ARLINGTON, Texas – As the frustration of a 2-5 season builds for all members of the Seattle Seahawks, it tends to be most visible on the most expressive of their players: Receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
Houshmandzadeh was the team’s highest-priced addition of the offseason, landing a $40 million contract as a free agent. But his performance on Sunday – four catches for 24 yards – reflected the frustration he’s voiced much of the season.
“I am stunned,” he said after the Seahawks’ 38-17 loss to Dallas. “It is frustrating for me … period.”
Houshmandzadeh sometimes makes gestures of frustration when he and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck fail to connect, and he engages in animated discussions on the sideline.
“I am the way I am,” Houshmandzadeh said. “I’ve been playing like this my whole career. When things don’t go the way you want them to go, for me, anyway, I show my emotions. I’ve actually gotten a lot better.”
But Sunday? “It was just a combination of things,” he said.
The receiver said that early in the game, after he and Hasselbeck had different reads on a route, they “talked about what I saw and what he saw.”
And later in the game, he was just broadcasting without specific audience.
“I was talking to nobody,” he said. “I was just talking out loud to anybody who wanted to listen … nobody in particular.”
Asked if losing could become habitual for a team, Houshmandzadeh wouldn’t argue the premise.
“I’m sure that’s the thing, when you get behind early in a game” he said. “It’s a confidence thing for some guys. I don’t know who those guys are. Only they know who they are. Hopefully it doesn’t happen, but I’m sure that’s the case. But for the most part, when guys get to this level, the majority of guys don’t have that in them. But there has to be a reason for us to lose the games we’re losing by the margin we’re losing by. It’s unbelievable.”
Houshmandzadeh has 35 catches in seven games, well behind the customary pace of a receiver who has averaged 96 catches over the past three seasons.
“We have to keep fighting; that’s it,” he said. “There’s nothing else you can do. What are you going to do? Quit?”
Dave Boling: 253-597-8440
dave.boling@thenewstribune.com
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