Just as Seattle’s Mike Holmgren is entering his final year as head coach, his Seahawks are now stumbling and stumbling through what appears to be a Larry, Mo and Curly comedy routine.
After dusting off the Minnesota Vikings 34-17 in their 2008 preseason opener on the road in Minneapolis, the Seahawks narrowly escaped loss in their preseason opener at home against the Chicago Bears, winning 29-26 at a display of error-prone ineptitude. For the Seahawks faithful, it was no laughing matter.
There are high hopes in Seattle this year, especially as Holmgren is entering his senior year after winning an AFC Western Division title, an NFC Wild Card berth, 4 straight NFC Western Division championships (2004 to 2007), an NFC championship and win over the Seahawks. to their first Super Bowl appearance in 2005, which they promptly lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-10.
Against Minnesota, the Seahawks became ballhawks, forcing 5 fumbles, recovering 4 and intercepting an interception. Backup quarterback Seneca Wallace completed 15 of 20 passes with 3 touchdown passes after starter Matt Hasselbeck looked solid on the game’s first two drives.
Against Chicago, the Seahawks were on two sides of another planet.
On the bright side, his seventh-round draft pick out of Georgia, placekicker Brandon Coutu, went 5-for-5, including the game-winning 36-yard field goal in overtime to win. Seattle’s other seventh-round draft pick from California, 5-foot-8 Justin Forsett, had 261 general-purpose yards, excluding a 50-plus-yard return canceled for holding, and with all 136 rushing yards when juice. In the second half.
Coutu is a backup to Olindo Mare, a former Pro-Bowl, 12-year veteran with the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants. Forsett is fourth on the running back depth chart behind Maurice Morris, Julius Jones and TJ Duckett. Jones (of the Dallas Cowboys) and Duckett (of the Detroit Lions) are new additions this year to replace the firing of former All Pro and 2005 NFL MVP Shaun Alexander.
In 2005, he became the first player in NFL history to score 19 rushing or receiving touchdowns in just 10 games. That mark ultimately helped him break the NFL single-season touchdown mark with 27. Alexander, hampered by injuries the past two seasons, was Seattle’s all-time leading rusher with 7,817 rushing yards and 89 rushing touchdowns. in 5 seasons.
On the downside, the Seahawks had to overcome 2 blocked punts and an interception return for a touchdown to finally win at home. Backline quarterback Charlie Fry completed 20 of 35 passes but was intercepted 3 times. Seattle only won because the Bears’ Pro Bowl placekicker missed a potential game-winning shot from 47 yards out as regulation time expired.
Seattle remains excited about new second-round pick John Carlson from Notre Dame. Holmgren’s West Coast offense was in dire need of a tight end who could play effectively.
The addition of veteran guard and former Pro Bowler Mike Wahle from the Carolina Panthers should shore up an offensive line that was excellent in 2005 and became much less so with the departure of guard Steve Hutchinson to the Minnesota Vikings. Hutchinson was unstoppable alongside Walter Jones, the Seahawks’ first tackle who is an 8-time Pro Browler and 6-time All Pro.
Unfortunately, the Seahawks underestimated the positive locker room presence of Hutchinson, who created a leadership role that hasn’t been fulfilled.
While Seattle seems stable in its coaching transition (Jim Mora, current assistant head coach and defensive backs coach, will replace Holmgren next year), there is a lot of turnover among coaches.
The Seahawks have added Mike Solari from the Kansas City Chiefs (new offensive line coach), Bill Lazor from the Washington Redskins (new quarterbacks coach), Kasey Dunn from the University of Maryland (new running backs coach) and Mike DeBord of the University of Michigan (new offensive assistant coach).
Like most NFL teams, the ‘Hawks have plenty of coaches to go with Holmgren — 19 of them, in fact. In some cases, they work harder than the players they coach.
Seattle, and the NFL in general, has a lot of players who are overpaid and underperforming. Two of them are defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs, a big guy who could block the middle if he wasn’t hurt every 10 minutes of his career, and offensive tackle Floyd “Pork Chop” Womack, who the Seahawks like because he can play more than one. position on the line.
Womack, like Tubbs, is more hurt than healthy. Seattle, thankfully, released Tubbs earlier in preseason camp. However, they gave up on Womack, a dubious move at best. It’s like the Seahawks can’t find another decent, healthy backup tackle on the face of the Earth.
To their credit, Seattle has recruited replacements; To the disgrace of the drafted players, none of them have proven capable of doing the job, so Womack returns for one more season, that is, until he is injured again.
So who else is hurt? Thought you’d never ask. Pro-Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has enough back problems to make an orthopedic surgeon rich, new wide receiver Bobby Engram has a broken shoulder and will be out for a while, and high-priced wide receiver Deion Branch is recovering from knee surgery.
A lot of other players complain about normal bumps and bruises. Big deal, this is football, not little winks.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley