SeaPatsy
11-19-2008, 11:21 AM
--Seahawks Insider
They tried to put a good spin on it, these warriors of the Seattle Seahawks.
They have looked better the past couple of weeks, tightening up on defense as the games progress. Sunday was that much better. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck returned after missing five games with a bulging disk in his back, and Deion Branch returned from missing the same amount of time and led the team in receptions.
But looking better and winning big games can be mutually exclusive, and the 26-20 loss to the Arizona Cardinals didn’t eliminate the Seahawks from winning their fifth consecutive NFC West title…But it left them 2-8, five games behind the 7-3 Cardinals with six to play, and coach Mike Holmgren conceded it’s time to reassess his approach with the players for the rest of the season.
Injuries have crushed this team, from Hasselbeck to the 11 receivers they’ve gone through this season due to injury, plus half the offensive line and their two best defensive players have been injured much of the season.
Sunday’s game was kind of a microcosm of the season. They dug themselves a hole, battled back from 26-7 to 26-20 and got the ball back with 2:05 left on the clock. But in the end there just wasn’t enough in the tank to pull out a victory when Hasselbeck threw his third interception of the game
“I wouldn’t say we took control late in the game, we did some nice stuff,” linebacker Lofa Tatupu said. “We were starting to play like we know we can play. It’s just frustrating. It’s a tough one to lose, especially at home the way our season has been going. I’m not saying a win here would get us totally back on track, but a win gives you hope. There’s always hope.
“The main thing is we have to keep fighting. We don’t want tough losses like this and last week (21-19 at Miami) creep into next year. We don’t want to be in tight games, and think, ‘Hopefully we’ll hold on.’ It would be unbelievable for us to win out and them to lose out for us to take the division, anything can happen and I love the way we keep battling as a team.”
The Cardinals rode the wave of their extraordinary passing game, with quarterback Kurt Warner throwing for 395 yards – primarily to his dynamic wide receivers Anquan Boldin who caught 13 passes for 186 yards, and Larry Fitzgerald adding 10 receptions for 151 yards. J.J. Arrington scored two touchdowns, one on a 6-yard screen pass and the other on 4-yard run. Neil Rackers converted all four of his field goal attempts: 38, 48, 54 and 26 yards.
The Seahawks scored on a 13-yard pass from Hasselbeck to Maurice Morris on a screen pass, and T.J. Duckett bulled in from 1 and 2 yards to account for the other two scores. Hasselbeck was 17-of-29 for 170 yards, one touchdown pass and three interceptions. The Seahawks never got their ground game going, with Julius Jones’ 19 yards on 10 carries the high, followed by Hasselbeck scrambling for 17.
Consequently, it was that inability to get anything going on the ground that put Hasselbeck in peril a good portion of the game. The Seahawks lost left guard Mike Wahle in the first half to a shoulder injury, which forced Floyd Womack to move to left guard from right guard and Ray Willis to play right guard when his natural position is tackle. It has just been a continual stream of players all season.
“It makes a difference – it’s frustrating,” said Pro Bowl tackle Walter Jones, the only starter on the offensive line not to miss time this season. “You’re used to being in the bunker with guys. You go into a season and you go into a game thinking you’re going to be with the same guys. It’s no knock on the guys who step in. They’re doing their best. But it’s different. It’s hard to get the same thing. All we can do is try to get it back so this doesn’t happen against next year.”
And that’s where Holmgren was coming from as he discussed his thought process in his 10th and final season as coach. The Seahawks are home again next week, playing host to the Washington Redskins against his former quarterback coach Jim Zorn.
This week will be a time of soul-searching for a lot of people.
“I love them, but now our goals have changed,” Holmgren said. “We came into the season with very high expectations. It has been a difficult season. I just told them that it is very, very important … it will be important to them not only this season but in future Seahawks seasons. And really after they finish playing football – how they approach the last part of this year.”
“I will talk to them at length about it tomorrow, and we’ll establish some new goals. How they approach it is going to be very important. It is important to this team.”
