I’m not going to type out each and every quote, but I’m going to give you some of the more salient comments from both the Seahawks and 49ers.
“It makes perfect sense for the people out there to say, ‘Oh my goodness, here we go again. Matt’s down. All these guys are hurt.’ That’s not the feeling in that locker room. That’s not the feeling with this coach right here, at all. Not one single bit does that creep into this environment.” — head coach Jim Mora
“We just didn’t get it done today. It is just that simple. San Fran brought their A game and we brought our D or F game. Well, when you lose you bring your F game so we brought our F game.” – Deon Grant
“It’s so hard to tell a guy to do that. I don’t know what he does. He’s not going to take the phantom sack, he’s not going to slide when he’s got the ball a the 2-yard-line and we’re in a … barn burner of a game. I don’t know how you tell him to do anything every different than what he did. You know, you just don’t like to see the result, but the guy is a competitor and competitors try to win at every play. — Jim Mora on Matt Hasselbeck’s decision to dive for the end zone.
You expect a like that to slide a lot earlier but Matt’s not that type of individual. He is a leader and he leads by example and that is the perfect example of what he brings to the team. He is going to sacrifice his body regardless of what the circumstance is, regardless of what it is going to do to his body. I appreciate that. — Nate Burleson
“He’s all for helping his team and at the end of the day you’re going to do what you can to help your team win and he took a chance. He laid it out there for his team. — 49ers LB Patrick Willis
“I just know it wasn’t an illegal hit. I didn’t take my helmet and spear him right in the back, it was straight shoulder pad. I wasn’t worried about it being an illegal hit or nothing like that. I knew that he was hurting a little bit as well. I don’t what his ordeal is know, but I hope that he’s okay. — Patrick Willis
“I felt like we were going to win this game, regardless of what happened and that didn’t happen. So I look forward to playing them again. That’s a challenge. They held us down offensively pretty good and so I really look forward to playing them again when they come to Seattle, and see if they can do it again,” — T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
“No absolutely, never seen anything close to this and hope not to ever again,” — Jim Mora on the rash of injuries the last two seasons.
“Today, for the most part, we had them playing our style. We force them to play our type of football.” — 49ers DB Nate Clements
“If they’re not taking us seriously, that’s okay. They can keep doing that. We’re going to continue to take ourselves seriously. We’re going to continue to take steps each day. I think that’s what’s really important. We have never really thought about what the media is saying.” — Mike Singletary.
I think a key play, among many, was Burleson getting scared and not coming up with the catch that would have given us a real shot. Instead, Seneca is picked on the play and the rest is history.
Ryan/Eric — either of you have a chance to ask Burleson the obvious question?
Mock Interview – Ryan to Nate – “What happened on the interception?”
Nate to Ryan – “Well, I knew the safety was coming and got scared.”
If only people were that honest in life.
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Eric,
Does Vallos lose his job at center…?
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That was tough. He’s generally sure handed but that thing bounced off them like stone. However, I’m going to stop well short of calling him a coward. I’ve not seen any evidence of that out of his play.
How impressive was Forsett today? A bright spot in the shadows. I think I’m done for the day. Ugh…
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Mahk77 – Yes please!!
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I didn’t see today’s game. I did watch all of last week’s & all 4 preseason games.
The following is meant as a criticism of Mora, NOT Matt:
Matt seems really uncomfortable with this offense, so as long as Seneca stays healthy if we lose Hasselbeck it may not be as huge as it appears on the surface.
IT WAS DUMB DUMB DUMB for Mora to change the only offense that Matt has ever run in the pros (Green bay doesn’t really count) & that he was a master of.
Yes, let Knapp call plays as he chooses, but they could have kept all of Holmgren’s terminology & 80% of Holmgren’s plays for the sake of team continuity & I’ll bet it wouldn’t have hurt a thing. Matt had that offense mastered. While i am in no way blaming the change for this injury, I am blaming the change for Matt’s loss of effectiveness.
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I watched the Nate miss/INT a bunch of times. It didn’t look he was taking his eyes off the ball worrying about the safety. I think he was having a rough day with Clements hanging all over him every route. Clements played a good game. He was leveling our WR’s whenever he was a blocker too. He’s the one who knocked Obo down & out. Singletary really has their team playing physical ball. Clements quote above confirms that we played right into their hands by ‘playing their style’. dumb. So much for a slugfest.
