Content provided in partnership with

Seattle will be singing the same sad song if it can't learn to finish

Sporting News, The, Sept 30, 2005 by Brian Baldinger

The Seahawks have to be feeling good about themselves, right?

They beat a good Atlanta team, 21-18, in their home opener and evened their record. Matt Hasselbeck threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns. Shaun Alexander ran for 144 yards and another score. Darrell Jackson had 131 receiving yards. And left tackle Walter Jones, who I still believe is the best player in the game, pitched a shutout against an immensely talented defensive end in Patrick Kerney, who played on the right side because of an injury situation but never got a sniff of the quarterback.

Most Popular Articles in Sports: The first family: Archie, Peyton and Eli are incredibly famous, immensely ...; The growing gap: driving distances are skyrocketing on the PGA Tour. So why ...; Which pistol caliber for self defense? Four different people come to four ...; Drag racing - National Hot Rod Association; The world's most popular .22: the Marlin Model 60 just keeps on ticking; More »

Yes, the Seahawks won the game and had some good individual performances, but I'd be surprised if there were much celebrating in the Seattle locker room Sunday. The game felt eerily like ones from last year, when the Seahawks had trouble protecting leads and made an early playoff exit.

They looked like world beaters in the first half. Seattle put together three great drives for touchdowns as Hasselbeck had an almost perfect passer rating, and the Seahawks completely shut down Atlanta's offense on the way to a 21-0 halftime lead.

But for the second consecutive week, Seattle was held scoreless in the second half. Hasselbeck looked like a different player--indecisive, throwing behind receivers, making the wrong throws. Jackson reinforced the negative image of Seattle receivers by dropping a pass right in his hands. Bobby Engram fumbled after catching a pass. The defense surrendered 18 second half points despite the fact the Falcons weren't playing that well. And the Seahawks committed penalties that kept Atlanta in the game.

Coach Mike Holmgren was furious. He got all over his quarterback and other players as he saw the same things that plagued the team in 2004 happening again. He could sense the game slipping away, and it almost did.

Seattle has the talent to be a very good team. There are plenty of quality players on both sides of the ball, and Holmgren is a terrific coach. The NFC West probably is the league's weakest division, making it ripe for the taking.

But the Seahawks have a problem. They're a skittish group that does not know how to put teams away. And teams like that don't go far in this league.

Brian Baldinger, an offensive lineman for 12 NFL seasons, can be heard on Sporting News Radio and seen on FOX Sports. Listen online at radio.sportingnews.com.

Seattle will be singing the same sad song if it can't learn to finish

Sporting News, The, Sept 30, 2005 by Brian Baldinger

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Autos

Most Popular Articles in Sports

Most Popular Publications in Sports