Quotable
Seahawks wide receiver Deion Branch on playing in his second game of the season and the thought of being five games out of the playoffs with six to play:
“I feel pretty good … my legs are all right,” said Branch, who led the team with four receptions. “It’s hard to think that (the chance for playoffs) is over. You don’t want to look to the end. Everybody is going to start predicting what is going to happen now. But some of the weirdest things happen in this league, where guys lose, just like we have been losing a lot (to injury). If everybody else loses a bunch of games, and we get on a roll, then that stuff happens. It’s the NFL. It’s never over until the season is over.”
Fourth quarter
The Seahawks got a great kickoff return from Josh Wilson to the Arizona 33, only to have it moved back 15 yards for an unnecessary roughness penalty on Lance Laury. Still, Matt Hasselbeck hit rookie tight end John Carlson for 25 yards to the 3. Then came a bizarre sequence including Hasselbeck getting intercepted in the end zone on second down by Karlos Dansby. But Carlson stripped Dansby of the ball at the 11-yard line and Walter Jones recovered for the Hawks.
That gave them the ball back and a first down on the 11. On fourth down T.J. Duckett got it to the 1 for a first down and moments later he took it in to make it 23-13 with 12:46 left. But Hasselbeck’s attempt for a 2-point conversion to Bobby Engram was intercepted.
The Cardinals took over after the touchback on their own 20. On the first play, Brandon Mebane appeared to sack Warner, causing a fumble with Darryl Tapp recovering for the Seahawks on the Arizona 14. Cards coach Ken Whisenhunt challenged, however, contending that Warner’s arm had moved forward for a throw making it an incomplete pass. But the play stood and the Seahawks took over.
The Seahawks struggled moving the ball, though, with Julius Jones struggling for 1 yard on first down, and then after Hasselbeck hit Owen Schmitt for 7 yards, T.J. Duckett lost a yard. So on fourth-and-2, Hasselbeck was forced to scramble for 5 yards to the 2. Duckett then took it in for his second touchdown of the game. And Mare’s extra point cut it to 26-20 with still 9:41 remaining in the game.
The defense held twice, the second time giving the offense the ball back on their 28 with 2:05 left in the game. But Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie picked off his second pass of the day, and Hasselbeck’s interception, giving the Cardinals the ball back on the Seattle 48. and that was as close as the Seahawks would get.
Third quarter
The Seahawks took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove right up the field to the Arizona 32 on a pass from Matt Hasselbeck to John Carlson. But on first down, Julius Jones was hit as he was going down and fumbled - Darnell Dockett recovered. The Seahawks challenged the call, contending Jones was already down, but replays were inconclusive, so the Cardinals got the ball back.
The Cardinals drove again behind Warner’s passing, but the defense toughened in the red zone, and Lofa Tatupu got to Warner on third down. That forced Neil Rackers to kick his fourth field goal of the game, this one was from 26 yards with 9:36 left in the third quarter to give the Cardinals a 19-7 lead.
Less than three minutes later, the Cardinals got the ball back and it was another thing of beauty for Warner, moving 82 yards on 10 plays. He capped it off with a 6-yard touchdown pass on a screen to J.J. Arrington, for the latter’s second touchdown. Warner has now thrown a touchdown pass in 18 consecutive games, and for 300 yards in four successive games. The Cardinals led 26-7 going into the final quarter.
Insider at the Half
Halftime at a glance
The Cardinals passing game dominated the first half. Kurt Warner was nearly perfect, completing 22-of-27 for 251 yards; with Anquan Bolding snaring 8 for 108 yards and Larry Fitzgerald grabbing 6 for 91. Warner completed 18 of his first 20, with the lone miscue an interception by Seahawks corner Josh Wilson to set up Seattle’s touchdown.
The Cardinals held the ball for 17:54 compared to 12:06 for the Seahawks. Arizona had 263 total yards to 64 for Seattle, which was led by Matt Hasselbeck, who was 7-of-11 for 53 yards, including a touchdown pass to Mo Morris and an interception.
