Boling: Seahawks win possible, technically
DAVE BOLING; THE NEWS TRIBUNE
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Fantasy football is popular, so let’s engage in a little.
Certainly, to think the Seahawks have much of a chance to beat the Arizona Cardinals today seems somewhere out there beyond realistic.
The Cardinals stomped the Seahawks into the Qwest Field turf just a month ago, winning 27-3 while sacking quarterback Matt Hasselbeck five times and limiting the rushing attack to 14 yards on 11 attempts.
An NFL offense should be able to get 14 yards if it ran nothing but 11 quarterback sneaks. But that’s how thoroughly the Cardinals dominated.
And that’s why they may be inclined to take this game for granted. That means the best chance the 3-5 Seahawks have today is if the Cardinals fall asleep on their way to the stadium because there’s so little adrenaline associated with facing a team you’ve pasted so recently.
But these things do happen. Just last week, Tampa Bay defeated Green Bay as 91/2-point underdogs. The Seahawks are considered 81/2-point dogs in this one.
The Cardinals lost to Carolina (10-point underdogs) at home two weeks ago. Like the Seahawks, Carolina is 3-5. Quarterback Kurt Warner threw five interceptions in that one.
And while the 5-3 Cardinals have won four road games, they’re 1-3 at home.
Hope for the Hawks? Coach Jim Mora points out that standout cornerback Marcus Trufant is back to health and will be a valuable defender against the Cardinals’ gifted receivers. He was out with a back injury in the first meeting.
Left tackle Sean Locklear is expected to start for the first time since the second game of the season. And linebacker Leroy Hill is getting back in form in his recovery from the groin injury that sidelined him in games in Week 2 through 6.
Psychologically, the Hawks were halfway down the abyss last week, trailing hapless Detroit 17-0 in the first period before scoring 32 points to rally for the win.
The Lions are historically inept, but the Seahawks had to feel at least a bit of a bounce after the win.And if there’s value to desperation, the Seahawks have that going for them today.
At least to the media, Mora didn’t resort to melodrama regarding the game’s importance in sustaining hopes for a rally in the second half of the season.
“We’re just going to try to win,” he said. “That’s our goal. We don’t look too far down the line. We’re trying to get better every week. We’re trying to build something here that’s lasting, so we’re just going to go try to win. That’s all it is for us, a game we’ve got to play, and take the mind-set that we’re going to try to win it.”
Take this as a commentary on the quality of the NFC West, once again, that if the Seahawks somehow pull this one out, they’d be only a game behind the Cardinals in the division standings.
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said he could remember, early in his career in Seattle, times when the team struggled and their only hopes were sustained by improbable mathematics.
“That’s not really the situation (now),” he said.
But today’s game is the first of three straight on the road, a daunting challenge for even an elite team.
“It’s kind of like, we’ve got to do something we haven’t done; we’ve got to win three in a row on the road,” Hasselbeck said. “I shouldn’t say we haven’t done it. We’ve done it, we just haven’t done it in a while. We know what we’ve got to do.”
Back to reality. Even an upset win today only assures another week of relevance.
The division-leading Cardinals have a much easier second half as they still get to play Detroit once and St. Louis twice. The record of the final eight opponents for Arizona is 23-41 compared with Seattle’s 29-37.
It’s not much of a chance, in truth. But this could be the last morning of the season that the Seahawks are close enough to even warrant a little bit of fantasy.
Dave Boling: 253-597-8440
Dave.boling@thenewstribune.com
