Recent Stories with tag matt hasselbeck

The trials of life are supposed to lead us to greater heights. I like how Scottish crank Thomas Carlyle put it: "Adversity is the diamond dust Heaven polishes its jewels with."

When adversity comes to Seahawks head coach Jim Mora, he reacts by uttering nonsense, blaming others, and, lately, trying to rewrite history. He's no jewel. Unless you're talking about nose gold.

Mora, with his hat pulled low after Sunday's loss. If I were him, I'd try to hide too

After an ugly loss to one-win Tampa Bay on Sunday, in a game even the Bucs coach didn't think his team could win, Mora was in full backtrack mode.

"We were a four-win team last year," Mora said in his post-game media remarks, adding in some finger thrusts for effect. "Let's not lose track of that folks. We were a Four. Win. Team." (Actually he said "four team win," but we know what he meant.)

Funny, I seem to remember thinking that Mora was never going use 2008 as an excuse. I wonder why I would've thought that?

"I'm ready to officially shut the door on 2008 and never talk about it again."--Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke, January 2009.

Oh right, that's why. Mora's first press conference as Seahawks coach, when he, GM Tim Ruskell, and Leiweke told fans to forget about the '08 debacle and gird up for a run at the playoffs. Said Leiweke: "We believe we're gonna regain our winning ways, the excitement in this building is real, and you're gonna feel it every game next year."

Said Mora in that January press conference: "Every single year is about winning the world championship."

Said Mora after Sunday's game: "We had a chance to double our win total."

Huh?

Mora then: "We're not going to rebuild."

Mora now: "We're in the stages of trying to build something that was broken."

Wha?

Mora then: "We're going to develop a scheme that fits our players."

Mora yesterday: "It takes time to come up with schemes that work for your players."

Zuu?

Hasselbeck: No hat, no blame game

Perhaps Mora was shielding us from the truth (aka, lying) in January. Maybe he knew that the Seahawks didn't have the talent, and that his schemes wouldn't work right away. In that case, why is he blaming his players?

Alternately, maybe Mora really did think that the Seahawks had the talent to win, and that his schemes would work. In fact, the players suck, and the schemes suck. So why hasn't Mora taken responsibility?

To see how a real leader handles adversity, you just had to wait at the presser until Matt Hasselbeck took the podium. Hasselbeck made his share of mistakes in the game: a foolish lateral attempt recovered by the Bucs and four interceptions. But three of those interceptions were on passes to Deion Branch. Branch fell down on the first, leaving the ball for a Bucs defender. Did Hass try to shift blame to the hopelessly inept Branch? Not a chance.

"I just feel like I let a lot of people down today," he said. "It's my fault. It's on me and I'll improve." Now there's a jewel.

I'll leave it to the Bible to sum Mora up: "If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small."

Butler did what Branch couldn't

Three Seahawks De(i)ons had chances at game-changing plays in the final 63 seconds of the Hawks' last-second win over San Francisco at Qwest Field yesterday (video highlights with local radio calls!). Only rookie Deon Butler was up to the task.

Up first, Deion Branch. With the Seahawks facing third down, only a few yards shy of field goal range, Branch had broken free from his man down the middle of the field. Matt Hasselbeck lofted a perfect pass.

Yet Branch botched the play. He jumped for the ball for no reason and mistimed it. The ball still reached his hands, but bounced off them for an incompletion. Instead of being in position for a game-winning field goal, the Seahawks had to punt.

"I just dropped the ball--I don't have an excuse," Branch told Seattlepi.com's Art Thiel. "I should have made the play, and I didn't make it."

Then it was safety Deon Grant's turn. With the 49ers inexplicably trying to win the game in regulation, Alex Smith threw into double coverage and put the ball right in Grant's hands. Grant dropped a sure interception.

It seemed clear now that the game would go into overtime. But a stellar punt return by Nate Burleson got the Seahawks to midfield. And a third Deon gave the Hawks the play they needed. Matched one-on-one on the sideline against 49er DB Kevin Smith, and with no Niner safety in the area, Butler liked his chances.

I was really hoping Matt came to me,” Butler told TNT's Ryan Divish after the game. “I really didn’t think about the timing of the game or anything, I just knew it was a great matchup.”

