games where they will be in longer. We will see what they can do.”
Despite Seattle’s lofty record in next-to-last preseason games, a victory is not as important as the team coming together. In what will probably be the final extensive tuneup for most of Seattle’s starters, the objective is to start looking ready to open the regular season.
“This is the week that we put ourselves in position to be ready for the season,” Alexander said. “Some guys will pass their tests, and some guys won’t; that’s just part of the game. But I think this week is important because at least we get to take the test.”
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