The sting of yesterday's loss aside, I'm very confident of a win against Cincinnati. This is their first visit to Qwest, which is never easy for the opposition. More importantly, our offense should be able to put up big numbers against that leaky Bengal defense.

As long as we can master this complex "handing the ball off" maneuver, I think it'll be a pretty decisive win before the next big test: At San Francisco against the ridiculously over-hyped Niners. That one will tell us a lot about the direction this season will take.

Plus, for the record, I am flying out from Springfield for the game, and the Hawks are 8-0 at games I've seen in person since 2003 (of course, that last loss I attended was at Cincy in '03)...

Maybe I should give the pre-game locker room speech? :]

If we dont come out fired up and ready to play next week, it will be a total abomination.

LeRoy Hill needs to play, Im tired of this guy being hurt.

I"ve heard all the interviews and all the explanations of yesterdays loss. HOWEVER I"m still angry. For the Hawks not to come with focus, attitude and hungry to win is just NOT acceptable. I understand 1 game dosen't make a season. Again for this team to not play with heart and soul for 16 games and make the $$$$$$$$$$ they do is a crime. Alexander needs a gut check. as does the defence.

I precede that Lofa Tatupu will be the best MLB in the league this year...sorry urlacher..sorry lewis..He's been among the best but never regarded as "the best". . . his reign is finally coming into picture.

I do have to admit i was one of many that was disgusted with the pick of another undersized all heart player..then again i do not know college ball. Welcome Tatupu. (And yes i know hes been getting it done for the past 2 years.

But something that i rarely say and truly believe ... I was wrong.

And while sticking with the subject...

I think holmgren will have our boys well prepared..Unfortunately I think the X-factor will be T.J. Housh. If we can get that pass rush back and knock Carson off his game. We win

Chad Johnson alone will get the D fired up. There will be no problems with motivation.

Plus a certain #37 will make sure that no one is able to steal the spotlight from him.

The bright side:

1) Hasslebeck, through 2 games, has a passer rating of over 100 with no interceptions and 200 plus yards per game... dramatically better than last year.

2) Even though it's taken us a while to get it going in each game, our running game appears to be close to where it used to be, with Alexander being able to punch out the 10 - 20 yarder later in the game.

3) We found Branch... here's to some more performances like yesterday's

I'm sure there's more (and I'd love for others to add on to this list... we in Seahawk nation need it!). Bottom line: if we feel bad, imagine what those players are feeling. Let's hope this is the catalyst that sparks our return to Arizona in February!

I just listened to Holmgrens press confrence @ seahawk.com and I am feeling better. He explains how plays happen and I'm certain that the fumble will never happen again.

Tatupu will not be thought of as the best MLB unless or until those around him play as they should, and the defense as a whole is tough and highly ranked.

The dude can only do so much. That performance for the D yesterday as a team stunk. And they know it. The question is whether they can do something about it.

@Heifitz-- I would add that Sims is fast becoming a superb replacement at LG. That dude is a beast.

Completely off-topic....

Charges have been filed in the murder of Terrel Milam, the man who was involved in the Ken Hamlin fight. If it turns out that this guy was indeed the murderer, then I owe an apology to the Hamlin family, for insinuating their involvement.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003889192_webcoldcase17m.html

Note to Shaun: That's how you admit an error.

hey, i know i misspelled "qwest"
in my user name, and i'm planning on correcting it. but one other note that has'nt been mentioned in all of this, which i'm sure you're all aware of. we're now 0-1 in the division, and san fran is 2-0 against the nfc west so far. early, but way important if it would come to the wire late in the season. i have'nt been this sick to my stomach over a game since...the home game last year when we gave up about 17 touchdowns in the 4th quarter to san fran...no, wait...the game we had iced at home against san diego and gave up the only thing we could'nt afford to give up with 37 seconds left, a game winning touchdown...no, uh, the playoff game against chicago where we just needed to convert a play to get in position for the game winning kick, i mean, um, the game where we were cheated out of possibly the only super bowl this century that seattle may ever play in...or maybe it's just the fact that i'll need to earnestly root for the stealers this coming sunday against san fran. GO...SEAHAWKS!!! IT AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER.

