Practice Report: Hasselbeck calls out people who think the season is over
Posted By Ryan Divish on October 21, 2009 at 12:44 pm
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Perhaps the best play of practice came on toward the end when Jim Mora had offensive coordinator Greg Knapp line up against defensive coordinator Gus Bradley for a one-on-one pass play with Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback.
Knapp ran some sort of route, it was too slow to be a fly pattern, but he got a step on Bradley and Hasselbeck tossed a perfect ball that Knapp hauled in on his fingertips and raced away from Bradley for a 45-yard touchdown. Practice erupted as all of the offensive players sprinted to the end zone to congratulate Knapp.
"It was fun," Hasselbeck said. "I gave it a little air. If Gus wanted to make a play on it, he could have. It was just great execution."
"It was tight coverage," Knapp said. "Just a great throw. I don't want to give away the secret, but there was a sight adjustment because of the coverage he was playing on me that you might see on youtube."
What does this moment mean toward the Seahawks season?
Not much, but this is still a game and there needs to be moments of fun. And it clearly lightened the mood for a little while in what has been a tense week.
How tense?
Well, Hasselbeck kind of seemed miffed about media, fans and others saying this season is done.
"I know that there's a time in a season ... where a team can pull apart or pull together," he said. "After a performance like we had at home, I think people have definitely counted us out. I think there's a lot of negativity around our team. I've heard people that this season is over and we've got no chance. That's ridiculous. That's absolutely ridiculous. I think for us as a team, this an opportunity for us to pull together and prove people wrong."
Of course, Hasselbeck admitted that proving people wrong starts from within. The team and the players have to do it. Use whatever cliches like "bunkering in" and "circling the wagons" but the Seahawks need to find a way to do that. And Hasselbeck knows players can get the same negative attitude as some fans or media types.
"It's also an opportunity where you've seen teams int eh past point the finger at each other, maybe whisper or doubt the plan that the coaches have put forth. Mentally we have to rise above all that stuff. It would be easy for us to make excuses. But I think what's important is to block that stuff out and continue to work hard and just stay together, continue to be a team, continue to be the things we said in training camp were so important."
We're in this together. Be all in, everybody be all in. We can't have 10 guys rowing this way and one guy rowing that way. It doesn't work that way. We know it doesn't work. We've tried it that way in the past. I think everybody is buying in."
When asked if he was disappointed in some fans giving up, Hasselbeck was diplomatic.
"It's sports. That's sports. A team goes down 3-0 in a 7 game series and everyone is like, 'ah, it's over.' But it's not over. You're chances are worse and you've made it a lot harder on yourself, but it's not over. And that's what we've done to ourselves. We've made it a lot harder on ourselves. We've lost games at home that we could've won. And now we have to do something that we haven't been necessarily great at, we have to go on the road to win some games."
Of course, TJ Houshmandzadeh, who is never short on opinions about such things, also offered his thoughts.
“We’re human like everybody else. You kind of get discouraged here and there, some more than others. There’s a lot of games left. I think last year Buffalo was 4 or 5 and 1, or 4-2 – something like that. I know they were good early on, and they didn’t make the playoffs.
“Every game is different. Every week is different. You can win every game you play as long as you approach it like that and prepare like that. What you do now kind of shows you what’s going to happen in the future, so if we put that work in on Monday and next week, the future should be great on Sunday.
“And so every week is different. I’m very optimistic about the rest of the season. Very.”
A few other notes from practice
- Offensive linemen Walter Jones, Rob Sims and Sean Locklear did not practice, but Sims do side work, including sprints and agility work. Also not participating were DE Patrick Kerney, CB Kelly Jennings, S CJ Wallace, and RB Edgerrin James is still gone for personal reasons.
- Marcus Trufant had a pick-off of Hasselbeck in the end zone.
- Hasselbeck and Deon Grant Butler connected on a pretty long pass on sideline go route.
- The O-line was LT (McIntonsh), LG (Vallos), C Spencer, RG (Unger), RT (Willis)
- Nick Reed gave McIntosh some problems during one on ones and a few team drills. Reed almost had a pick on a short swing pass from Seneca that easily would have been for a score.
- Also it appears that the Seahawks didn't sign Kyle Williams to the practice squad, instead they went and acquired guard Mike Gibson, most recently of the Eagles.
A quick note: I'm leaving Renton now and I'll try and post some more of the Hasselbeck press conference, along with some quotes from Knapp about their problems on third down and much of a highly entertaining conversation with Housh where he made fun of reporters' clothing and also said he loves the Oregon Ducks uniforms and how he hopes the Hawks where the green jersey's again.
umm....A pretty connection between Hass and Deion GRANT would be ugly!
