RENTON, Wash. (AP) -The Seattle Seahawks knew this season was going to be unique. They didn’t know that for most of them, it would be unprecedented.
Banged-up quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and the Seahawks gathered a day after Arizona effectively ended their four-year reign in the NFC West to hear coach Mike Holmgren tell them the goal for the final six games is to play for personal pride and future employment. It was jarring stuff for a 2-8 team lost in its sudden irrelevance, after five consecutive seasons in the playoffs.
Some Seahawks didn’t want to accept Holmgren telling them they are now would-be spoilers, instead of the spoiled.
“It’s tough. … I don’t think we feel that way about ourselves,” said Hasselbeck, one of seven Seahawks who were with the team when it last missed the playoffs in 2002.
“We feel like we’re a better team. But you are what your record is.”
Which is to say, not good.
en playoff-bound and contenders for the Super Bowl every year, going deep into the playoffs. It is definitely difficult, but at the same time it is reality.”
Indeed, this day felt more like the post-mortems to Seahawks losses in the divisional playoffs in recent Januarys than a somber afternoon 10 days before Thanksgiving.
“I don’t have a lot of experience with this,” Holmgren said with a rueful smile.
He had never been 2-8 in 17 years as a head coach in Green Bay and Seattle until the Cardinals (7-3) soared into town Sunday. They jumped to a 26-7 lead and hung on for a 26-20 victory, withstanding Seattle’s final, desperate tries.
An epidemic of injuries, a porous, underachieving defense and a malfunctioning offense have left Seattle off to its worst start since the 1992 team was 1-9 en route to a franchise-worst 2-14 season.
A repeat of that horrid record isn’t out of the question. On Sunday, Seattle hosts Washington, coached by former Seahawks quarterback and assistant Jim Zorn. Thanksgiving brings a game at Dallas, another playoff contender, followed by a home game with AFC contender New England. The only soft game is Dec. 14 at St. Louis. Then comes a game against the first-place New York Jets and the finale at those new NFC West kings, the Cardinals.
ok at some players, be flexible,”’ Holmgren said of his day-after meeting with players and coaches.
“We’re looking into everything right now.”
The weirdest part of being on such unfamiliar ground is Holmgren won’t be around to see what that “look” produces beyond December. He’s already announced this is his 10th and final season as Seattle’s coach and that he will take a sabbatical from football in 2009. Jim Mora, the defensive backs coach, will replace Holmgren beginning after that season finale on Dec. 28.
“I don’t think I’m hurting any more (than anyone else),” Holmgren said. “I’m a big boy, and I made my decision. It hasn’t turned out the way I wanted it to.
“But I’m one of the lucky ones. I’ve said that my whole life: I’ve been very fortunate to do something I love to do. I’ve been allowed to teach football for a lot of years. Now I’ve got six more games here in Seattle to continue to do that.”
Asked on Monday whether Mora will take more of a role to create a transitional period in this relatively meaningless stretch, Holmgren said flatly: “No.”
Holmgren knows his players are watching for any signs he is figuratively leaving them six weeks early. That’s why he reminded them on Monday the importance of staying professional and earning their paychecks, bare minimums that usually go without saying in the NFL.
ee us responding in an improper manner, how can I ask them to do it? So, no. We’re all hurting the same way. We’re not very happy with it, but here we are.
“So how are we going to handle the last six games? I’m not talking about wins and losses now. I’m talking about: How do we practice? How do we lift weights? How do we prepare? How do we play the games? What kind of effort comes forth? All those things that are important. It says a lot about each person, how they handle it.”
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