I can't help thinking that the reason that Seattle finds themselves in so many close games.....sometimes with teams that most of us feel should be blowouts....is not only because Seattle seems to start slowly quite often, but it seems that when we find ourselves in 3rd-and-long, we run the ball about 90% of the time...while teams that we play probably run the ball about 10% of the time on 3rd and long.(I know Hass was injured last year, and I believe that was an explanation for a lot of the running plays on 3rd downs)...but even this year it's happening a lot.
Occasionally we get a first down, but most of the time we're just giving up and not taking any chances. Anybody else frustrated with this?

yeah, i agree, in a way. i think some of that, especially the 3rd and long draw play, to mack, particularly, goes back to the big play we pulled off in the playoffs in 05 against washington that virtually sealed the game. it seems since then, we go to that often, thinking it will work every time out. i'm not so sure when you run it that frequently, you're not scouted for it, and it no longer bears the element of surprise that makes it sucsessful in the first place.

Holmgren has commented numerous times about his strategy on 3rd and long. He doesn't have - particularly early in the season - a whole lot of 12, 15, 18 yard plays that he has confidence in. The draw to Mack is basically to get better field position, and a hope that he'll break one occassionally.

Personally, I hate that philosophy, and the fact that he does it so much ensures that Mack will not break one - not when everyone knows it's coming.

But that's his explanation.

Maybe coach needs to come up with some 15 yard plays he has confidence in. The draw to Mack just does not work. It is a give up play.

It worked quite a few times during the run to the Super Bowl in 05 but that was so 2 years ago. The Bengals will not run Rudi on 3rd and long, we know that. Let's bring the noise on Sunday!

Go Hawks!

This time last week there were no injuries...then, Leroy HIll is spotted walking in a boot and on crutches, then Mo Morris has a hip injury. What will appear by Wednesday? Can I file my broken remote control on the injury report? I think it may have happened during the game, but I'm not sure. There is a blank spot in my recollection.

In all seriousness, a mistake like that can happen only once during the season...if it happens again, or anything stupid like it, then we're in deep turkey, and its not even Thanksgiving. Try and think about this from the Cardinals perspective-- they probably think they "deserved" a break like that. I'm sure many down there think that fate is smiling upon them. It'll be interesting to see how they play next week.

Did anyone else think that the broadcast yesterday sucked? You would think that Terry Donahue would know how to pronounced Mike HOLMGREN's name, wouldn't you? At least they knew our running back was named Shaun. But you also would have thought his only limb was the left arm, if you listened to Chris Rose. Those guys had very little knowledge of the Seattle team. At least if you have knowledge, get it right. They miss you in Westwood, Terry.

we always get the JV announcers. Chris Rose and that other numnut were a huge step above Dick Stockton Brian Baldinger, in my opinion.

Anyone here old enough to remember when Dave Kreig threw that ball backwards? This play goes up in infamy with some of Dave's finest.

Hopefully we'll get chris collinsworth next game

Didn't you know we have a new head coach? His name is Holmgrim.

Stoked commenter's on here are starting to look towards our next game on Sunday against the Bunguls so we can forget the last game. I'm pretty pumped for these 4 AFC North games this year and how the NFC West teams handle them. We'll play Cinci and the Niners will play the Steelers, so we'll hopefully have a pretty good idea on how these two divisions fare against each other. If we win, and the niners lose, I believe we'll be tied for first. Here's to hoping that is the outcome.

@Heifitz: well said. It's nice to read something even remotely positive around here lately ;)

@hawkdawg: I disagree about Lofa's greatness being tied to the rest of the defense and their performance. Remember that Walt gets a lot of acclaim and he hasn't always been surrounded by the best offensive lineman. He does his job well, and people take notice.

@PapaHawk: I found it amusing (really I wanted to cut my ears off) how every. single. play. they felt the need to say "you gotta wonder about that club on Shaun's wrist."

