No offense means no chance for Seahawks
ERIC D. WILLIAMS; The News Tribune
Minneapolis – The Seattle Seahawks’ offense looked like it turned a corner against Arizona last week.
Well, on Sunday the Seahawks ran into a brick wall in the form of the Minnesota Vikings’ defense. The Seahawks could do nothing right offensively, finishing with a franchise-worst four yards on the ground and running just 44 plays compared to Minnesota’s 72 on offense.
Eight of those plays went for minus yardage.
Seattle did not cross the 50-yard line into Viking territory until 2:58 left in the third quarter.
The Seahawks expected to have trouble with Minnesota’s formidable front four, which includes defense ends Jared Allen and Ray Edwards on the outside, and Pat and Kevin Williams in the middle.
Allen and the Williams duo are Pro Bowl regulars.
“We are outlaws for life,” said Minnesota tackle Pat Williams, when asked about his team’s ability to dominate the line of scrimmage. “That’s what we ought to be called, outlaws. That’s the name of our front, outlaws. Everybody’s trying to name us, but we are just outlaws having fun.”
Just a week ago, Seattle ran for 164 yards on the ground and seemed to find an identity offensively, relying on the short passing game to move the ball.
But against the Vikings, ranked No. 3 in the league against the run and leading the league with 34 sacks heading into Sunday’s contest, the running lanes were nonexistent and Hasselbeck had little time to set up in the pocket.
Seattle center Chris Spencer said Minnesota didn’t show anything different schematically on Sunday than what the team had seen on film.
“They were where we knew they were going to be and they did exactly what we thought they were going to do, we just weren’t crisp enough,” Spencer said. “The bottom line is we weren’t consistent enough, and we didn’t execute the way we needed to.”
Receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who finished with four catches for 36 yards, said he didn’t even break a sweat until the second half, an example of how little time the offense was on the field.
“You call it a step backwards, say we turned the corner or hit a U-turn – whatever you want to say,” Houshmandzadeh said. “We just played terrible today.”
Homecomings for duo
Tight end John Carlson had more than 200 folks from his hometown of Litchfield, Minn., on hand to see him play in the Metrodome on Sunday.
But he didn’t give them much to cheer for, finishing with no catches for the first time in his professional career.
“It’s disappointing because it seemed like last week was almost a breakthrough for us,” Carlson said about his team’s performance. “I think we took a step backwards, but we have to learn from it, and continue to work and improve and focus on next week.”
Wide receiver Nate Burleson also had a homecoming of sorts, returning to play against the team that drafted him. Burleson was a third-round pick by Minnesota and spent his first three seasons with the Vikings before signing with Seattle as a free agent in 2006.
Burleson redeemed himself after finishing with no catches against Arizona last week, grabbing eight catches for 100 yards, including a one-handed catch on a 36-yard go route that set up a 40-yard Olindo Mare field goal.
Extra points
Mora reported no significant injuries for his team after the game. On Seattle’s struggles on the road, Mora said they will continue to work on being better prepared. ... The Seahawks tried a new twist Sunday, wearing blue paints instead of white with the road white uniforms. “We’ve tried everything,” Mora said about his team’s struggles on the road. “We went to the blue pants. We’re going to keep searching. We’re not going to throw up our hands and give up. We’re going to keep working and fighting and searching, and we’ll get it done eventually.” ...
Cory Redding got his first sack of the year in the first quarter.
Darryl Tapp had Seattle’s other sack ... Linebacker
David Hawthorne led the team in tackles again, finishing with 11 solo and four assists for 15 total. ...
Justin Forsett struggled in the running game, finishing with nine yards on nine carries. But he also added 80 yards of receiving on a eight catches, and scored the team’s only touchdown on a 1-yard plunge. ... The Seahawks finished with 10 penalties for 64 yards.
Eric D. Williams: 253-597-8437
eric.williams@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/seahawks/
DID YOU KNOW?
Since Brett Favre started his streak of consecutive starts in 1992, 212 others have started at quarterback in the NFL, including 12 of his former backups, including Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, former Husky Mark Brunell, two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner and Ferndale High graduate Doug Pederson.