Key play
Trailing the Rams 13-0 and Arizona driving to the Seattle 33, cornerback Josh Wilson intercepted Warner on the Seahawks 23 and raced 58 yards to the Arizona 19. Three plays and an illegal contact penalty later, Hasselbeck hit Mo Morris with a screen pass and Morris rambled 13 yards for the touchdown.
Turning point
On the first play from scrimmage, the Seahawks hit Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner as he was throwing the ball. It was deflected high in the air and landed in the hands of offensive tackle Levi Brown, who ran for a 4-yard gain. It was that kind of half, as Warner completed 12 of his next 13 passes.
Second quarter
Kurt Warner picked up right where he left off in the first quarter, by hitting 5-of-6 on the Cardinals next possession which began on the Seahawks 5, and went all the way to the Seahawks 23. The big play coming out of the chute was a 33-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald on the first play out of their end zone. The Seahawks finally got to Warner on a third and 7 from the 23 when Darryl Tapp sacked him for a loss. Rackers however converted the 48-yard field goal to make it 13-0 with 4:34 left in the half.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Matt Hasselbeck was intercepted on the third play of the ensuing drive by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and the Cardinals got the ball back on the Seattle 45 with 2:56 left in the half.
With the Rams driving to the Seattle 33 and the clock running down in the half, cornerback Josh Wilson intercepted Warner on the Seahawks 23 and raced 58 yards to the Arizona 19. Three plays and an illegal contact penalty later, Hasselbeck hit Mo Morris with a screen pass and he rambled 13 yards for the touchdown with key blocks from Floyd Womack and Chris Spencer. Olindo Mare’s extra point cut the margin to 13-7 with 57 seconds left in the half.
Nonetheless, the Cardinals had enough time to let Rackers kick a 54-yard field goal to take a 16-7 lead into the locker room.
First quarter
The Cardinals drove from their own 20 to the Seahawks 20 with the opening kickoff, topped off by Neil Rackers’ 38-yard field goal to create a 3-0 Arizona lead. The Seahawks defense got to quarterback Kurt Warner on the first play from scrimmage, the ball popping high into the air and offensive tackle Levi Brown caught it, and turned it into a 4-yard gain. Warner was 9-of-10 for 61 yards on the drive with a variety of flat passes and slants to highlight the drive which took 7:13 off the clock.
Matt Hasselbeck started his first game at quarterback since the fourth game of the season and answered with a drive to the Cardinals 40, but a 3-yard loss on a draw play and an incomplete pass forced a Jon Ryan punt to the Arizona 11.
Once again, Warner began picking away at the Seahawks defense with 9-yard passes, except the second attempt towards the left sideline to Anquan Boldin became a 45-yard gain when he slipped the tackle of Kelly Jennings. Four plays later, J.J. Arrington rambled 4 yards for the touchdown and with four seconds left in the first quarter, the Cardinals had opened up a 10-0 lead.
The Seahawks had the ball for just 4:11 during the quarter, primarily because Warner went 13-of-14 for 144 yards, allowing the Cardinals to hold the ball for 10:49 of the quarter on the way to their early advantage.
This and that
The Seahawks won the toss and for the third consecutive week deferred so they could receive the second half kickoff. … Fullback Leonard Weaver did not dress for the game Sunday due to the rib injury he suffered last week, so rookie Owen Schmitt started. Schmitt came onto the field in introductions banging his forehead with his helmet. … Weaver, Brandon Coutu, David Hawthorne, C.J. Wallace, Mansfield Wrotto, Red Bryant and Patrick Kerney comprised the inactive list Sunday. Seneca Wallace recovered sufficiently from a strained groin suffered last week, so Charlie Frye served as the third quarterback. … The Seahawks signed safety Jamar Adams from the practice squad to replace C.J. Wallace, and released tight end Jeb Putzier. … Former Seahawks running back Ricky Watters raised the 12th Man flag before the game to applause, and the national anthem was sung by popular singer Kenny Loggins.