@HawksKD: Chris Collinsworth? You're kidding, right?

Some stats from the season so far...

Total Offense
We're currently at 713 total yards in offense this season. That puts us on pace for 5,704, which is a 14.6% increase over last season's production (4,977 yards) and a 3.6% decrease from our Super Bowl run in 2005 (5,915 yards).

Passing Yards
We're currently at 482 total passing yards, which puts us on pace for 3,856 for the season. That's up 26.2% from last season (3,054 yards) and up 11.5% from 2005 (3,458 yards).

Sacks
We're on pace for 40 sacks, compared to 41 last year and 50 the year before.

Touchdowns
We're on pace for 32 touchdowns this season, down from 37 last year and 57 (wow) the year before.

Hasselbeck
Matt is on pace for 4,024 total yards passing this season, up from 2,442 last season and 3,459 in 2005.

I really hate the third and long play calling as well. How about a play that actually gets the first down on third and long? A draw or a 5 yard pass on 3rd and 15 are useless. Throw the ball down the damn field, that's what all the teams do on us.

"Plus a certain #37 will make sure that no one is able to steal the spotlight from him."

Uhhh, no one takes the spotlight off ocho-cinco, son.

Shaun Alexander wasn't even fun to watch when he was stealing Walter Jones' hard-earned MVP award in 2005.

What this team needs is 20 Mo Morris carries a Sunday, with a healthy sprinkling of Leanard Weaver to boot.

Send that overpaid, soft as cotton candy frontrunner to the bench.

"really hate the third and long play calling as well. How about a play that actually gets the first down on third and long? A draw or a 5 yard pass on 3rd and 15 are useless. Throw the ball down the damn field, that's what all the teams do on us."

When are we going to quit getting these comments?

Don't you people get it?

When Holmgren's players screw up his plays, his thinking goes directly to punting the football.

Mack Strong on 3rd an 18 ensures we don't see Ryan Plackemeier with 4th and 25.

The NFL game is a field position game.

Don't like Mack Strong on 3rd and 18?

Tell that to the rest of the offense on 2nd and 10.

MoMo gets the yards because he's usually in the game when it doesn't matter any more. His stats are suspect as a result. It's kind of like saying we would win more games if Hass just took a knee, because statistics show that the team taking a knee always wins.

When Collinsworth isn't stumping for the Giants (which he can't do right now), he's braying about his old team, the Bengals. I sure as hell don't want him here Sunday, even if it means getting a Vasgersian (which is either some kind of heart condition or a journeyman announcer at best :P).

If/when the offense gets clicking from the beginning of the game, rather than midway through the 2nd or 3rd quarter, alot of these problems will go away.

I wonder if the people tired of Leroy Hill being hurt are also upset about losing Jackson ;-p

Great point "city by the Bay" I totslly agree with you, The offense has to do a better job on 1st and 2nd down, I agree with the coach, There is nothing wrong with playing it safe and trying to gain field position on 3rd down. The last thing you need on 3rd and long is a sack or turnove.

The one thing I would like to see is more throws down field on 1st and 2nd down, It seems to me that teams are flooding the short zones and taking away the short passing game. They crowd the line of scrimmage and it also takes away running game.
Frank could you ask Holmgren about throwing more downfield on the early downs to loosen up the defense?

Of course if we were throwing down field on 1st and 2nd that would give coach even more reason to run on third :)

My fear for the Cincy game is that it will be a shootout, and we don't have the offense for that kind of game anymore. The Hawks can score points, but it's more of a ball control offense with it's safer short passes and standard runs. Unfortunately, that means it takes more time to score, and there's more chances for a drive to fail or for the defense to make an impact. Cincy is a big play offense and can flat out light it up with the quarterback and receivers they have. Our "wiser" safeties may cut down on some of the long balls, but Cincy is going to break a few anyway I'm afraid.

I'd really like to see Holmgren open it up just a bit more. Call some plays with deeper routes. Cincy's defense can be victimized (as evidenced by Cleveland), but you're probably not going to nickel and dime them to death. You have get downfield a bit more. Man I wish Hackett wasn't out...