Butler shook Smith and got open. Hasselbeck put a perfect spiral towards Butler. The rookie faced a brief moment of panic. "It kind of looked lost for a second because I lost it in the lights, but it came back to me," Butler told the Times' Jerry Brewer. "I found it as soon as it came off the lights." The ball fell right into Butler's hands, and he kept both feet in bounds before stepping out at the San Francisco 15, stopping the clock and getting Olindo Mare close enough for a game-winning 30-yard field goal.

So it all worked out in the end, with the added benefit of showing just how useless Deion Branch is. Branch's putrid production since being acquired with a first round pick is part of the reason Tim Ruskell lost his job this week. He needs to go away (and take his ugly green gloves with him). Hopefully the last 63 seconds of Sunday's game will hasten that result.

Then we can happily chant: The Deion is Dead! Long Live the Deon!

The Hawks, now 5-7, play next Sunday at Houston.

Oh, the statistics are ugly.

--The Seahawks are 7-19 over the past two seasons.

--Their defense, supposedly the cornerstone of GM Tim Ruskell's winning formula, allowed Brett Favre to complete a career-best 88 percent of his passes Sunday. It even allowed a TD pass from Tarvaris Jackson.

--The Seahawks rushing attack, supposedly bound for improvement under new offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, is the worst in the NFL.

Get out your pointing fingers! It's time to play the blame game!

Ruskell: Whipping Boy

The Times' Steve Kelley fixes on GM Tim Ruskell: "The Seahawks are in a death spiral and the defense that Ruskell has put together has allowed 56 points and 746 total yards in the past six quarters. ... They need a shake-up at the top."

Kelley's already touting a candidate for Ruskell's job: Former coach and GM Mike Holmgren, who left the team after last season.

Yeah, things are getting a little silly.

If you must place blame for this season, point the finger at Lady Luck, who has struck the Seahawks where they are most vulnerable.

The Seahawks have five Pro Bowlers on their roster: Walter Jones, Matt Hasselbeck, Lofa Tatupu, Patrick Kerney, and Marcus Trufant. Through eleven games, these players could have played a total of 55 combined games.

They've played in just 26. Jones, the best player in franchise history, hasn't played at all. Tatupu is also out for the season.

Even those who are playing aren't doing so at full strength--Hasselbeck is playing with a broken rib, and Kerney has a variety of injuries. Trufant missed the first two months of the season and has looked rusty on his return.

Jones' absence, already a huge blow for the team, was exacerbated when his backup went down. And then that backup went down. Another former Pro Bowler, Mike Wahle, was supposed to line up beside Jones, but Wahle was released before training camp after failing his physical. Instead of having a left side of their line with two Pro Bowlers, the Seahawks have rookies and backups....

(more)

Didn't start out so well--the Seahawks began yesterday's game down 17 points after a fumble, interception, and failed fourth down conversion gave the Lions' three chances in Seahawks' territory.

Then Matt Hasselbeck brought the Hawks back, delivering one of the finest performances ever by a Seahawks quarterback.

Hasselbeck completed 39 passes, breaking his own franchise record. He had a string of 15 completions in a row. He threw balls that led receivers into space. He dumped balls at their feet when they weren't open. It was a masterful, intelligent Sunday of work, made all the more impressive because Hasselbeck is playing with a broken rib.

Said coach Jim Mora of Hasselbeck: "He showed his true leadership to me. He showed everything that he is. I don't know if I have any more respect for any player that I've ever coached than I have for Matt Hasselbeck."

Video!

 

 

After Detroit got their 17-0 lead, Hasselbeck lead the Hawks to scores on six of their next seven drives. The defense...

(more)

There seemed some reason for optimism yesterday as the Seahawks got one of their top players back from injury. Cornerback Marcus Trufant's back was healed enough for him to play against Dallas. He probably wishes he'd taken another week. Trufant picked up three pass interference penalties trying to defend Dallas' receiver Miles "Always Smilin'" Austin, who still ended up with a touchdown catch. The Seahawks lost 38-17.

The only trouble Austin encountered all day was on his attempted "dunk" attempt of the football over the ten-foot-high crossbar after his touchdown catch--Austin didn't quite have the ups to make it and flipped the ball over the bar at the last second.

