SAN FRANCISCO – One of the three offensive linemen making his first career start – along with rookies James Carpenter and John Moffitt – Breno Giacomini expected a better result from his unit on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.
Only left tackle Russell Okung and center Max Unger came in with NFL starts under their belt, combining for 26 games.
The last NFL team to start five offensive linemen with 27 or fewer combined starts was the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 10, 1995. Carolina’s five starters combined for 23 starts entering that game.
Despite a renewed emphasis on running the ball espoused by new offensive line coach Tom Cable, the Seahawks still couldn’t anything going. They finished with 64 yards on 22 carries for a 2.9 per-carry average.
They averaged 89 yards a game last year, second-worst in the league. San Francisco hasn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in a league-best 23 consecutive games.
“It didn’t feel that good, man,” Giacomini said about his performance. “I felt like I did some good things, but I felt like there was a lot of stuff that I need to improve on, and I mean everything.
“But it felt good to get out there and at least see that defense, and see the speed of the game. Now we just have to improve. We were there, but just didn’t execute like we needed to.”
Even though the offensive line struggled in pass protection – allowing quarterback Tarvaris Jackson to be sacked five times – Seattle coach Pete Carroll liked that the offense finally established some rhythm in the second half, scoring 17 points.
“We eventually did the same stuff, came back to it and believed in it,” Carroll said. “That’s what I liked about it. We stayed with the game plan. … And it came to work out OK. At least we got back in the game.”
COOL, MAN, COOL
San Francisco players touted new coach Jim Harbaugh’s calm demeanor. But Harbaugh countered those claims with statements about his worries heading into his NFL coaching debut.
“I slept like a baby last night ... I woke up every hour crying,” he kidded.
Harbaugh became the first person to have passed for more than 25,000 career yards as an NFL quarterback and then win a league game as a head coach.
“What I’m feeling now … is the great thrill of winning a game,” Harbaugh said. “That’s what makes football fun. I’m sure it won’t be too many hours until I really start thinking about this week. I’m sure it won’t be too many hours until I start focusing on that.”
Tight end Delanie Walker said that any changes in Harbaugh were undetectable.
“Harbaugh is Harbaugh; he never changes,” he said. “What you see is what you get. There isn’t any screaming and yelling with Harbaugh. He is the cool-and-collected-type guy.”
He’s also consistent, and Walker indirectly spoke about how different that is from Harbaugh’s predecessor, Mike Singletary.
“(Harbaugh) never changed, I think that’s what we need,” Walker said. “We don’t need a coach with two faces. We need a coach with one face, and we got there here with Jim Harbaugh.”
EXTRA POINTS
Carroll said cornerback Byron Maxwell and fullback Mike Robinson suffered ankle sprains. Receiver Ben Obomanu appeared to suffer a serious injury late in the game, but bounced up and returned to play. He said afterward that he is fine. ... The Seahawks’ inactives for the game included QB Josh Portis, WR Kris Durham, WR Sidney Rice, LB David Hawthorne, G Robert Gallery, T Jarriel King and DT Al Woods. ... New defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove played a lot, and Carroll said the team plans to use him in a role they had identified for Jimmy Wilkerson before he was placed on the season-ending injured reserve list with a knee injury. Hargrove finished with a tackle for a loss. “We told him he was coming in to play,” Carroll said. “We had seen him and had a pretty good evaluation of him, and we decided to go for it. And he had worked hard to stay in shape, and so we just threw him right in, and he picked things up very well.”
Staff writer Dave Boling contributed to this report
Eric D. Williams: 253-597-8437
eric.williams@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/seahawks
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