KnoxNews:Pathetic mistakes by Seattle allow loss to another inferior foe

[TK]

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/other_sports/article/0,1406,KNS_304_2417433,00.html

Pathetic mistakes by Seattle allow loss to another inferior foe

By DAVE BOLING

November 10, 2003

The Seattle Seahawks need to grow up.

They must quit making the mistakes that define/doom immature teams; stop giving away yards and points and games.

They have to realize the enormous and frustrating difference between potential and production.

Sunday, in a textbook example of how to allow an inferior opponent to beat you, the Seahawks turned a laugher into a groaner with their own mistakes, losing 27-20 to a sad Washington Redskins team that seemed energized (if not shocked) by the Seattle generosity.

Rather than joining the ranks of the league's elite, the Seahawks are starting to look like room-service patsies for struggling clubs, losing to 2-4 Cincinnati two weeks ago, and falling Sunday to a Redskins team that hadn't won in four games.

Playing lousy, bring in the Seahawks. Team Feelgood will get you well.

Outcome notwithstanding, the Redskins are not good (Washington: First in war, first in peace, last in the NFC East).

It was the kind of three-turnover, five-drop performance that, if not contained, curtailed or reversed, could herald a second-half collapse matching the epic 1999 nosedive.

Seattle could have won this by three touchdowns and moved to 7-2 with an apparent gimme lined up Sunday at home with a visit from Detroit.

Instead, they're 6-3 with absolutely nothing guaranteed the rest of the way.

Here are the most distressing symptoms:

Darrell Jackson forgot how to catch.

The wide receiver not only dropped three more passes, but managed to tip one up in the air so it could be intercepted and kill the potential game-tying drive in the final minute.

That's eight drops in the past three games. Problems in one game are a quirk. Two games is a trend. Three times ... it's a reality that must be corrected.

Koren Robinson and Shaun Alexander had drops Sunday, too. But Jackson's have been the most crippling.

Sit him. He's been solid, but now he's a liability. Throw Alex Bannister and Bobby Engram more balls. Jackson needs to get a handle on the problem and maybe taking a rest will help him get straightened out.

The defense is putting pressure only on itself.

Washington picked up nearly 400 yards of offense. Redskins quarterback Patrick Ramsey has been sacked 26 times this season, second most in the NFL. But he wasn't sacked once by the Seahawks.

Blitzes seemed to harry him early, but the Hawks pulled back into coverage and Ramsey was reasonably free to throw for two touchdowns and 232 yards.

They needed to blitz him until he proved he could beat them. They let him off the hook.

Beyond that: The Redskins have occasionally pulled out a tricky wide-receiver pass over the past two seasons. They did it in the fourth quarter for the game-winner and the Seahawks' defense wasn't prepared for it. Somebody blew coverage.

They cannot play on the road.

Coach Mike Holmgren said the loss was all about the team's mistakes and had nothing to do with the location.

(He was speaking in front of a backdrop featuring the name of an online travel service that sponsors the team. At 1-3 on the road, it would seem that endorsement contract is in jeopardy).

Once again, they followed the blueprint for defeat on the road. They fumbled away the opening kickoff and blew every opportunity to put the Redskins away and take the crowd of more than 80,000 out of it.

Instead, they gave the fans reason to cheer and the Redskins reason for optimism.

When one yard was all that was needed, the Seahawks didn't get it ... the Redskins did.

On third-and-1 near midfield with the game tied in the fourth quarter, a lead play up the middle resulted in a 2-yard loss when quarterback Matt Hasselbeck collided with running back Shaun Alexander. It looked like the first day of training camp.

On the subsequent Redskins' drive, coach Steve Spurrier brazenly (OK, seemingly stupidly) went for a fourth-and-1 on the Skins' 25.

But they got it. And then drove the field for the game-winner.

One yard.

There were the mistakes and the drops and the senseless timeouts and blown coverages and missed blocks.

But if the Seahawks get that one yard and prevent the Redskins from doing the same, it's a different game.

There's no mystery to the problems, Holmgren said.

"There's nothing too deep; we don't have to be too analytical," he said. "Short yardage ... we fall down. Play we need ... we drop the ball. Coverage we need ... we miss a coverage. These are simple football things."

Simple, but critical, of course.

"I think we have a chance to have a fine season, I really do," he said. "But to have a great, great season, which is what we're shooting for, we have to be more consistent."

And find a way to get their maturity to match their talent.

[@DCGoldPants]

somebody email DAVE BOLING and let him know he's an idiot.

[Kilmer17]

Yeah. Nevermind that the reason Hasselback ran into Alexander was because Trotter had blwon past their center on a run blitz and was 4 yards in their backfied.

[Skeletor The Invincible]

Why?

His points are sound. If Jackson catches that pass at the end of the game, who knows what happens.

The Seahawks probably should have beaten us.

[@DCGoldPants]

Well, perhaps they should of beaten us the past few years.

But they didn't....so...why is this guy shocked? Its a mini curse.

[Awesome]

I suddenly hate the Seattle Seahawks. Other teams get paid too you know.

[Kilmer17]

And if Champ picls off that can of corn?????

Too many of those what ifs in this game.

[Funkyalligator]

Well...let this guy say what he wants.....I can understand were he is coming from....

[Henry]

Look, when a 6-2 team plays a 3-5 team and loses, they are going to blame themselves for the loss. We'd do the same thing.

But yes, it does seem like we've got Seattle's number.

[Joe Sick]

The Seahags are...

O-VER-RAY-TED!

Clap, clap...clapclapclap!

Did he ever think of that?

I do agree that they played a poor game.

But talent-wise, we are just as good or better than those guys. Just because our record is struggling doesn't make us a horrible team.

[OURYEAR#56]

I love it. I'll see you guys at 11-5

[Angus]

It is amazing what a little win can do for a fandom that was ready to bail out seven days ago.

[spanishomelette]

Originally posted by Angus

It is amazing what a little win can do for a fandom that was ready to bail out seven days ago.

A Dallas fan would know.

There is a lot of season ahead, and the 'skins still have a lot to prove before anyone anoints them free of sin.

[The Evil Genius]

Originally posted by Angus

It is amazing what a little win can do for a fandom that was ready to bail out seven days ago.

Angus,

I think thats a bit unfair. Every site will see members bail out after some tough losses. Hell, I am sure there were people talking about the next year's draft after that 1st Atlanta loss of yours. Actually, I recall some on a Dullass board doing that.

In reality - there are some of us who will blindly support the team (I fall into that catagory a lot), some of us who are "realists" who see the good and the bad of the team - and there are those who are darksiders who only post the bad of the team.

The darksiders are a lot easier to see - becuase their articles are usually addressed with flashy titles...the rest of us..well..we just take it day by day I guess.

[Angus]

That comment I made was not a dig. Just an observation. Spanish is right. A Dallas fan would know about such things -- after three years.