God I love #8
Nick Reed giving problems to McIntosh does not sit well in my stomach. As much as we love nick reed he is an unproven rookie with a high motor. His pass rush skills are unrefined. Yes I'm aware that Mcintosh is now #5. let's just hope he is shaking off rust.
McIntosh is the best option at LT other than walter jones. He blocked for tomlinson in his young days, larry johnson in his good days, and I think priest holmes in his record breaking days. He can and will be productive. Tausher is still available though.
If this team is going to come back this season, it's going to be because of the defense. They are close to being great, but Bradley must mix blitzes in with 4 man pressure. They get eaten alive when relying solely on 4 man pressure. Curry and Hill can be the 2 best pass rushing LBs in the NFL. The Heater is playing himself into a huge FA contract with another team.
Coming into this year, Hasselbeck was just 2-20 on the road against teams that finished the year with winning records, including 1-15 during 2003-2007. The Seahawks have Dallas (3-2), Minnesota (5-0), Green Bay (3-2), Houston (3-3) and Arizona (3-2) road games left so they will have to do something they haven't done in decades to make the playoffs - win most of the road games against good teams.
9-7 won't make the playoffs this year for them, it's going to have to be 10-6 or better. That means 8-2 the rest of the way. I can't even figure out how that happens with this schedule.
The fact that Kyle Williams went from a two year stint on the PS(in which they certianly should have had a pretty darn good idea if he was capable or not), to thrown in the fire against Zona to being completely released due to his poor perfomance, really makes me question the Hawks front offices' ability to evaluate talent. With this in mind, are these going to be the same people who are going to be in charge of this most important upcoming draft and free agency period? The way I see it is, we have to either fill some key positions and go with what we've got or totally tear it down and start over. If it's decided that we're just a couple or three players away from being where we want to be, the people who are making these decisions have to be spot-on. Hass wont last forever and in my opinion as soon as his run is over, it's rebuilding time anyway. Does this make sense?
Ryan Divis: "Well, Hasselbeck kind of seemed miffed about media, fans and others saying this season is done."
Media and fans? Don't forget your own head coach Matt. Wasn't he the one who publicly stated that the Seahawks can no longer think about making the playoffs? Mike Holmgren would never have said something like that until the very last digit of mathematical elimination had been accounted for proving that the deed had been done.
pabuwal: "9-7 won't make the playoffs this year for them, it's going to have to be 10-6 or better."
Oh, I don't know about that. Do you really think Arizona and San Francisco are good football teams? I don't. I think the NFC west is an extremely weak division. I'm not the sort of person who makes predictions (I'm usually wrong if I try) but it sure wouldn't surprise me if the NFC West had a finish this year very much like the AFC West had last year.
The Wildcard will be tough because the NFC East plays the AFC West
In terms of the division, the 2 division games the Seahawks lost are huge and kill the tiebreakers. Arizona and SF aren't terrible teams like years past, they are more like 8-8 to 10-6 kind of teams.
princeaden: "The fact that Kyle Williams went from a two year stint on the PS(in which they certianly should have had a pretty darn good idea if he was capable or not), to thrown in the fire against Zona to being completely released due to his poor perfomance, really makes me question the Hawks front offices' ability to evaluate talent."
I kind of wondered about that myself. It seems a lot like one of those typical couch potato reactions, doesn't it? "Ooooh, he played badly, therefore he's a bust".
On the other hand, it's just the practice squad. You kind of go with what you think might work out optimally for the future. It's not like you have a scientific formula you can use to calculate those probabilities. Maybe they just changed their minds about the guy. Maybe there's more to it than just one poor performance in a game situation.
"If this team is going to come back this season, it's going to be because of the defense. They are close to being great, but Bradley must mix blitzes in with 4 man pressure. They get eaten alive when relying solely on 4 man pressure. Curry and Hill can be the 2 best pass rushing LBs in the NFL. The Heater is playing himself into a huge FA contract with another team."
Yeah, but even the best defenses break down when they are on the field too much b/c their offense can't maintain a drive. The offense has to produce for us to win. Agree with you that our defense is looking better than it has in awhile.
You know, the Deon Butler pick is starting to stick in my craw - nothing against the guy, but on a team with three veteran wideouts, and solid back-ups like Obu and Payne (figuring he'd have made the team) - shouldn't we have used the 3rd rounder on another O-lineman? I recognize this is 20-20 hindsight after all the injuries now, but they had to (or should) have know that Walt was a question mark, and we let our chief back-up (Pork Chop) get signed elsewhere. Just doesn't seem like we had need for a WR, and that is being borne out by the fact that Butler has had zero impact through 6 games of the season.
Matt is a stud. I love that guy. I don't know how in the hell he can be as optimistic as he is with that bowl full of rotten jello that is supposedly an offensive line "protecting" him.