They tried to put a good spin on it, these warriors of the Seattle Seahawks.
They have looked better the past couple of weeks, tightening up on defense as the games progress. Sunday was that much better. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck returned after missing five games with a bulging disk in his back, and Deion Branch returned from missing the same amount of time and led the team in receptions.
But looking better and winning big games can be mutually exclusive, and the 26-20 loss to the Arizona Cardinals didn’t eliminate the Seahawks from winning their fifth consecutive NFC West title…But it left them 2-8, five games behind the 7-3 Cardinals with six to play, and coach Mike Holmgren conceded it’s time to reassess his approach with the players for the rest of the season.
Injuries have crushed this team, from Hasselbeck to the 11 receivers they’ve gone through this season due to injury, plus half the offensive line and their two best defensive players have been injured much of the season.
Sunday’s game was kind of a microcosm of the season. They dug themselves a hole, battled back from 26-7 to 26-20 and got the ball back with 2:05 left on the clock. But in the end there just wasn’t enough in the tank to pull out a victory when Hasselbeck threw his third interception of the game
“I wouldn’t say we took control late in the game, we did some nice stuff,” linebacker Lofa Tatupu said. “We were starting to play like we know we can play. It’s just frustrating. It’s a tough one to lose, especially at home the way our season has been going. I’m not saying a win here would get us totally back on track, but a win gives you hope. There’s always hope.
“The main thing is we have to keep fighting. We don’t want tough losses like this and last week (21-19 at Miami) creep into next year. We don’t want to be in tight games, and think, ‘Hopefully we’ll hold on.’ It would be unbelievable for us to win out and them to lose out for us to take the division, anything can happen and I love the way we keep battling as a team.”
The Cardinals rode the wave of their extraordinary passing game, with quarterback Kurt Warner throwing for 395 yards – primarily to his dynamic wide receivers Anquan Boldin who caught 13 passes for 186 yards, and Larry Fitzgerald adding 10 receptions for 151 yards. J.J. Arrington scored two touchdowns, one on a 6-yard screen pass and the other on 4-yard run. Neil Rackers converted all four of his field goal attempts: 38, 48, 54 and 26 yards.
The Seahawks scored on a 13-yard pass from Hasselbeck to Maurice Morris on a screen pass, and T.J. Duckett bulled in from 1 and 2 yards to account for the other two scores. Hasselbeck was 17-of-29 for 170 yards, one touchdown pass and three interceptions. The Seahawks never got their ground game going, with Julius Jones’ 19 yards on 10 carries the high, followed by Hasselbeck scrambling for 17.
Consequently, it was that inability to get anything going on the ground that put Hasselbeck in peril a good portion of the game. The Seahawks lost left guard Mike Wahle in the first half to a shoulder injury, which forced Floyd Womack to move to left guard from right guard and Ray Willis to play right guard when his natural position is tackle. It has just been a continual stream of players all season.
“It makes a difference – it’s frustrating,” said Pro Bowl tackle Walter Jones, the only starter on the offensive line not to miss time this season. “You’re used to being in the bunker with guys. You go into a season and you go into a game thinking you’re going to be with the same guys. It’s no knock on the guys who step in. They’re doing their best. But it’s different. It’s hard to get the same thing. All we can do is try to get it back so this doesn’t happen against next year.”
And that’s where Holmgren was coming from as he discussed his thought process in his 10th and final season as coach. The Seahawks are home again next week, playing host to the Washington Redskins against his former quarterback coach Jim Zorn.
This week will be a time of soul-searching for a lot of people.
“I love them, but now our goals have changed,” Holmgren said. “We came into the season with very high expectations. It has been a difficult season. I just told them that it is very, very important … it will be important to them not only this season but in future Seahawks seasons. And really after they finish playing football – how they approach the last part of this year.”
“I will talk to them at length about it tomorrow, and we’ll establish some new goals. How they approach it is going to be very important. It is important to this team.”