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If this is so, this is the second game in a row Burleson is causing interceptions. And he’s dropping the ball. That’s the reason why Holmgren didn’t really favor Burleson and only played him out of necessity. At this point I do indeed hope Branch gets healthy and Burleson can be demoted to #3 receiver at best. Nate simply lacks discipline.
What is it about Seattle’s players folding after they sign big contracts? Tatupu, Hill, Trufant, even going back to Alexander – normally signing one’s own key players to long term contracts is a good sign, but for Seattle, it’s almost the kiss of death. Hasselbeck is the only re-signed player who has returned value for the money (even if he has trouble this year.)
As soon as they sign Carlson to a big new contract he’ll probably blow out a knee. Maybe that’s why Hutchinson bailed out – if Seattle had re-signed him, he probably would have needed multiple surgeries by now.
The Tatupu situation is particularly disappointing. Maybe Mora needs to treat Tatupu like Branch and prevent him from playing or practicing until he’s healed. So much for the depth at LB, but it was probably wise to invest there with Curry. If Tatupu can’t get healthy this year, the best short term option would be to slide Curry inside, though that might harm his long term development. But Curry would be an outstanding inside LB.
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It’s the day after and I’m still mad.
Why is Vallos so terrible? Going back through the last few years and week 1 – why does Nate cause so many INTs? Why can’t we ever stay halfways healthy? I know it’s a rough sport and they are part of the game, but if I look around the NFL I don’t see where anyone else is minus 10 starters. And the one year the sunshine shows us its rays, why does Bill Leavy have to be there to doom us? Can we ever get a good break?
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We weren’t winning that game with or with out Hasselweak.
Our team is weak. Our team has not mental toughness. We have a bunch of Sally’s on this pathetic group of crap.
Hawks BLOW and will continue to BLOW until Ruskell is fired. Matt Millen for GM … upgrade this position NOW NOW NOW …
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Well, I dreaded looking in here today because I knew what I would see. And sure enough the usual Seahawk haters are on here wanting to blow everything up, fire everybody and writing off the entire season.
People it was ONE FREAKIN game. Yes the 9rs played better. They deserved the win. But one game is NOT a trend.
If the team continues to play badly then there is cause for alarm.
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I’d like to see one of our first round picks be traded for someones established safety.
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and chuck_easton, it’s not the loss that’s discouraging me, it’s the massive injuries that are piling up again. It’s getting obscene. It all starts with a broken Branch.
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Maybe I’m stating the obvious but I think we felt the absence of Hill and Tatupu. I think with those guys in we stop those long runs Gore pulled off and we would have been in that game to the end. SF played with way more intensity than we did and played their top game. But I think we have more talent and can learn and regroup from the loss. When they come to Qwest it will have a different ending!
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I hate to post during the season,but here are my thoughts : first, too many injuries on our side. We need some real medical/trainer stuff instead the QUACKS that are on the payroll now. It is essential to bring the best staff money can buy (no cap on them and Allen has the money).There is no point to bring players, pay them gazillions and can’t keep them healthy and prepared to play. Second, Vallos and Babs should not be starters . Bite the bullet and put Unger at center and leave him there.
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Chuck is somewhat right. It is only one game !? But, between last year and this two games some things are emerging : unless we only play the Lambs,
“Jewels” Jones is not capable of being number one RB. Trade him while we can get something for him
(claim Kory Sheets from SF PS)or, just let Moore play ’till we can get Cals’ Best next year. Kerney is done and should be dangled for a trade ASAP. Red needs to lose weight,eating a ton of “sushi” is still a to much food.
I am very happy that LoJach shone and is making me eat crow.Burleson needs a heart transplant to replace the chicken heart in use now (or,trade him).
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These players are the same pieces of sheet Sallys who were nearly beaten to death last year by every team they played, no reason to think that this year will be any different … where’s Buddy (or even Rex) Ryan when you need him …
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Kerney was done long before he became a Seahawk …
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Big frickin deal. We lost a road game to a divisional opponent. We lost a few players to injury along the way. Its a sixteen game season and I’m damn glad we aren’t playing our best football in week two.
The team needs to get better week to week. It also needs to become more healthy. If Big Walt can come back healthy, that’ll add a lot. Spencer too.
Tatupu will be healthy eventually. A win over Chicago heals a lot of wounds.