By the end of the game, Trufant was getting inside help on Austin, which is not the scenario you envision for a guy with a six-year, $50 million contract.

Meanwhile, the Seahawks offense was fighting itself. T.J. Houshmandzadeh's frustrations at not being more of a focal point in the offense have reached the "openly-second-guessing-his-quarterback" point. At this point, Hasselbeck apparently has to explain after every play why he didn't throw to Housh.

"He needs to get in line," Jim Mora said of Houshmandzadeh.

The bright spot for the Seahawks was the play of middle linebacker David "The Heater" Hawthorne. Taking over for the injured Lofa Tatupu, Hawthorne played like the Tatupu of old, recording five tackles, two sacks, and forcing a fumble. At this rate Tatupu may end up getting Wally Pipped....

(more)

Hasselbeck's already worn the Redskins' colors

The NFL trading deadline is today, and with even Seahawks' coach Jim Mora admitting the playoffs are out of reach, it's time to build for the future.

That future probably won't include aging QB Matt Hasselbeck: Maybe the Hawks should unload him? That's what childhood friend Jason suggested yesterday, sparking off a spirited Seahawks roundtable.

Jason: Would it be crazy to try to trade Hasselbeck to the Redskins for a couple of picks right now? They need a QB and we're not going to be good until his back is done.

Me: I like it! Except they have the same problem we do--no offensive line.

David: This would be insane for Washington to do. They are going to have high draft picks, why would they trade those for an old quarterback who they can't protect? Bad teams should not try and get older, see the mid 2000s Mariners. So Matthew and Zorn can be reunited for ten weeks?

Jason: Remember that they are owned by Dan Snyder. He's Al Davis for our generation.

David: The phrase "owned by Dan Snyder" trumps any rational argument.

Seth: What would you take for Hasselbeck? I'd take a first round and a three.

Jason: A first plus any other round.

David: I agree with Jason, a first and anything. We have two first rounders (f*** you Denver), another second rounder would give us a nice draft.

Jason: I'm fine with that. Dan Snyder makes 2-3 horrible moves every offseason, why can't he make one more during the season--we can use the "Bringing Zorn and Hasselbeck together again will be magical" sales job.

So, there you have it--Hasselbeck to the 'Skins for a first-rounder and anything else is approved by the roundtable. Your move, Tim Ruskell.

We await this weekend's football games like we would a root canal. Anxious, terrified, and just wanting it to be over.

Boy-band 'do or no, Nick Foles scares me

Realpolitik talk: Both the Huskies and Seahawks must win this weekend if they have any hope of postseason play. I'm not going to get into the numbers, just accept this as fact and keep reading.

On Saturday night, the Huskies host the the Arizona Wildcats and their frightening passing attack. Given the Huskies' secondary issues, this would be awful enough, but it's even worse because the Dawgs won't have either of their starting safeties. Free safety Justin Glenn is out for the season after breaking his leg against Notre Dame, and strong safety Nate Williams won't play after suffering a concussion in the same game. Two backups and even a true frosh will mix in at safety.

This just as Arizona seems to have found a quarterback: Soph. Nick Foles, who was 25/34 with 3 TDs and 0 interceptions in the 'Cats win at OSU last weekend. That's a 165 quarterback rating. Yipes.

Meanwhile the Seahawks are responding to their must-win status by rushing injured QB Matt Hasselbeck into action. Hasselbeck says he can throw despite his broken rib, which would be fine if he were a baseball player. Unfortunately, football is a contact sport, and the man protecting Hass's blind side is a third-stringer who is also playing hurt.

The Jaguars, the Hawks' opponent on Sunday, will overwhelm the left side of the Seahawks line, they will hit Hasselbeck, and only then will we really see how well that rib is healed....

(more)

When I tell you that the highlight of the Seattle sports weekend was giving a standing ovation to a third-place team, you may think it wasn't much of a weekend. But it was epic, notably for our sports teams getting the worst Indiana lambasting since the Kerry campaign.