Quotable
Seahawks wide receiver Deion Branch on playing in his second game of the season and the thought of being five games out of the playoffs with six to play:
“I feel pretty good … my legs are all right,” said Branch, who led the team with four receptions. “It’s hard to think that (the chance for playoffs) is over. You don’t want to look to the end. Everybody is going to start predicting what is going to happen now. But some of the weirdest things happen in this league, where guys lose, just like we have been losing a lot (to injury). If everybody else loses a bunch of games, and we get on a roll, then that stuff happens. It’s the NFL. It’s never over until the season is over.”
Fourth quarter
The Seahawks got a great kickoff return from Josh Wilson to the Arizona 33, only to have it moved back 15 yards for an unnecessary roughness penalty on Lance Laury. Still, Matt Hasselbeck hit rookie tight end John Carlson for 25 yards to the 3. Then came a bizarre sequence including Hasselbeck getting intercepted in the end zone on second down by Karlos Dansby. But Carlson stripped Dansby of the ball at the 11-yard line and Walter Jones recovered for the Hawks.
That gave them the ball back and a first down on the 11. On fourth down T.J. Duckett got it to the 1 for a first down and moments later he took it in to make it 23-13 with 12:46 left. But Hasselbeck’s attempt for a 2-point conversion to Bobby Engram was intercepted.
The Cardinals took over after the touchback on their own 20. On the first play, Brandon Mebane appeared to sack Warner, causing a fumble with Darryl Tapp recovering for the Seahawks on the Arizona 14. Cards coach Ken Whisenhunt challenged, however, contending that Warner’s arm had moved forward for a throw making it an incomplete pass. But the play stood and the Seahawks took over.
The Seahawks struggled moving the ball, though, with Julius Jones struggling for 1 yard on first down, and then after Hasselbeck hit Owen Schmitt for 7 yards, T.J. Duckett lost a yard. So on fourth-and-2, Hasselbeck was forced to scramble for 5 yards to the 2. Duckett then took it in for his second touchdown of the game. And Mare’s extra point cut it to 26-20 with still 9:41 remaining in the game.
The defense held twice, the second time giving the offense the ball back on their 28 with 2:05 left in the game. But Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie picked off his second pass of the day, and Hasselbeck’s interception, giving the Cardinals the ball back on the Seattle 48. and that was as close as the Seahawks would get.
Third quarter
The Seahawks took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove right up the field to the Arizona 32 on a pass from Matt Hasselbeck to John Carlson. But on first down, Julius Jones was hit as he was going down and fumbled - Darnell Dockett recovered. The Seahawks challenged the call, contending Jones was already down, but replays were inconclusive, so the Cardinals got the ball back.
The Cardinals drove again behind Warner’s passing, but the defense toughened in the red zone, and Lofa Tatupu got to Warner on third down. That forced Neil Rackers to kick his fourth field goal of the game, this one was from 26 yards with 9:36 left in the third quarter to give the Cardinals a 19-7 lead.
Less than three minutes later, the Cardinals got the ball back and it was another thing of beauty for Warner, moving 82 yards on 10 plays. He capped it off with a 6-yard touchdown pass on a screen to J.J. Arrington, for the latter’s second touchdown. Warner has now thrown a touchdown pass in 18 consecutive games, and for 300 yards in four successive games. The Cardinals led 26-7 going into the final quarter.
Insider at the Half
Halftime at a glance
The Cardinals passing game dominated the first half. Kurt Warner was nearly perfect, completing 22-of-27 for 251 yards; with Anquan Bolding snaring 8 for 108 yards and Larry Fitzgerald grabbing 6 for 91. Warner completed 18 of his first 20, with the lone miscue an interception by Seahawks corner Josh Wilson to set up Seattle’s touchdown.
The Cardinals held the ball for 17:54 compared to 12:06 for the Seahawks. Arizona had 263 total yards to 64 for Seattle, which was led by Matt Hasselbeck, who was 7-of-11 for 53 yards, including a touchdown pass to Mo Morris and an interception.