My fear, which was justified last weekend, is that our cover guys are too small compared to other teams tall receivers.

You all probably saw one of Phoenix's tall receivers totally out jump Kelly Jennings.

I can just see T.J. and Chad having a field day with our short corners.

8-O

Z

I said it last week, and I'll say it again....

If you are starting a post with "my fear is.... " then you really should look into a new hobby. This is football.

I heard knitting is big these days.

@citybythebay: Excellent insight into Holmgren. The guy is a former HS teacher. First and 2nd downs are the carrot. Third down, many times, is the stick. Especially early in the game.

How many times during the game can you see him yelling "Just run the play!" to the guys as they trot off the field? And have you ever heard any player (current or former) ever criticize his playcalling?

The one thing people forget to realize is that Kelly Jennings is getting beat on a jump ball that should have never been thrown because the front 7 should be getting to the QB. Leinhart created extra time for himself and was able to burn Jennings on a couple of plays.

The front 7 need to get to the QB early and often on sunday to take control of this game.

If you go back and watch the Cincy/Baltimore game the Ravens got to Palmer and he started throwing INT's. Palmer is a great QB, but he can be rattled and that will sputter their offense.


Also, to all the SA haters and worry worts of the Hawks offense, if you go back and look at the SB season, the offense took 3 or 4 games to get going.

STOP WORRYING! If the Hawks cant get the ball going on sunday against a suspect Bengals D then you can start to worry a little.

I don't get why are pass rush isn't better. Kerney, Rocky, Tapp this is supposed be what they are good at. we got pressure on Leinart 3-4 times total. Thats just not getting it done. And even on the one safety blitz that Russel knocked the pass we werent even lucky enough to get a decent bounce our way.

PS it was 105 in AZ for the game and a pleasant 75 or so inside the stadium. The stadium is actually pretty cool, fan friendly (lots of bathrooms) and well designed. It was loud but not Seahawks Stadium loud.

Our run defence worries me the most, not to mention the fact that we had no sacks on Leinert. If Rudy Johnson is able to run the ball it will open up the passing game even more for Palmer...could be a long day. We may have to put up alot of points ala the Browns to win this one.

even if 49ers lose sunday and we win, they are still in first. better conference record.....ugh

Excellent point jblue...i am also worried about a shootout, since even when our offense is rolling (which seems to happen less and less, especially when they don't show up for the first half), it is an efficient offense, not one set up for big plays. Hasselbeck has looked good on short passing routes, but he has not put a long pass on a guy's hands for a long time (except the MoMo TD in week 1).
I am not enamored with Holmy's playcalling lately, whether on 1st, 2nd or 3rd down.
Gotta love Hawk fans, always the eternal optimism ("I listened to the press conference and now understand why we screwed up", "I have no doubts about our ability to beat Cincy"). Let me tell you all one more time, so listen up: WE HAVE NOT SOLVED OUR O-LINE ISSUES. Until we do, and SA gets the first two yards given to him, and Matt is not running for his life, this Offense is NOT going to get significantly better.

And if our D-Line cannot CONSISTENTLY get better pressure, our CBs will continue to get eaten alive by tall receivers. Right now I am predicting a 10-6 season, and that is only because the Saints look so bad right now. We can win this week, but it all depends on the line play on both sides....IT IS NOT A GIMME, and we will bet better off with a game in the 20's than a shootout...mark my words.

I have said it once i'll say it again,our DB's are in position to know balls down instead they go for the pic and get it taken away. On the play where Jennings got out jump on the sideline he could have easily knocked that ball down. Pics are great but a deflected pass works well too.
On the safeties, i have seen them make hit after hit for stops that would have been broken tackles a year ago. recievers are still getting big plays but not like last year, i think the problem lies solely with the front 7 not getting consistant pressure. No corner can defend for 7-10 seconds every play, i counted 11 seconds on one leinart pass.

even if 49ers lose sunday and we win, they are still in first. better conference record.....ugh

Are you serious? It's week 3, Bud... relax. We haven't even played the Niners yet. You are one of those fans (so many of them) who are only comfortable if the Seahawks lead wire-to-wire, if they win every game by 20 pts and never trail. Good luck enjoying a typical football season.