Notre Dame 37, Washington 30 (OT)

As I headed to Teddy's to watch Washington vs. Notre Dame (live from South Bend, Indiana), I wondered exactly how empty the bandwagon would be. Coming off the USC win, the bar was packed for Stanford. But after losing that game, how would it look? Let's let pictures tell the story:

Crowd at Teddy's for UW/Stanford

Crowd at Teddy's for UW/Notre Dame

So--yeah, Seattle sports fans, you are some fairweather sons of bitches. And you missed an amazing game, one that will always be remembered for the stunning inability of the Huskies to score one touchdown from twelve tries inside the one-yard-line. If you have a Husky fan at your office, I recommend putting his morning coffee three feet behind a white line and see...

(more)

Matt Hasselbeck dove toward the end zone during Sunday's game at San Francisco. As he did, 6-1, 240 lb., 24-year-old San Francisco linebacker Patrick Willis charged into his back.

Like Matt Hasselbeck, I am in my early 30s, and I will tell you what would happen if a 6-1, 240 lb. 24-year-old charged into me. I would start to be a little more discerning in my dating choices. Ha! No, seriously, I would lie on the ground until the sun absorbed the earth.

Hasselbeck sent this photo via Twitter

Hasselbeck, who is a football player and a Republican, not a writer and Obama supporter like me, actually stood up. He put his hands to his head, signaling that he was coming out of the game. Then he motioned more frantically with his hands that his replacement should arrive. Then, he collapsed into the arms of Seahawks trainers. It was terrifying.

The Hawks' QB didn't play the rest of the game, but afterwards sent a halfway reassuring Tweet to fans. "Going to be alright," it read, and was accompanied by the photo at right....

(more)

Jim Mora attained his first win as Seahawks coach, and even more important than beating a division rival was demonstrating to his players that he and his staff have a winning plan.

"When you ask players to do something new," Mora said after the game, "when you ask them to practice a different way, focus on different things--when you can come away with an impressive performance like our defense did today then guys start to buy in a little bit. And they buy in a little bit more every time that happens. So you gain credibility. And as a coach, credibility with your players is extremely important--very important."

 

The game didn't start out looking like either team would emerge with credibility. Perhaps Qwest Field suffered from lingering putridity left over from Saturday's awful Wazzu/Hawaii game, which featured 11 turnovers and 19 penalties. Sunday's Seahawks/Rams game started with the Rams fumbling the kickoff, and the Seahawks added a fumble and two interceptions of their own by the end of the first quarter.

I watched the game with a Seahawks-fan-heavy crowd at Teddy's on Roosevelt, and they seemed to be in a wait-and-see approach after last year's debacle. People were waiting for the team to show them something. In the final three quarters, they did.

The Seahawks shut the Rams out despite being without talented linebacker Leroy Hill (groin injury) for almost the entire game, and without Lofa Tatupu (hamstring injury) for most of it. Backups Will Herring and David Hawthorne took over, and the defense didn't suffer at all. Said Mora: "I think one of the indicators is, do you notice a drop off when new guys take the field? Quite frankly, I didn’t notice a drop off in play.”

High praise for Herring and Hawthorne, and perhaps a wake-up call for Tatupu and Hill, both of whom underachieved last year. Neither's injury was considered serious, though we'll know more today.

On offense, the new Seahawks regime showed a commitment to getting the ball to the team's most talented offensive players--something that didn't happen in Mike Holmgren's scheme. Nate Burleson had seven catches, tying his career-high as a Seahawk, and John Carlson savaged the Rams' secondary with 6 catches for 95 yards and 2 TDs. If you have John Carlson on your fantasy team, you are almost assuredly a winner this week (unless you also have Jay Cutler).

Matt Hasselbeck had a very shaky start--four of his first six passes were touched by Rams defenders--but he settled in and finished with 25 completions on 36 passes for 279 yards and 3 TDs.

If there was a dark cloud, it was the Seahawks running game. Yes, Julius Jones had 117 yards, but most of that came on one 62-yard TD carry. Take away that run and Jones had just 55 yards on 18 carries, barely a 3-yard-per-carry average. Edgerrin James was worse, getting just 30 yards on 11 carries. The Seahawks' top backs must be able to run the ball better.

Next week, the Hawks will play at undefeated San Francisco in an early battle for division supremacy. The winner will hold a one-game lead in the NFC West race.