Key play
Trailing the Rams 13-0 and Arizona driving to the Seattle 33, cornerback Josh Wilson intercepted Warner on the Seahawks 23 and raced 58 yards to the Arizona 19. Three plays and an illegal contact penalty later, Hasselbeck hit Mo Morris with a screen pass and Morris rambled 13 yards for the touchdown.
Turning point
On the first play from scrimmage, the Seahawks hit Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner as he was throwing the ball. It was deflected high in the air and landed in the hands of offensive tackle Levi Brown, who ran for a 4-yard gain. It was that kind of half, as Warner completed 12 of his next 13 passes.
Second quarter
Kurt Warner picked up right where he left off in the first quarter, by hitting 5-of-6 on the Cardinals next possession which began on the Seahawks 5, and went all the way to the Seahawks 23. The big play coming out of the chute was a 33-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald on the first play out of their end zone. The Seahawks finally got to Warner on a third and 7 from the 23 when Darryl Tapp sacked him for a loss. Rackers however converted the 48-yard field goal to make it 13-0 with 4:34 left in the half.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Matt Hasselbeck was intercepted on the third play of the ensuing drive by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and the Cardinals got the ball back on the Seattle 45 with 2:56 left in the half.
With the Rams driving to the Seattle 33 and the clock running down in the half, cornerback Josh Wilson intercepted Warner on the Seahawks 23 and raced 58 yards to the Arizona 19. Three plays and an illegal contact penalty later, Hasselbeck hit Mo Morris with a screen pass and he rambled 13 yards for the touchdown with key blocks from Floyd Womack and Chris Spencer. Olindo Mare’s extra point cut the margin to 13-7 with 57 seconds left in the half.
Nonetheless, the Cardinals had enough time to let Rackers kick a 54-yard field goal to take a 16-7 lead into the locker room.
First quarter
The Cardinals drove from their own 20 to the Seahawks 20 with the opening kickoff, topped off by Neil Rackers’ 38-yard field goal to create a 3-0 Arizona lead. The Seahawks defense got to quarterback Kurt Warner on the first play from scrimmage, the ball popping high into the air and offensive tackle Levi Brown caught it, and turned it into a 4-yard gain. Warner was 9-of-10 for 61 yards on the drive with a variety of flat passes and slants to highlight the drive which took 7:13 off the clock.
Matt Hasselbeck started his first game at quarterback since the fourth game of the season and answered with a drive to the Cardinals 40, but a 3-yard loss on a draw play and an incomplete pass forced a Jon Ryan punt to the Arizona 11.
Once again, Warner began picking away at the Seahawks defense with 9-yard passes, except the second attempt towards the left sideline to Anquan Boldin became a 45-yard gain when he slipped the tackle of Kelly Jennings. Four plays later, J.J. Arrington rambled 4 yards for the touchdown and with four seconds left in the first quarter, the Cardinals had opened up a 10-0 lead.
The Seahawks had the ball for just 4:11 during the quarter, primarily because Warner went 13-of-14 for 144 yards, allowing the Cardinals to hold the ball for 10:49 of the quarter on the way to their early advantage.
This and that
The Seahawks won the toss and for the third consecutive week deferred so they could receive the second half kickoff. … Fullback Leonard Weaver did not dress for the game Sunday due to the rib injury he suffered last week, so rookie Owen Schmitt started. Schmitt came onto the field in introductions banging his forehead with his helmet. … Weaver, Brandon Coutu, David Hawthorne, C.J. Wallace, Mansfield Wrotto, Red Bryant and Patrick Kerney comprised the inactive list Sunday. Seneca Wallace recovered sufficiently from a strained groin suffered last week, so Charlie Frye served as the third quarterback. … The Seahawks signed safety Jamar Adams from the practice squad to replace C.J. Wallace, and released tight end Jeb Putzier. … Former Seahawks running back Ricky Watters raised the 12th Man flag before the game to applause, and the national anthem was sung by popular singer Kenny Loggins.