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I still say, make deal with NE for Pat Chung ( they just parted with Seymore, a proven winner, pro bowler
and their best “D” player). Then get Berry/Mays in the draft along with two OLmen with our top three picks. This way our safety situation will be taken care off. RB Kory Sheets can play and he will be relatively inexpensive.
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seahawklovertoo – They won’t part with Chung for that very reason. The Pats are committed to a youth movement on D and he is an important piece for them. RB will be addressed in next draft, I’m confident. But for the remainder of this season, after 2 games, the more we see of Forsett running the better. He was one of the very few bright spots yesterday. He is earning an expanded role on this offense. And of course you are right, this o line is in desperate need of healthy, young, CAPABLE bodies.
It’s easy to clamor for certain players after a debacle like yesterday but tell me this wouldn’t look good, legal or not. Perhaps Deon Butler has some thoughts…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIFzcK9dqj8
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Adam Schefter says that Hasselbeck has a broken rib and is unsure of playing next week.
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That Mays hit is helmet to helmet. It’s dirty and will be a penalty in the Pros.
He even took out his teammate.
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Adam schefter reports Matt has a broken rib. 10 minutes after the report Matt tweets he hasn’t seen his doctor yet….
I will be happy for a broken rib instead of a smokescreen for a back injury. We will have to wait it out. But just looking at matts face after the hit, it has to be something serious.
Prayers to #8
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mocarob – Yes, that’s why the disclaimer “legal or not”. But thanks for the clarification.
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I thought numerous hits in the first half could have been called for late hits. Not sure of Matt’s but there were a couple of others. One out of bounds & another when Matt slid. They were pummeling us. I think the team learned alot yesterday.
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Please fix the margin issues on this site. Can’t even read the text!
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Who came in at tackle after Locklear went down? I heard Unger say the guy playing tackle wasn’t even the facility a whole week. Was it that McIntosh guy that came in to visit, but I don’t remember if we actually signed him? How did he do?
Seneca seemed frustrated after the game, sounded like he wanted to run the ball more but wasn’t able to. Hopefully Mora can use all his strengths instead of forcing him to be the pocket passer Hasselbeck is.
Lockear said his ankle is either strained or sprained
Everybody quit whining about one game, whiners are for san francisco. and quit talking about who we should trade for or what we should do in next years draft. It is pathetic that some of us self proclaimed die hard fans are so quick to throw in the towel.
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That is odd. Unless Schefter learned something from the x-rays and CT taken yesterday that was reported incorrectly…
Here’s Schefter (4th down): http://twitter.com/ADAM_SCHEFTER
And Matt’s response: http://twitter.com/MatthewHass008
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It’s one game – against a decent divisional opponent, and a game in which we lost our starting QB for a full half.
It was basically a tie game at the time Matt went down (we score on the next play) – and then so they beat us 10-0 in the 2nd half (w/the only TD coming on one huge play). You take the starting QB away from most teams – mid-game like that, and the majority of them will go down too. It was far from a tragic loss. And so, we’re 1-1.
49ers have a tough defense, I think that will bear out over the entire season. Arizona’s strength is their offense, and the Niners held them down pretty well too. The anomaly was the two long Gore runs, and while our Safeties seemed way out of position, I think it’s not just rose-colored glasses to say that if Mebane and Lofa are in their usual spots in the middle, those runs are much less likely.
The injuries do continue to be frustrating – a real reminder that dream seasons like ’05 are really dependent on staying healthy.
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josh_j_werner – Brandon Frye. He was signed September 6th after being cut from Miami.
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Our players did not quit yesterday, neither are they “Sallys.” They are a beat up group who have heart and need to get healthy.
Brandon Mebane, in my opinion, is our best defensive player. His absense also factors into the Gore runs (minus our best DT).
When Trufant is healthy (a big IF on our team), I wonder if Wilson gets any consideration at FS (a big IF if he’ll be healthy either)? I think he’d be okay (smallish, but good) at FS and then in the nickel he can go back to the slot and let Babs play FS in obvious pass situations).
We have a team I’ll put money on with anyone IF we’re healthy. That’s my main concern right now (as most of you too).
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I don’t think you can dismiss the big runs as a “fluke” or say “if you take them away” because it happened twice. Big plays happen of course, regardless of injuries or other circumstances, but it happened twice. On plays that were mirror images of one another. That is neither a fluke nor something that can be dismissed. But the game was much more than that. With 1:36 left in the 3rd, they began a drive that resulted in a field goal at 6:53 in the 4th. That is a 9:43 minute drive! That is an an old fashioned but kicking. Of course the injuries played a significant role in that but understand that the ‘Hawks were soundly beaten, across the board. They’ll get better, but they were handled with ease yesterday.