Hey, Babineaux got a new deal!

http://12seahawksstreet.blogspot.com/2007/09/big-play-babs-is-keeper-gets-new-deal.html

SpringfieldSeahawk, what state are you in?

Tatupu is too small to be a middle linebacker on a team whos front four are blocked into oblivion on almost every play ...

No reason to worry yet. Jennings will get better at the jump ball. Hopefully he'll be at his best for it when it matters most- the post-season.

The sky is NOT falling. The Hawks can put up points with anyone against a porous defense. They'll probably have longer drives in the process than Cincy will- due to their style of offense- and keep the defense off the field for a while. The key is getting points on the board in the first quarter. If they do that, the d-line will be more effective. This team is built to play from ahead, not from behind.

Anyone remember a shootout in Baltimore a few years ago? The Hawks did just fine.

EPGD -
So far, you've said the following:

Shaun is a wuss, replace him with Mo.
Matt is terrible, replace him with Seneca
Lofa is too small
Holmgren is a terrible coach
Ruskell is an idiot
Our defense sucks
Our offense is weak

What joy do you have in being a Hawks fan? This is a team that has won 3 straight division titles, been to the playoffs 4 years in a row, and been to a Super Bowl.

Go wallow on USS Mariner for a while.

tmcclurkan makes a point that I've been stewing on for quite awhile; Hasselbeck's long ball is just not that accurate and hasn't been for quite awhile. It's tough to open up the game plan when that is the hand we are dealt. I like Hasselbeck and I'm not bashing on him, but some QBs have a great long ball, some don't.

yeah, good for babs 5 year at 10 mil with incentives that could raise it to 17 mil.

As others have done here -- it's definitely worth noting how solid Hass has looked through two games this year. He's healthy and back to pro bowl form. As always with this team, we need some running game to make the offense go, if we get it, we normally win. I dont think Walt is quite the run blocker he once was, still solid as ever on the pass protection, but doesn't get out in front as well, Sims seems like the best run blocker on the front five right now.

On ther other side of the ball, I'm actually very happy with our defensive backfield right now, esp our corners. I haven't seen Jennings out of cover position yet, and every DB loses some jump balls to guys like Fitzgerald, and with Trufant, I've barely noticed him through two games, which is always a good sign for a CB.

quarterback long ball,,, the ball is in the air for how long,???
its up to the reciever to make the ajustment while the ball is in the air, like catching a ball belted to the gap, recievers can make any quarterback look like a pro-bowl passer, if they can get to it in the field of play,look at cullpepper, with out moss, or far-braa with out quality deep threats.

ya i know i before e except after c , give it a rest nancy.

aelliot11, I do remember Krieg's backwards pass and in fact it had its own name..the "Soap Dish Play".

Though I will say this on the subject of "..Dave's finest": Mudbone needed to spend a heckuva lot more time than Hass worrying about blind side hits. When he had a chance to actually step up confidently into the pocket he delivered nice passes.

The Seahawks had that game. After a terrible start they basically had their way with the much-improved Cardinal's defense. (They went for it twice on 4th down and got them both easily for instance.)

The Hawk's corners are short, the offensive line is questionable, blah blah blah. Just give them a few games to get it together. The only real question on the Hawks is stopping the run. But they protect against the long ball and that's their game plan. The real concern is when they give up a long ball, cuz then you know they've really messed up. (I'm looking at YOU Mike green.)

@seatowntp: I'm in Illinois, heading out west on Friday.

"Hass has looked solid"

... yeah, maybe if Wallace was starting and Frye our number two, Hass might look solid as number 3 on the bench ... Hass couldn't complete a pass over 20 yards if the defense was playing with no linebackers and no defensive backs ... our offense has no mental toughness AND no big strike capability ... Shauna hasn't run like a man since she signed the big contract ... time to rethink the offense BIG TIME ... GO HaWkS!

