Offensive Line Stayed in Seattle

My diagnosis for the Seahawks so far is Multiple Personality Disorder.

One weekend the Hawks protect Hasselbeck like the Secret Service, and on another afternoon in Oakland they looked like the paper a high school team runs through as they emerge from the tunnel. Or maybe they just look like a high school team. (Boom Roasted!)

Before the Hasselbeck haters start calling for clipboard Jesus, I would like to point out one thing: he threw some great balls that receivers didn’t catch. Deon Butler did not look like himself, and Mike Williams looked like his old self. Matt took a beating Sunday afternoon and was sacked 8 times during this game. On his first and last play of the game, Hasselbeck was taken down for a loss. Everything in between looked about the same.

Seattle’s running game looked even worse mustering a measly 47 total yards. 21 of those were on a late burst from Washington. Lynch actually averaged less than 1 ypc.

It was ugly.

I honestly don’t believe that any of this loss can be put on Hasselbeck or the trio of rushers. This game was lost due to the absolutely horrendous play at the offensive line. I don’t remember seeing it look so bad. Everything begins up front with the blocking, and the Seahawks had none. I mean zero. No protection and no running lanes. I would go as far as to say Seattle’s offensive line should have been the game’s MVP… for Oakland.

Olindo Mare really didn’t help matters either by breaking his streak of consecutive field goals. When a guy is that good, you expect him to make a 51 yarder. Especially when we needed it as bad as we did. It might have been the gasp of breathe the Hawks needed, and then to miss a 29 yarder was even more heartbreaking. That was 6 points at a time when the game was still in reach. I am not going to throw him under the bus, however, as this was an “out of character” game for him. Please don’t think I am going all Mora jr here. I commend Mare on the streak of 30 setting a new Seahawks record.

Mike Williams also had a costly drop near the endzone which could have been the spark the Hawks needed. Had Mare made the two Field Goals and Williams got the touchdown, the Hawks, hypothetically, could have tied the game at 13 a piece. Williams did hurt his knee early in the game, sat out for a bit, and returned. I am not ready to write him off, far from it. He made a costly mistake, and I truly believe that the way he reacts to it during practice this week and, especially, during the Giants game will be the best indicator of who he is becoming as a man and as a player. Williams seemed to be heading in the right direction after the game during his press conference when he was asked if the earlier injury had any effect on his drop. “It didn’t affect me dropping that ball inside the 10. My hands were fine.”

The Seahawks will face the Giants next week. The Giants have injured 5 quarterbacks this season and are coming off a bye week. They have been preparing for Seattle for two weeks, and Seattle is still writhing from what was the most significant loss of the season.

The Hawks’ only chance is that they are playing at home and the hopeful return of Russell Okung. In the 1 entire game that Okung has played this year, Hasselback was only hit 1 time. In the last 2 since his departure Hasselbeck has been sacked 12 times. The combination of the 12th man and Okung’s presence may be just what this team needs to get back on track, and a win over the Giants would instill much of the confidence this team lost on Halloween.