SEATTLE — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Charlie Whitehurst hadn’t been in a meaningful football game for five years before his start against the New York Giants.
And his inexperience showed in Seattle’s 41-7 loss to the visiting Giants at Qwest Field.
Whitehurst, playing in place of injured starter Matt Hasselbeck, was not the only Seahawk who underachieved Sunday, but his flubs and foibles were certainly among the most visible on a day of almost historic Seattle ineptitude.
Whether it was nerves or rust, Whitehurst struggled in the first start and just the fourth game of his five-year NFL career.
“I was disappointed in the way that I played,” Whitehurst said. “I just have to get better.”
Whitehurst, who got the call because Hasselbeck suffered a concussion in last week’s 33-3 loss to Oakland, completed a pass on his first attempt, but it was for minus-3 yards. He also missed open receivers on two early throws, including a wide-open tight end Chris Baker on a trick play — Whitehurst pitched to running back Leon Washington, who lateraled back to Whitehurst, who then passed downfield — in the first quarter.
“It was a bad throw,” Whitehurst acknowledged of the overthrow to Baker.
By the end of the opening period, Whitehurst was 3-for-7 for 5 yards, and the Seahawks already were staring at a 21-0 deficit.
Still, the Seahawks were threatening on the first play of the second quarter, having reached the Giants’ 17-yard line. But Whitehurst’s pass to wide receiver Mike Williams on a slant route bounced off Williams’ hands and was intercepted in the end zone by New York’s Terrell Thomas.
Minutes later, Seattle’s next possession also ended with an interception, this time when Giants cornerback Corey Webster stepped in front of Williams at the New York 12.
“When we got down there close and turned it over both times, it really made the day tough for us,” Whitehurst said. “The first one, I think, I could’ve got it to him maybe a little quicker … and the second one was a poor throw, behind him.
“I could’ve helped us on those two plays and maybe we could’ve gotten some points there.”
By halftime, with New York on top 35-0 and fans already flocking from the stadium, Whitehurst was 9-for-19 for 64 yards with two interceptions. By contrast, New York’s Eli Manning, who is clearly one of the game’s best QBs, was 17-for-21 for 232 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.
Whitehurst finally engineered Seattle’s sole scoring possession in the early moments of the fourth quarter. On a drive that began from the Seattle 30, and with Seattle trailing 41-0, he passed 8 yards to Williams, handed to running back Marshawn Lynch for 26 yards, and then passed to wide receiver Ben Obomanu for a 36-yard touchdown.
“It made (the day) a little better, I guess,” Whitehurst said with a thin smile. “But it was a disappointing day for us.”
Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Whitehurst “survived his first game. He made it through it, he was poised and he handled it OK. But he was unable to make anything other than the one big play, throws-wise.
“I think that he has that start to put behind him now, so we’ll see what happens and how he can grow from there. He did some good things, but he didn’t do enough things to make a difference.”
“I don’t think he was nervous,” Seahawks tight end John Carlson said. “He was well prepared. Tempo and everything in the huddle, getting the plays, he was kind of like a veteran, like he’d been around for a while. So Charlie handled himself fine. There weren’t any issues in that area of the game. We were just completely ineffective offensively.”
Whitehurst was drafted by San Diego in 2006 out of Clemson University and spent most of four seasons on the Chargers’ bench. He was traded to Seattle last spring, and made his only 2010 appearance in mop-up duty last week at Oakland.
“It’s been awhile since I made a start that means something, for sure,” he said. “I’m not going to say I was comfortable out there because we couldn’t get anything going. … It was kind of business as usual. You go out there and you play quarterback. But it was just a tough day for us.”
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