Week 14 - Sunday 10th December 2006

For a team with ambitions of being the number 2 seed in the NFC, a defeat to the 3-9 Cardinals was not really in the script.

I must admit to finding it a difficult game to sum up. It was a tough defeat and it was frustrating but it doesn't in itself point to a complete meltdown of the Seahawks play off aspirations although concerns can very rightly be held.

The 2005 Seahawks were renowned for taking the opening possession and driving down the field to make it 7-0. The 2006 Seahawks on the road seem to scarcely move the ball at all and fall into a 0-14 defecit.

The opening TD was a 53 yard bomb thrown up for Bry Johnson who was left unopposed as Marcus Trufant in coverage fell over. I'm sure Trufant doesn't make up excuses but one noticeable feature of the Cards state of the art stadium was how poor the pitch was in places. Whether that was a factor I don't know but it is surprising that they can't get a better surface.

Next came the Seahawks fumbles. We escaped the first one thanks to a Peterson coming back with an interception as he wrestled the ball off the receiver but the next one saw James eventually go in fairly unopposed from 7 yards. 0-14.

It didn't look good but 2 plays and 70 yards later it was 7-14 as Matt hit DJ Hackett (pictured above) for 47 yards, then 23 for a TD. It is scary to think that if Bobby Engram had been declared fit then Hackett would most likely have been inactive.

Rackers added a 32 yard field goal for the Cardinals before Hasselbeck took the Hawks on a 91 yard two and a half minute drive to make it 14-17 at the half with a 5 yard pass to Nate Burleson.

At the start of the second half Rackers missed a 53 yard field goal and the Cardinals were given a dose of Alexander. Holmgren is well known for scripting the first 15 plays of the game and normally writes in plenty of fancy passing plays. Here at the start of the second half he did exactly what I'd do at the start of the game and that would be to run Alexander until they are sick of the sight of him.

He ground out the yards to put the Hawks in position for Jackson to be found on a 2 yard pass and his 10th TD of the season. The Seahawks finally had the lead and the script was that the Seahawks would proceed to close out the game in a comfortable manner.

Forcing a three and out on the next Cards possession it was all going well but momentum took a huge swing as Mack Strong fumbled the first play of the Seahawks drive. It left the Cards a short field and Leinart found Fitzgerald to make it 21-24 at the start of the 4th quarter.

I just had a feeling that the Seahawks would not get a drive going until it really mattered and I was right. Failing on a 3rd and 1 and then punting again when penned back on their own goal line it left Rackers in position to open up a spread that a Josh Brown kick couldn't cover.

3:24 left and 87 yards to go to win the game. I actually felt pretty confident that the Hawks would do it and as Matt took us into their half and Shaun eventually beat Barry Sanders record for consecutive games with runs of 10+ yards. With only 15 yards to go and now 1:40 remaining the worry was that the Seahawks would score too soon.

Firstly Shaun was stuffed for a loss, Matt missed Hackett in the endzone and was then sacked for an 8 yard loss by of all players Chike Okeafor. It set up 4th and 20 and we almost kept the game alive but Branch made the reception and just couldn't get over the first down line despite a measure and a review by the booth.

It was a disappointing loss to say the least. Matt Leinart was virtually untouched all game which raises real questions about how the Hawks are bringing pressure when it was our avowed intention to go after him. Mike Holmgren said afterwards that they were rolling Leinart out in different directions like it was some sort of desert hatched conspiracy to thwart his game plan where he was supposed to stand as motionless as a cactus.

The 4 fumbles can maybe be put down as something as a on off day because I don't think we are a team that fumbles much but it might have been nice to bring some hustle and actually recover one of them ourselves and that's the sort of thing that bugs me.

I can't escape the conclusion that we are playing soft after last years Superbowl appearance. Bye weeks off, extra days off after a defeat and at the end of this game huge smiles from Seahawks players and warm embraces moments after we'd lost. I'm all for sportsmanship but this took things too far for me. I get more upset losing at tiddly winks to my daughter than the Hakws players looked. So what happens Monday as the Hawks have a scheduled practice ahead of the Thursday game? Have another day off to rest up. Maybe it makes sense but to me it spells we are playing soft when the big stick might do more good than harm.

I'm all for keeping the faith but as it stands going into week 15, the Hawks aren't even giving the wildly optimistic hopes of doing very much in early 2007.

HawksHead (11/12/06)

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