McIntosh is obviously be an upgrade at LT. It only makes sense to give him help in pass protection though (assuming Lock isn't back for the Dallas game). But even if he only can do one thing well (run block) at least that's better than what we've gotten used to.
I'm not overly encouraged that Sims didn't practice. As average of an NFL player as he has become (and that's a compliment from what I used to think of him) an okay player at his position --- there is certainly a drop off in "talent" after him.
And the fact that Walt still isn't running gives me no reason for optimism on him coming back (but I'll hope against hope he can). I have no reason to base this on --- but if we can win 3 of 4, or something like that, I bet he'll do a little more or take more of a risk in getting back on the field if it's possible (as most would - kind of like playing Matt against Jax... probably wouldn't have happened if we hadn't been in dire straight need of a win at that time --- this would be the opposite of wanting to come back b/c you see your team winning and want to be part of it).
Technically, the season is not over. Teams have come back to win championships in their respective sports who had similar or worse starts to the season than us. However, the reality of the situation is that the odds are now definitely stacked against us and we are truly going nowhere if the OL doesn't improve and players don't get healthy in a hurry.
pabuwal: "The Wildcard will be tough because the NFC East plays the AFC West "
Oh, don't even think about a wildcard. The NFC West isn't going to get a wildcard spot this year. If Seattle wants to make the playoffs they're going to have to win the division. It's not impossible. San Diego was 3-5 going into their bye week last year. It's not probable but if they went on a winning streak they could still take the division. Arizona and SF still have some loses in their future I reckon.
That's awesome, Matt. For the life of me, I'll never understand how people have criticized him so much over the years. Just a flat out stud. I've always loved him. Now, got to go out and get a big win on the road in Dallas and at 3-4 people will be going crazy. People want so badly, to get behind this team (outside the diehard fanbase), they just need a reason to do it.
As for Reed giving McIntosh problems; who has he not?
"If this team is going to come back this season, it's going to be because of the defense. They are close to being great, but Bradley must mix blitzes in with 4 man pressure." Totally agree.
Mathew looks hilarious in that picture.
Someone said something about the nfc west not having good teams????huh
And SF i think is strong regardless of the pounding the falcons gave them at home.
Anyone know Gibson's physical specs?
Gibson looks like another prototypical Seahawk OL TR acquisition.
you know what i'm talking about............ 6'3" and 312 lb or under.
IMO this Defense is a Badass, Blow'em up interior lineman,a Shutdown corner and a Fearsome (don't dare come across the middle) Safety from being from being exceptional. So to say they are "close to being great" is quite a stretch for my brain. At the same time, I feel like if we can get at least a healthy Sims and Lock back we stand a decent chance of running the ball and protecting Hass, which will go a long ways toward winning games. In this division(and only being 1and1/2 games back with 10 games remaining) it's still quite possible to win. Maybe with a line of McIntosh, Sims,Spencer,Lock and Willis they could run enough to make the play-action believeable. And I hope we can all agree that with a little success running and a reasonable amount of time in the pocket, Hass WILL win games for us.
variable575: "Someone said something about the nfc west not having good teams????huh
And SF i think is strong regardless of the pounding the falcons gave them at home. "
Maybe if you squashed Arizona and SF together you would get a good team.
Arizona has a one dimensional offense and, in spite of what they did to Seattle on Sunday, a horrible defense. Granted, that one dimension is really good but it's not enough to make a good football team.
SF, on the other hand has been very strong on defense (until their last game anyway. Don't know what happened there) and pathetic on offense. Again, that's not enough to be called a good football team.
Good teams are teams like the Giants, the Saints, the Dolphins (poor record but they seem to have recovered from the loss of their QB early on) and the Vikings (eeeeyuch!!!!) etc. Don't say Denver. I don't believe in Denver. That's an optical illusion or something. Nevertheless, those are good teams. The NFC West is filled with bad teams.
Like I said before, I don't know the future and I can't predict how teams are going to play from now til the end of the season but if things remain as they are I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see an 8-8 finish for the divisional winner.
earther,
Look at SF's record since last november, and tell me they haven't made the turn from a bad team to a competitive team.
Az made the superbowl last year, i don't think they need to be squashed with anyone else to make a good team..............you had to have been kidding on that or perhaps on 'shrooms.
Earther, I agree remember what got Mora kicked out of Atlanta. I'm thought I was going to see more of a fire from him on the sidelines.
PDWAY:
Interesting -- and depressing -- stats on Hasselbeck's road record vs. winners. But the Hawks can make it at 9-7 if they sweep the second-half division sked or, if the Cards beat them, they beat the right NFC teams (SF, Dallas & Green Bay).
Granted, they still have to win seven more, which means all four home games and three on the road. But if Matt gets some time to throw and the defense plays well on the road ... it is possible.
