Seahawks bloodied and bowed
Problems continue to add up
By ANGELO BRUSCAS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck had a career day throwing the football between the 20-yard lines, and receivers Koren Robinson and Itula Mili had similar personal-best performances catching the football.
But Seattle coach and general manager Mike Holmgren still managed to tie his career-worst start halfway through an NFL season, as the 2-6 Seahawks were unable to put the ball in the end zone and fell to the Washington Redskins 14-3 yesterday at Seahawks Stadium.
It was the kind of game that first-year Redskins coach Steve Spurrier called one of the strangest he'd ever been a part of. But the Seahawks still couldn't find a way to get back on familiar footing and string together consecutive wins for the first time this season.
"There's such a small margin for victory and loss, and we're just on the other side of that now," Hasselbeck said.
There were 64,325 tickets distributed for the fourth home game of the season in the new $430 million stadium, but only a few thousand fans remained to watch the final minutes in which the Seahawks' offensive futility was magnified by another major injury on defense. Outside linebacker Chad Brown will have surgery today on his right foot and will be lost for the season.
In a game where all the scoring occurred in the first half, the Seahawks fell victim to some of their same old problems. The Redskins averaged 6.3 yards per carry even with their top running back, Stephen Davis, out of the game with a sprained knee. That left first-year backup Kenny Watson to pick up the slack, and he sliced through the Seahawks' defense for 58 yards in the first half and 110 yards on 23 carries in the game.
"It gave the whole offense confidence," Watson said of his early running success against the NFL's lowest-ranked run defense. "We wanted to set the tone for the game, and we got two scores early."
Washington quarterback Shane Matthews completed just 10 of 27 passes for 114 yards, but he was just accurate enough on two touchdown passes: the first an 11-yard toss to wide receiver Darnerien McCants in the back of the end zone, and the second a 19-yard throw to Rod Gardner over the middle with Seahawks safety Curtis Fuller falling down in coverage.
The Seahawks were able to score just once -- Rian Lindell's 23-yard field goal in the second quarter -- and were 0-3 in red-zone opportunities in the game.
"They're starting to add up," Holmgren said when asked about his team's woes inside the 20-yard line. "Today, we didn't score enough points. Our defense played a much better football game. We're playing very close football games, but we're losing them for whatever reason."
Making his second start of the season for Trent Dilfer, who's out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon, Hasselbeck posted career highs in passes attempted (44), completions (28) and yards (264). But he fumbled twice, and was sacked four times; two by 39-year-old, 18-year defensive end Bruce Smith.
He also couldn't put points on the scoreboard. The closest the Seahawks came to scoring a touchdown was a fourth-and-goal play from the 2-yard-line, when Smith blew by Pro Bowl Seahawks tackle Walter Jones and dropped Hasselbeck for an 11-yard loss with just 17 seconds left in the first half. Hasselbeck said the first option is to look for Robinson, who was double covered. Next up is wide receiver Bobby Engram, who was bracketed in coverage and unable to get free.
"It's a good play for almost every coverage, but it's tough against one coverage, and that's the coverage they played," Hasselbeck said.
Holmgren, however, acknowledged the risk of going for the touchdown instead of a field goal was all on his shoulders, with the Seahawks badly in need of a lift at the time.
"Given how we're playing on offense lately, I thought it was worth the risk," Holmgren said. "They covered the play. I would have liked Matt to throw it somewhere, because there's not too much more bad that can happen than to get sacked."
Going into halftime without getting anything from the drive was also tough to recover from, especially because the offense was excited that Holmgren had decided to go for the touchdown in the first place.
"As the quarterback of the offense, I was excited that he called the play," Hasselbeck said. "We were fired up and I think that gave us an emotional boost, that he showed confidence in us. But we didn't get it done."
Although the Seahawks effectively moved the ball at times in the second half, they never got that close again to scoring. Robinson (8 receptions) and tight end Mili (6 catches for 71 yards), both set new personal highs, but Engram had just one reception for 11 yards, and running back Shaun Alexander was held to 67 yards rushing on 19 carries.
"Give credit to the Washington defense. They have great players, they move it around and get to the ball," Robinson said. "But I don't feel like their defense really deterred us from doing what we wanted to do. I felt like we moved the ball pretty well, we just hurt ourselves in key situations like we have been doing pretty much all year."
Even when the Seahawks caught a break -- such as defensive end Antonio Cochran's second-quarter interception -- they were unable to cash in.
"Overall, we made enough mistakes to lose, but it didn't happen that way. We won," a somewhat bewildered Spurrier said.
But the Redskins' coach found the only explanation that mattered: "There were some good things in there to keep them out of the end zone."
Halfway through the 2002 regular season, the Seahawks are now all alone in last place in the NFC West, while the Redskins moved to 4-4.
Center Robbie Tobeck noted that with the loss of Dilfer, the Seahawks are now missing five starters, including wide receiver Darrell Jackson, who missed his first game of the season with a concussion suffered last week in Dallas. His biggest frustration comes from practicing hard all week, only to see someone else go down and the offense stall at critical moments.
"I believe in this coaching staff. I believe in the players. I believe in things we're doing. I believe in how we work in practice, and the attitude we take," Tobeck said. "It's just frustrating that we can't score 17 points to win a football game."
The last -- and only time -- a Holmgren team got off to this kind of start was in 2000, his second year in Seattle. That team started 2-6 and finished 6-10.
Tobeck still sees reason for optimism, however.
"I've been around long enough to know that when you have guys with the quality of character I think we have on this team, and guys the way we practice, the point does come when we do have our whole team together," the nine-year veteran said.
"We're going to be dangerous for a number of reasons. We've had a lot of guys who have had to step up and play this year. We're going to be deep and good. There's going to come a day when this is going to pay off."
REDSKINS 14, SEAHAWKS 3
# NEXT GAME: Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, 1:15 p.m.
# TV/RADIO: KCPQ/13; KIRO-AM/710
ONE-GAME WONDERS
Starting in place of the injured Stephen Davis yesterday at Seahawks Stadium, Kenny Watson of the Redskins recorded the first 100-yard rushing game of his career. Watson joins the following one-game wonders whose only career 100-yard rushing day came at the expense of the Seahawks:
1/22/81, James Hadnot, Chiefs, 106yads, Chiefs 40, Seahawks 13
10/11/87, Marc Logan, Bengals, 103yds, Bengals 17, Seahawks 10
12/27/87, Herman Heard, Chiefs, 107yds, Chiefs 41, Seahawks 20
12/10/95, Glyn Milburn, Broncos, 131yds, Seahawks 31, Broncos 27
9/15/02, Thomas Jones, Cardinals, 173yds, Cardinals 24, Seahawks 13
11/3/02, Kenny Watson, Redskins, 110yds, Redskins 14, Seahawks 3
Get ready to make it two in a row 
Yea sure buddy.
Can you please explain how this 13-3 juggernaut played in the 49ers game in San Francisco - this was a 27-25 victory?