... and over the past 8 games, our "high-powered" offense (as it is oft referred to here by posters) has scored 20, 20, 24, 21, 23, 17, 14, 21 points per game ... there is nothing HIGH POWERED about those scores ...

Idiotic

don't feed the troll

EPGD, not sure why I even bother, but the pass from Hass to Mo in our first game was way over 20 yards, and against a Tampa defense that did pretty well against the Saints the next week...

Typically I just ignore your ranting, but when you don't even bother to get your facts right, it makes the rest of your ranting look even more foolish.

BTW that was a 34 yard touchdown pass, and Mo caught it near the goal line, so Matt threw the ball around 40 yards including his seven step drop...

On Matt's deep ball throw - there was definitely one play in the 3rd and it was a 3rd and long that Burleson should have got that long throw. he got off to a great start but it appeared like he looked for the ball and realaized that he was short by 10-15 yds from where he was supposed to be and tried to catch up to it. Matt was pissed and you can tell that Burleson just wasn't in the right place - if he hadn't let up his pace he would have been home for a TD. WR's need to take some responsibility.

Oh, I am sorry, we've had ONE pass for over 20 yards so far this year ... no wonder we've scored so many points in each game ...

20 points per game over the past 8 games ... SUPER BOWL SUPER BOWL SUPER BOWL ... and with our high powered defense we'll be unstoppable ... WE SUCK SUCK SUCK ...

Little Doggy, go play with your little doggy toys, please! Leave the grown-up evaluations to the true big dogs that have some form of intelligence! ;-)

Matt's deep throws have actually been pretty decent looking this year. They haven't connected on all of them, but they haven't been lame ducks or wobbly, in fact, if anything, he's been a bit strong on a few of them. The fact is, we don't throw many deep passes per game, it's part of the way Holmgren's version of the West Coast offense is designed.

When we only throw deep 3-4 times per game, getting 1-2 of those is always pretty good. It's not like we throw it deep with regularity, Holmgren doesn't call many plays like that. He prefers to surprise with the occasional deep pass rather than having it as a regular part of the offense. When the Seahawks do throw deep, it's usually a deep post down the middle of the field rather than to the outside edge, however, every few games we throw a couple of big gainers to the outside as well.

Some of you are so down on the Hawks right now - doesn't anyone remember 2005 where we were 2-2 during the first four games having lost our first two away games??? Geez - give'em a chance!

springfieldseahawk: I agree with you that the 49'ers are over-hyped. Have a safe flight, enjoy the game, and may your presence charm the game. It's going to be a good one. I just hope Chad scores one touchdown so we can see what he has up his sleeves this time. How does 34-7, Seahawks sound?

bernie42: Thanks for the stats. Very interesting.

city,

"When Holmgren's players screw up his plays, his thinking goes directly to punting the football.

Mack Strong on 3rd an 18 ensures we don't see Ryan Plackemeier with 4th and 25.'"

I get it, and I hate this playcalling. This is football, you're supposed to take chances. Why do we have to concede when we have 3rd and long? If you're worried about losing yardage, just bring out the punter on 3rd down and get it over with. Why gamble and get someone hurt running up the gut for 3 yards?

If we have 3rd and 14, call a 15 yard play or at least come up with something other than a Strong run up the gut. The other teams are onto this one. Throw a screen pass or run Alexander off tackle or do something they haven't seen before.

@ Biobird: Thanks man... I doubt we'll win THAT easily (we never do). This one feels like 35-24 Hawks to me...

"Send that overpaid, soft as cotton candy frontrunner to the bench." Meaning the Fluffboy SA. CBTB nailed it and I think it's time.


Whatever his excuse is, he has one and I'm sick of everyone saying he's the man.

If you are the man SA run like the little Tatupu #51 did after the interception.
Hell, just give him the ball Matt, throw it anywhere his way, he'll catch it. At least when it matters!!!!!!