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Regarding the big runs. Milloy was in the game immediately after the second one. A little like closing the barn door after the horse has left, but I don’t think Babs will be the starting safety come next week.
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Yeah, it is one game. But after one game (last week against the worst team in the league, or maybe 2nd worst after Tampa, and really just one good half) everyone was talking Super Bowl. After the Buffalo debacle last year to open the season it was the chant of “I’ts just one game”. Same after we blew the SF game here in overtime (with help from Hasselbeck’s INT returned for a TD). Then came the Rams and Julius Jones had a big day and it was hosannas and rose petals. Then came the Giants game and back to reality with a crashing thud. The “It’s just one game”ers were pretty quiet after that, while playing the injury card. And here are the pollyannas again, the one’s predicting division championship and Super Bowl in the off season.
I said the Rams game was nothing to judge this team by, and it wasn’t. Especially after the ugly first half when we 3 out of the first 4 possessions were turnovers and all four should have been, one INT was dropped. We were lucky not to be trailing at the half last week. And what happens? The Seahawks, a historically poor road team, go on the road and get their butts handed to them.
And the injury card gets played again. “Hasselbeck was hurt and couldn’t play the 2nd half”. So, his being in would have made a difference on Gore’s 80 yard run to start the 2nd half? “Mebane didn’t play”. So Gore got 160 yards and 2 TD’s on two plays because one guy wasn’t playing, even though both times there 8 man fronts used? How does a guy go 80 yards twice against an 8 man front? Wasn’t The Mighty Quinn supposed to be the coaching guru who was going to make stars out of all these guys? Isn’t Bryant supposed to be good? Isnt’ “Big Play Babs” supposed to be the answer at free safety? I saw Gore blow by him on both long scoring runs like “No Play Babs” was tied to a fence. Why did a 36 year old WR get open all day?
Various issues were not addressed in the off season that should have been, as I’ve said before. And this game exposed it. Offensive tackle was ignored, and we’re paying the price for it. Safety was ignored (unless drafting Courtney Green in the 7th round and then releasing him counts), and we’re paying for that. The o-line sucks outside of Unger (and Locklear if he was on the right side where he belongs). Julius Jones sucks, outside of his 62 yard run last week, he had 18 carries for 55 yards, a 3.0 ypc average. Yesterday he had 8 carries for 11 yards, that’s 1.375 ypc. Forsett had 35 yards on 5 carries, that’s 7 ypc. I know Jones got his arm hurt, so what? If he’d gotten as many carries as last week he might have average 2 ypc.
I refuse to use some injuries as excuses. Bryant was lauded by about everyone here, yet he failed to step up yesterday. The coaching staff was supposed to be brilliant, and some said they were great at “motivating” the players, as if adult professional athletes have to rely on coaches to get them up for a game, instead the coaches preparing them properly for it with a good game plan and good play calling. I have yet to see the much ballyhooed zone blocking scheme make a difference in the run game. Perhaps it’s as I’ve said, it is not a panacea to cover for mediocre players. I’m not going to chant “It’s just one game” after hearing that in the first quarter of last season. Next week the Bears come here, and their defense is as good, if not better, than the 49ers. They just knocked off the Stealers, and didn’t use not having their middle linebacker as an excuse; they just went out and did it. And unlike the 49ers, they actually have a good quarterback.
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Duke and Chuck, I didn’t know You are inside NE’ FO heads, so you know for sure they won’t part with Chung. Your superhuman ability is awesome.
As for You Warner, how many games (“just one game over and over again”) it takes for You to get Your head out of Your rear end and understand that we have problems that need to be fixed asap? We need safeties, JJ is a reliever RB at best,Kerney is “has been”, Burly doesn’t want to get hit,etc. When You have problem ,You fix it right away. Since
there aren’t any solid players on specific positions
available, then You get what You need through trades.
NE might not want Kerney and JJ but somebody else will take them . Take those two future picks and trade them for Chung ( yes, I’d give JJ and Kerney for Pat Chung). Done deal as long as Sheets can be claimed from Frisco’ PS. And yes, I know all about executive decisions since I am one of the best in my business.It is more advantageous to us to negotiate deals now when we are on equal footing (more or less) then later down the road when others figure-out that we are desperate.
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