As for the Heater, he isn't going anywhere for at least a couple of years (Hawks own his rights in 2010 and he would be an RFA in 2011 under current rules). So it's nice to see him step up.
Earther speaketh the trutheth..
Earther said it, Mora came out and said, "We're not worried about the playoffs, we have to become a better team."
Burleson said on Softy that fans that have given up should look at the fact that the two wins were both shutouts and really impressive. Nevermind the fact that it was against the worst team in the league, and a team that needed overtime to beat the worst team in the league.
Fans pay huge bucks to follow this squad, and none of us can truly afford it, yet we lay it down, and these players, owners and management never have to worry about money for the rest of their lives.
We have every right to call it like we see it, which is simple: This team has been on a steady decline since Time Ruskell took over.
They've won six games in two years.
It's a struggling football team full of players who either can't stay healthy or won't stay healthy.
The time for excuses and the feel-good BS is over. These players should feel lucky they aren't in Philly or New York, then they'd really be hearing it.
Matt as usual is right. Basically it ain't over till it's over. And with 10 games left it ain't over. He is such a great leader for this Team by example and by word. I'm very glad we still have him on our side.
GO SEAHAWKS
variable575: "Look at SF's record since last november, and tell me they haven't made the turn from a bad team to a competitive team."
Well sure, and I can show you five decent teams during that entire streak (Arizona, Dallas, Miami, Minnesota and Atlanta) and five loses to go with them. I only include Arizona because they wound up going to the Super Bowl but, to be perfectly honest, I would not have classified them as a good football team at mid season last year. Some would argue that the Jets were pretty good but by the time they went to SF they were losing to everybody, including the Seahawks.
So yeah, the Niners had a pretty good run against a long line of bottom dwellers. Kudos to them. Still, winning streaks don't impress me when it comes to evaluating football teams (as you might have seen from my comments about Denver) and especially not that winning streak. I've just seen too many weird things happen in the NFL over the years. You have to base your expectations on how the team plays.
Can San Francisco win out and go to the Super Bowl and all sorts of wonderful things like that? Sure they can. Stranger things have happened. I've seen teams go from sad sack to great in no time at all for no explicable reason. In fact the Cardinals did it last year once the playoffs came around.
Is it likely? Not very. Not in my book anyway.
pabuwla, you are using sense and logic. Of course they will win out, don't you know? Fragileback is going to lift this team up on his shoulders and...crumble under the weight and end up on the IR...nevermind.
snydro22: "Earther speaketh the trutheth."
He does? Weren't you the guy who was following me around a couple of years ago trying to get me to lose my temper and goad me into a flame war?
Eh, maybe not. If I've got you confused with somebody else then please accept my apologies. If not then no hard feelings.
The season is indeed not over.
We still play some pretty weak teams at home(Titans, Bucs and Lions) and of course the Lambs. They do however need to shock a team on the road soon!
Maybe I'm just being picky... but the team is pretty banged up... wouldn't it have made more sense to have a Thursday and Friday morning practice... then the bumps/bruises from this past Sunday would be a bit more in the rearview mirror and it could have given Lock/Sims a bit more time to get healthy and on the field, at least a little bit... they would have still had the entire weekend off...
Don't hold your breath, Alvin.
Hey Matt, I'm one of those who feel the season is over. But I'm also willing to take a boot in the rear if I'm wrong. Make my day and lift me three feet off the floor.
I believe in the Seahawks. I believe in Matt as our QB, and the absolute leader of the team. With the week off, no matter what two days this week they practiced this week, they'll be a little more rested and ready for a rematch with the Cowboys. I'm sure they're not feeling too good about last week's game, and just might come out with that "good Seahawks" team that executes what it has planned. Then again.......
I remain firmly planted on the sunny side of the street, and the Hawks are a long way from dead this year. With this new guy, a vet, at LT, we're already better. Getting Hill and Tru back is a big boost to the D that just lost Lofa for a while.
Two weeks. Two weeks to get ready to rip the Cowboys up. We gotta do to them, what AZ did to us, kick their butts, from the opening kickoff.
GO HAWK!!!
McIntosh wasn't even good enough to earn a spot with KC, whose offensive line is atrocious.
Hass just proves he is a moron if he doesn't think this season is over. This season was over before it began, and only a moron wouldn't have known it.
I think McIntosh will be an upgrade and a big part of the reason he was cut was because of the new regime wanting their guys and making a point. There is a point when a vet like that gets released where other teams may not want them simply b/c he hadn't been with them for OTAs or any of TC. KC sucked last year and were forced to throw a lot, hence the name "sackintosh." I'm not going to pretend he's any good, nor that I know much about him. All I know is that a warm body like him can't be worse than Kyle Williams was against AZ.